Why would the intake air cover be burnt in my clothes dryer?

That metal grate is actually the heat distribution vent, not the intake. The heat comes directly from the heating element or the gas burner located right behind that plate. The brownish-gold discoloration is ussually a mix of high heat and **synthetic fibers** from your clothes melting onto the metal. Polyester and nylon in modern fabrics shed tiny micro-fibers that get sucked against that hot grate and bake on instantly, which is why you see that dark charring in the center where the heat is most concentrated. The fact that your loads are taking three cycles is the real red flag here. When air cannot escape the dryer properly, the internal temperature around the burner assembly spikes becasue the heat isn't being pulled thru the drum and out the exhaust fast enough. This causes the metal to discolor much faster and leads to that singeing smell. You mentioned the lint trap is clear, but that’s only the internal screen and doesn't tell the whole story. You need to check the entire exhaust ducting from the back of the machine all the way to the outside wall vent. If you have a flexible foil transition hose that is crushed behind the unit or a lint clog in the wall cap, the heat just sits there and bakes the back of the drum. Also, stop overloading the machine. If the drum is too full, the wet clothes can't tumble and they end up pressed right against that rear grate, which blocks the air and causes the burner to stay on much longer than it should. The scorched plate itself is often just cosmetic, but the underlying airflow issue is what leads to potential fires. Clean out the entire vent line with a vacuum or a brush kit. If the airflow is restored and it still smells like it is burning, your **high-limit thermostat** might be failing or the element itself might be grounding out. But start with the venting first; that is almost always why the back of a dryer looks like a toasted marshmallow.

Wait, so the brown stuff is acutally my clothes melting? That's wild. I never even thougth about polyester doing that. My dryer gets pretty hot too, but I've never checked the outside vent. Is it normal for the outside flap to get stuck shut? I noticed mine has some lint poking out of the edges of the plastic cover on the side of the house. I'm wondering if I should try one of those long brush kits they sell at hardware stores or if those just get stuck and make things worse. I'd hate to pull out a whole bird's nest or something if that's what's blocking the air.

If it's an electric model, you might have a grounded heating element. Sometimes the coil breaks and sags against the heater box. This lets the element stay on at full blast even when the thermostat says to cut it. It turns that back plate into a literal branding iron and will fry your clothes. Check your drum seals too. If the rear felt seal is worn out, the blower pulls cool air trough the gaps instead of drawing the hot air through that back grate. The heater box just sits there and cooks itself beacuse there isn't enugh airflow passing over the coils to dissipate the heat properly.

definatly open up the actual cabinet and look around the bottom. If that back plate is getting that hot, you probably have a ton of lint that escaped the trap and is just sitting inside the machine near the heater. I opened mine once after it started smelling funky and found a literal blanket of fuzz right next to the burner. It’s super dangerous because even if the vent is clear, that stuff can smolder just from the radiant heat. Grab a vacuum with a long attachment and get all that junk out of the base before you run it again.

Check your moisture sensor bars while you're in there. If you use alot of dryer sheets, they get a waxy buildup that tricks the dryer into thinking the clothes are still wet, which keeps the heat running way longer than necessary.

Also, take a look at the blower wheel. If a fin is snapped or it's packed with wet lint, you won't get enough CFM to push that heat out, even if the vent line is clear. A weak blower makes that rear plate get much hotter than a healthy one.