No heat and no sign of life on Broil
The display accepts the setting, but the oven never gets hot and you do not see a glowing element or hear gas ignition.
Start here: Start with mode selection, canceled timers, door position, and power supply.
Oven not heating on broil
Frigidaire Oven Broiler Not Working
Direct answer: A Frigidaire oven broiler that will not work is usually caused by the wrong mode or door position, a failed oven broil element on electric models, or a weak oven igniter on gas models. Start with the simple setup checks, then watch what the oven actually does when Broil is selected.
Most likely: The most common real failures are a burned-out oven broil element on an electric oven or an oven igniter that glows weakly but never lights the gas on a gas oven.
First separate electric from gas and pay attention to the exact symptom: no heat at all, element stays dark, igniter glows but no flame, or broil works weakly. Reality check: broil problems are often obvious once you watch the oven for the first minute. Common wrong move: replacing parts before confirming whether the oven is electric or gas and whether anything is trying to heat.
Don’t start with: Do not start by ordering a control board. Controls do fail, but not nearly as often as a bad heating part or a setup issue.
If the broiler stays completely dead,check the broil setting, timer state, and power first.
If something starts but never gets hot enough,look hard at the oven broil element, oven igniter, or oven sensor before blaming the control.
Last reviewed: 2026-04-17
What the broiler is doing tells you where to look next
Electric broil element stays dark
On an electric oven, the upper element never glows or only one section looks damaged, blistered, or split.
Start here: Inspect the oven broil element closely before moving deeper.
Gas igniter glows but burner never lights
You see an orange glow near the broil burner, but there is no flame and little or no heat.
Start here: That usually points to a weak oven igniter, not the gas supply itself.
Broiler heats, but poorly or unevenly
Food barely browns, preheat feels slow, or the broiler cycles off too early compared with normal.
Start here: Check for a tired heating part, a bad oven sensor reading, or a door that is not closing right.
Most likely causes
1. Wrong broil setup or interrupted cycle
Some ovens will not start broil if the mode was not fully selected, a delayed cook setting is active, or the door position is wrong for that design.
Quick check: Cancel the cycle, clear any timer or delay setting, select Broil again, and watch the oven for the first 60 seconds.
2. Failed oven broil element
On electric ovens, a burned or shorted oven broil element is the most common reason the top heat never comes on.
Quick check: Look for blisters, cracks, a burned spot, or one section of the oven broil element that stays dark.
3. Weak oven igniter
On gas ovens, the broil burner may not light if the oven igniter glows but does not draw enough current to open the gas valve.
Quick check: If the igniter glows for 30 to 90 seconds with no flame, the oven igniter is the leading suspect.
4. Bad oven sensor or control-side fault
If the heating parts look normal but broil is weak, short-cycles, or acts erratic, the oven may be reading temperature wrong or failing to send power consistently.
Quick check: If bake and broil both act off, or the broiler starts and quits too early, move the oven sensor higher on the list.
Step-by-step fix
Step 1: Reset the cycle and confirm the broil setup
A surprising number of broiler calls turn out to be a canceled mode, delayed start setting, or simple user-setting issue. This is the fastest safe check.
- Turn the oven off completely and clear any timer, delay start, or cook time setting.
- Select Broil again and choose the normal broil option if your control offers high or low.
- Close the door fully unless your oven's normal broil behavior clearly calls for a cracked door.
- Listen and watch for the first signs of heating for up to 60 seconds.
- If the control panel is blank, check the breaker for a tripped handle or a half-tripped double breaker.
Next move: If broil starts normally after resetting the cycle, the problem was likely a setting issue or interrupted cycle. If nothing happens, or the oven accepts Broil but never starts heating, keep going and separate electric from gas.
What to conclude: You have ruled out the easiest no-parts causes first.
Stop if:
- The breaker trips again right away.
- You smell gas.
- You see sparking, smoke, or melted wiring.
Step 2: Figure out whether the oven is electric or gas and watch the first heating attempt
The next likely part is different on electric and gas ovens, and the visual clues are usually clear within the first minute.
- If the oven has a visible upper heating element, treat it as an electric broil system.
- If there is no exposed upper element, remove the broiler pan if needed and look for a broil burner and igniter area instead.
- Start Broil and watch safely through the door or with the door just open enough to see, without touching anything hot.
- On electric, look for the oven broil element to glow across its length.
