I have an Ariston built-in double oven, model DOV 317/1. The timer frequently gets stuck in automatic mode or the led races through the 24-hour clock without responding to attempts to stop it. This appears to happen after cooking something hot and steamy. When this happens it refuses to allow the clock to be set and no amount of button-pressing or powering on/off will help reset it. When stuck in auto mode, it's not possible to get it into manual mode.

At some point - once weeks later - it will come back to life and work again for a time.

So it's probably time to change the timer mechanism, which is a fairly expensive part but is available.

The problem is, I cannot see how to get behind the panel to the old timer. There are four screws and four knobs, which when removed allow the panel to slide left and right very slightly but I don't want to force it open and break something.

If anyone knows if there is a trick to this oven, (or can even provide any comments on the general quality of the timer) I would be pleased to hear!