GE gas oven: how to access the igniter wire plug-ins

[Harpua]

Hello, and thanks in advance for any help.

I'm pretty certain I need to replace the igniter in my GE model #PGS920SEF1SS.  The part itself was easy to access and detach from the burner tube, after removing the oven floor plate.  But...the wires enter a hole in the back panel and disappear between pieces of soft insulation.  How do I get to this to detach the wires?  I'm hoping not to have to pull the oven out and go through the back (which seems unlikely when the unit is accessed from inside the oven).  Removing internal layers seems much more complicated at this point.

Thanks,

Mike in Ithaca, NY

[citizenX]

Ideally you'd want to pull the oven out and remove the back panel to access the connector for a proper replacement. If the oven can't easily be moved though, you can always just cut and reconnect the ignitor wires with ceramic wire nuts if you have enough wire slack. Some ignitor kits even come with ceramic wire nuts. Just make sure the connections are tight and push the excess wire back into the hole. 

[Harpua]

Hey thanks Brian, didn't even think of that but I'm inclined to splice in.  I can probably move the oven out (I don't know exactly how they build in slack in the gas lines if they have to plan for it to be pulled out).  But I can also make secure connections!

[citizenX]

I am assuming they used a flexible gas line? You can pull the oven out a few inches and look behind it to see what you're dealing with but splicing in the new ignitor is ok too.

May I ask what symptoms you have that make you think the ignitor is bad? A normally functioning ignitor will glow for maybe 20-30 seconds or so then the gas should come on and ignite. Ignitors typically fail in one of two ways: Either totally DOA (open coil) and won't come on at all, or they get weak where it will still glow but doesn't draw enough current to open the gas valve (or takes several minutes to open the gas valve resulting in a "woosh" when it finally ignites).