My oven door will not close fully. how do I rectify this?

My westing house oven door want close fully since i cleaned it I may have lent on it, and now it does close properly, how can i fix it all the help would be grateful

cherie harrison
September 2011

Just used ksbandman's steps on a Frigidaire glass top stove model # FEFL79DBB. Took about 10 minutes. I used a flat tip screwdriver to hold the hinge plate in place to re-assemble by sliding the hinge plate up on the back side until the flat tip screwdriver could hold the plate from the front instead of trying to reach and hold with my clumsy hands.
Thank you guys for the tip!!

Jim
February 2011

I fixed this with a screwdriver, a hammer, an old rag, and a 1/4 inch punch. You may encounter some insulation, so some protective equipment may be necessary (gloves, sleeves, and goggles). This fix may differ from model to model and make to make, but it worked on my Kenmore.

1. Pull the door off the hinges (on mine, I opened the door fully, lowered a catch on each hinge meant to hold the door open a little during broiling. I then lifted the door up and out.

2. Remove the lower drawer (this may be more difficult if you have a warming drawer).

3. Remove the bracket onto which the door hinge lowers (I did it by reaching up inside the wall of the oven, holding the bracket, then removing the screws holding it to the oven frame). This is the piece that became bent from the door being pushed down, supporting a heavy load, or opened forcefuly (I got it used in it's sprung condition). The spot where the door bracket pushed onto it bent inward, allowing the door to wiggle in the up position and kept the springs from closing the door completely.

4. Bend the piece back to its original shape (I laid an old rag on my workbench and placed the bracket on the rag with the dent facing up. Using the punch and hammer, I tapped the dent down so the metal was once again straight or flush).

5. Attach the brackets back onto the inside of the frame of the stove (this took some patience, since i had to hold the bracket up inside the space between the oven and the ouside panel. There was insulation in the space, so sleeves, gloves, and eye protection are a good idea here)

6. Lower the door back into place on the reshaped brackets.

7. Open the door completely, and pop up the "broiler door holders."

8. Close the oven door and bake some cookies.

I hope this helps. I found that the door was in perfect shape, the springs were fine, and taking the back off the oven does nothing to help with this fix :)

Good Luck

ksbandman
January 2010

See above that I put on earlier.
I realize that the word "gently" is different to everyone. What I suggest is starting out gently and increasing the closing preasure until you see results & then go from there.
I used the above method on an antique 1950's built in oven that belonged to a close friend of mine and got it back to the original closing position. I originally learned this method from a technician who came to my house to repair a sprung door on a new freezer that I had purchased. he used a 2x4 but on the oven door I used two aprox.1/4 inch (pencel size) wooden dowels.

Rich
December 2004

It might be sprung because something heavy was placed on the
open door (like a large turkey or roast )or someone leaned on the door when it was open. Try placing small pieces (aprox 1/4 inch
in diamater)of wood at the bottom crotch of the door on each side by the hinges.
Then very gently push the top of the door toward the closing position.
This will bend the hinges back to the original position. DO NOT PUSH TOO HARD OR YOU COULD BREAK THE HINGES.You can feel the door resisting and giving a little with each push.Try it a couple of times and Remove the wood pieces to see if you've made any progress. Repeat this action until the door is back to the closed position. Be very patient and use many small pushes
instead of one big one. Good Luck!

Rich
December 2004