Grill Gas Valve Replacement

• A knob that's very stiff to turn, or turns with a gritty, grinding feel.
• A knob that spins freely without changing the flame, or won't push in.
• Flame that doesn't change between high and low, or jumps from off to high.
• A burner that stays lit, even small, with the knob in the off position.
• A gas smell at the control panel, especially when a knob is turned.
• One burner much weaker than the rest after the burner and orifice have been cleared.

A stiff knob on its own isn't an emergency, but don't force it. Valves are brass, and enough torque will crack a stem or tear the seal inside.

Pull the knob straight off and look at the stem. If the stem is greasy, wipe it clean. If the knob is cracked or the insert inside it is stripped, the knob may be the problem rather than the valve. That's a much simpler fix, covered on our knob and bezel page.

You can also do a soap test on the visible connections at the tank, hose and regulator with the knobs off. Our soap test guide walks through it. Bubbles anywhere mean shut it down and call.

Don't spray lubricant into the valve, and don't remove the control panel to work on the manifold. Valve lubricant has to be a specific high-temperature, gas-rated grease, and getting to it means taking the valve apart.

Propane and natural gas valves use different orifice sizes, and on some grills the valve itself is different. A grill that was converted from one gas to the other without the right parts can have weak flames, huge flames, or sooty yellow burners. If you're switching your grill over, that's a separate job: propane to natural gas conversion.

On older built-ins where several valves are stiff at once, replacing the whole manifold is sometimes cleaner than doing valves one at a time. We'll explain the options.