I have an electric stove and when I take out the heating elements to clean the heating element I have an almost impossible time after installation getting them to sit flat. Does any one out there know a trick to installing these impossible things?
Make sure that the side opposite the hole you stick the connectors into (I have no idea what these are called) clicks into the bracket thing.
It took me a while to figure that one out. And I hope I’m being at least a little clear, but I think I wasn’t. 
Another possibility is if you opened the top to clean below, you may not have pushed the top all the way back into position. Be sure the top is back in all the way.
Sometime a hammer helps 
Depending on the design of the stove if you are cleaning and accidently push sideways on the elements with a rag this often tends to push the burner mounts (where they plug in) somewhat out of alignment. This sideways push translates to an off kilter vertical mis-alignment and then you’re screwed.
You need to lift the stove top up and look underneath and make sure the plug in mounts are securely screwed in and that they are not tilting the burner element upwards. You may need to bend them back down. Also make sure the 3 or 4 little blades the burner is attached to is precisely centered to drop into it’s little vertical knife edge slot on the opposite edge of the burner seat. Mine goes out of alignment so often I thought of drilling a hole in the stove top and binding or screwing the other end of the burner mount down somehow but I’m am not quite PO’d enough to do this yet.