AEG 18630 Washer/Dryer won't dry properly?

The drying cycle had been exhibiting "Zanussi Time", counting down too fast and leaving the clothes cool and wetter than usual.

I took the back off and cleaned a modest amount of fluff out of the condenser. I released and re-attached the two orange wires to the NTC in the lower black rubber duct (I may even have sheared them off in taking out the condenser!).

On continuity testing, both the NTC and the top fan sender (also with two orange wires) read 3,000 ohms. The heating element circuit was closed.

On a 15min test-dry I saw the purge, condenser prime, fan, heater sequence work fine except that the heater seemed subsequently to cut out early (the blower unit had been hot to the touch for a spell).

I am assuming that the machine is sensing that the clothes are dry prematurely and either cutting the element or accelerating the countdown (or both).

For the sake of a tenner (and a few days wait) should I try replacing the NTC, or is there something else I should investigate first?

Many thanks,

Martin
April 2010