- On gas, look for the oven igniter to glow and then for the broil burner to light.
Next move: If you now know exactly what is and is not happening, the repair path gets much narrower. If you still cannot tell, stop before disassembling more than needed and focus on visible damage in the next step.
What to conclude: A dark electric element points one way. A glowing gas igniter with no flame points another. That separation saves wasted parts.
Step 3: Inspect the heating part for obvious failure
Most broiler failures leave physical clues. You are looking for damage you can actually see before assuming a deeper electrical problem.
- Disconnect power to the oven before touching or removing anything.
- For an electric oven, inspect the oven broil element for splits, bubbles, burn marks, or a section that has sagged or broken.
- Check the element mounting area for heat damage or burned wire terminals if they are accessible without major teardown.
- For a gas oven, watch whether the oven igniter glows bright enough to look almost white-yellow at its hottest point rather than a dull orange.
- If the oven door does not close snugly, inspect the oven door gasket for gaps or heavy damage that could let heat spill out during broil.
Next move: If you find a visibly damaged oven broil element, that is a strong confirmed repair path on an electric oven. If the gas igniter glows but never lights the burner, the oven igniter is the likely fix. If the heating part looks normal and the symptom is weak or erratic broil, check the temperature-sensing side next.
Step 4: Check for a sensor or heat-retention problem if broil is weak, not fully dead
When broil comes on but performs badly, the oven may be shutting down early because it is reading temperature wrong or losing too much heat.
- Look at the oven sensor probe inside the cavity and make sure it is not loose, bent into contact with metal, or visibly damaged.
- Check whether the oven door closes evenly and whether the oven door gasket is torn, flattened badly, or hanging loose.
- Run Broil again for a short test and note whether the heat starts strong and then drops off too soon.
- Compare broil behavior with bake if you can do so safely; if both are acting off, the oven sensor moves higher on the list.
- If the oven heats but browns poorly only near the door, pay extra attention to door seal and closure.
Next move: If the door is leaking heat badly or the oven sensor is clearly damaged, you have a more focused repair path. If the sensor looks fine, the door seals well, and the heating part still does not get proper power, the remaining problem is likely wiring or the oven control side.
Step 5: Replace the confirmed failed part or stop before chasing the control
By now you should have enough evidence to make one clean move instead of shotgun-replacing parts.
- Replace the oven broil element if it is visibly burned, split, or stays dead on an electric oven while the rest of the oven has power.
- Replace the oven igniter if it glows on a gas oven but the broil burner never lights after a normal wait.
- Replace the oven sensor if broil and bake both act temperature-wrong and the sensor is visibly damaged or strongly supported by your checks.
- If the oven door gasket is badly torn or the door will not seal, correct that before blaming electronics for weak broil.
- If none of those checks fit and power is not reaching the heating circuit consistently, stop and schedule service for wiring or oven control diagnosis rather than guessing.
A good result: If the broiler now heats fast and browns normally, run one more short cycle to confirm stable operation.
If not: If the new confirmed part does not fix it, the next step is professional diagnosis of wiring, relay output, or control failure.
What to conclude: You have covered the common homeowner-fixable causes. What is left is less common and easier to misdiagnose.
Replacement Parts
Repair Riot may earn a commission from qualifying purchases, at no extra cost to you.
FAQ
Why does my Frigidaire oven bake but the broiler does not work?
That usually points to a broil-side part rather than a whole-oven power problem. On electric ovens, the oven broil element is the top suspect. On gas ovens, a weak oven igniter is very common if it glows but never lights the broil burner.
How do I know if the oven broil element is bad?
Look for a split, blister, burned spot, sagging section, or an element that stays dark during Broil. A visibly damaged oven broil element is a strong sign it has failed.
My gas broiler igniter glows orange. Can it still be bad?
Yes. A gas oven igniter can glow and still be too weak to open the gas valve. If it glows for a while but the broil burner never lights, the oven igniter is usually the right fix.
Can a bad oven sensor affect broil?
Yes. If the oven is reading temperature wrong, broil can cycle poorly, shut off too early, or seem weak. This moves higher on the list when both bake and broil act off, not just broil alone.
Should I replace the oven control board if the broiler is not working?
Not first. Control failures happen, but they are less common than a failed oven broil element, weak oven igniter, damaged oven sensor, or a door-seal problem. Rule out the visible and common parts before paying for control diagnosis.