Weird (to me) dryer cord wiring - WED4950HW0 if it matters

[Mr. Flannery]

Can someone explain this to me?

Weird cord wiring

The cord white is not attached to anything. The machine white is on the center terminal and there is a jumper from the center terminal to the ground screw with the cord green.

This looked odd to me, so I 'fixed' it. Removed the jumper. Both neutrals on center. Green on ground.  Like all of the other dryers with 4 prong cords I've ever done.

It didn't turn on. WHY?

Changed it back to the original wiring with the detached cord white and jumper. WHY?

What am I missing?

[Scottekarate]

That is weird. And unnecessary. If you were going by the installation guide, you remove the pointless black jumper and double up the two white wires. That dangling white wire came out of the box in place of the green wire  but if you use a 4 wire cord, you have to move the white wire to the middle terminal on the block (the white wire) and screw the green wire to the cabinet with the screw that's there (the green one).

[Mr. Flannery]

11 minutes ago, Scottekarate said:

That is weird. And unnecessary. If you were going by the installation guide, you remove the pointless black jumper and double up the two white wires. That dangling white wire came out of the box in place of the green wire  but if you use a 4 wire cord, you have to move the white wire to the middle terminal on the block (the white wire) and screw the green wire to the cabinet with the screw that's there (the green one).

Yep that's exactly what I did. The customer was not impressed when I said I was done and the dryer didn't turn on. I put it back in this strange configuration and it worked. I'm still baffled. 

[Terry Carmen]

The wiring from the house or power cord is incorrect.

It needs red, black, white and green wires for hot, hot, neutral and ground.

It has 2 white wires that aren't identified and a black jumper wire for some reason.

One of the white wires is probably neutral and one is probably ground and the black wire is connecting the case to neutral, but to be honest, I would have told the customer to call an electrician, and walked. 

There's a higher level of weirdness here than I'm willing to accept responsibility for.

Edited October 31, 2020 by Terry Carmen

[Vance R]

Agree with @Terry Carmen house wiring issue.  Typically the bonding wire from neutral to the cabinet is there for 3 prong pigtails as there is no separtate ground wire. 4 prong pigtails have one wire for L1, L2, neutral and ground and you remove the bonding wire or strap.  So your picture is probably an older home with 2 wire 240 vac and ground or a DIY job gone wrong.  In most panels the neutral and ground wire go to the same buse bar.