Ground wire not long enough in 4-prong dryer cord?

Question

I have a Whirlpool model LEC8858EQ0 dryer with a 3-prong cord and am installing a 4-prong cord. Everything has gone well, except the ground wire isn't nearly long enough to reach the grounding screw.

In the picture you can see the grounding screw at top left and the ground wire hanging sadly below it. The difference is a couple of inches.
I tried connecting the ground wire first to make sure it reaches, but if I do that the rest of the wires are too far from where they need to be.
Is there something I can do to bridge the gap?

NoSparksPlease · Accepted Answer

It appears to me you didn't buy the Whirlpool brand cord, WP has ring terminals not forks. It is quite possible the maker of your cord didn't expose enough conductor to spread the connections for your dryer. Your options would be to get a WP cord or cut the black jacket back another inch or two and loop line conductors a little below the terminals.
Do leave the bonding strap in place where you have it and as the instructions show. Many people don't realize that on Whirlpool dryers the other end of that 4" long green wire is a stake-on landed right back on top of the neutral terminal, and as connected for 4 wire connections it is just a pointless loop. Here is a picture of that wire https://amzn.to/2IJBUKl .  It's just a place holder when wired for a 4 wire, but the part is present and moved to the ground screw if your only option is a 3 wire connection.

batsplatsterson · Answer

Your dryer cord a strain relief fitting, the metal bits you see on the white part in this picture:

If you loosen the screws on that, you can move the position of the strain relief a little towards the plug to get a little more wire inside the dryer, then tighten them up again so the cord grip stays in that place.  None of the wires should be strung taught, there should be some play in there.
The white stuff there is just a little extra protection for the cord jacket.  If you have to move it far enough that it goes off that white stuff, wrap a few wraps of electrical tape around the black jacket under the cord grip for extra protection.
With a four-wire cord, that green-with-yellow-stripe jumper will not be connected.  That is for three wire cords.  Remove that jumper, let it dangle, with a bit of electrical tape on it to cover the exposed metal.

Ted Mittelstaedt · Answer

The blue green wire is only for use on 3 prong dryer cords.  Code used to allow dryers to be grounded through the neutral.  Many homes still have dryer outlets that are only 3 wires, 2 hots and a neutral.  When using the dryer in such a home with a 3 prong cord you leave the blue green wire connected.  Just loosen the screw and slip the blue green wire out of the neutral contact.  I would also bet if you follow the blue green wire you will find the other end is connected to the frame of the dryer.
The problem with leaving that wire connected is it will create current flow on the green safety ground wire which is NOT allowed or even safe.  Basically the green ground and the neutral will "split" the job of having any neutral currents flow back to the panel.

Ground wire not long enough in 4-prong dryer cord?

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