363DDE8200GAL Kenmore Dryer - Instructions

Easy repair, but did take a little longer than anticipated due to the extra cleaning that I did while the dryer was disassembled (highly recommend). First, unplug the power cord. Then, open the door, and locate the two screws in the upper corners, and remove. This will allow you to remove the top cover. Be careful and work the top panel up and down to loosen the control panel tabs, and set aside top panel. Next, remove the two screws located near the top on the inside of the front panel. Removing these two screws will allow you to lean the front panel forward, lift up, releasing the tabs holding the bottom of the panel. Be careful when you pull the front panel from the dryer as you will need to lift the drum off of the front bearing which is attached to the front panel as it is removed. You will also need to use your needle nose pliers to remove the wires prior to setting the panel aside. The wires are straight forward and power the light at the top, and the safety door switch. I always take a picture with my phone's camera just to validate when I re-connect them. Reaching underneath the drum you will be able to feel the belt and belt tensioner pulley. With both hands under the drum, use one hand to push the pulley to the right, releasing tension on the belt. Move the belt out of the groove, and let it hang freely. Now from the top of the drum, bump the drum to loosen, and remove from the cabinet. It is a tight fit, so you will need to spread the sides slightly in order to remove the drum. Next, remove the 3 screws holding the heat diffuser in the rear of the drum in order to remove the rear drum bearing. (Tip: It would be nice to have a helper hold the new drum bearing in place when starting the screws, and it also helped to tighten each a little at a time to keep the new bearing flat as it was drawn up next to the drum.) Tighten the screws holding the new bearing in place. Next, remove the 4 small screws holding the heating element housing to the rear of the dryer. (Tip: Rather than disconnecting the wires, I used a bent coat hanger to hold the housing while I removed the bearing retainer and clip from the rear of the housing.) Remove the 4 screws holding the bearing retainer and clip, and replace with you new part, paying close attention to the clip's position, and tighten. Replace the housing to the rear of the dryer. (Tip: Now is a good time to familiarize yourself with the belt and tensioner pulley for reassembly. Also, it may be a good idea to look at your belt, and replace as needed.) Next, reinstall the drum and insert the new bearing shaft into the new bearing housing. Using both hands again, reach underneath the drum, locate the tensioner pulley, and belt. Push the tensioner pulley over to the right, and move belt over the pulley on the motor, and behind the tensioner pulley. The belt should be tight. If not, inspect to ensure that the belt is over the motor pulley, and the tensioner pulley. Next step is to reinstall the front panel. I also spent the extra money and replaced the front drum bearing, and slides. Please note that the green slides are on top, and the white slides are on the bottom. Lift the panel over the tabs, lean forward while lifting the tub, resting the tub on the front bearing. Reinstall two screws in the upper corners, and tighten the front panel back in place. Now is a good time to turn the drum to ensure that the belt is in place, and that the drum turns correctly. (Tip: If your dryer is equipped with a light, you may also want to replace the bulb in the front panel (if needed) prior to attaching the front panel.) Reinstall the top panel by aligning the tabs in the control panel with the top panel, being careful not to bend the tabs. Next, open the front door and use the 2 long screws to reattach the top panel to the front panel. Plug in power cord.

I removed the front panel and the top of the dryer, pulled the drum forward and removed the old rear drum bearing then inserted the new rear drum bearing. I didn't replace the washers or the retaining ring in the back. Put the drum shaft into the new rear drum bearing. Put the front panel and the top in place and started using the dryer again.

The instructions that came with the bearing were limited and the illustrations were too dark to see. However, after reading the reports of others on this website, the repair was very easy.

Prior to disassembly, remove theaccess panel on the rear of the dryer. Pull the belt drive pulley arm up and the belt will easily slide off of the motor pulley. The belt can be left on the drum.

Then, remove two screws at the inside top of the dryer door. The top of the dryer will then lift up at the front and slide forward to remove. This will allow you access to two bolt head screws on each side of the front panel. Remove these two screws and then lift the panel slightly up and forward. The front panel will then be free and the dryer drum will slide forward and out. Remove the four bolt head screws (behind the electric elements) from the heater element on the inside back of the dryer box.

You can now exchange the bearing on the drum and the bearing insert on the dryer heating element simply by removing the old and reinstalling the new just as the old was removed - four screws for each.

You will need an assistant to re-install the bearing. Someone needs to hold the three pieces behind the drum as you insert the three screws. You'll also need a star wrench set for this.

The drum is easily reinserted - just be careful to get the front of the drum placed into the front bearing surface when reinstalling the front panel. One word of caution, My wife tried to remove the felt bearing on the bottom of the front panel thinking that it was lint.

I found that the inside of my ten year old dryer was unbelievably full of lint. I'm sure that the efficiency improvements by cleaning the air passages will be substantial and I've just saved $400 on the price of a similar dryer ($900 if my wife and I decided to upgrade to the "new" model that we wanted but really didn't need.

The repair in retrospect was very easy. Not knowing alot about the dryer I made one mistake. I put the bearing in backwards and broke the rubber gasket. After ordering a new gasket and paying close attention to what I was doing it worked out fine. Saved me about $200 for a repairman.

Key starting point is to remove top cover by removing two long screws located at the front of the cover
Remove control panel and it's bottom and side supports.
Remove short vent pipe by bending retainer tab.
Support the drum at the top using piece of rope.
Remove main rear cover (leave bottom attached).
Remove electric heating unit and install new bearing carrier from kit.
Reinstall the the heating unit
Remove three screws (inside the drum)to release the inner drum cover and release the bearing carrier.
Install new bearing carrier. Note: the three holes in the bearing carrier are not tapped, I suggest that the screws be installed (threads cut) into the bearing cover before attempting to install the bearing carrier.
Install the new bearing carrier. Note: pilot one of the holes using a small nail etc. then go on to install screws in the other two holes remove the pilot device and install the third screw.
Reassemble in reverse order.

I used a flat head, a phillips head, and two sizes of sockets with my screwdriver to complete this project. I initially undid the control panel, but I don't think I needed to. I next took out two long screws that were holding the top of the cabinet on. These screws were just inside the doorway, directly above where the door sits when closed. I took the top off and set it aside. Being careful to mark which wire went to which lead, I undid the leads to the door open/closed switch. I next found two, black, hex-end screws, one each on the upper sides, towards the front, and undid these with a socket end on the screwdriver; being careful not to drop them as they came out. I then tilted the front panel out and up and set it aside. Note that the front opening holds the drum up so it can spin. Next, I tilted the front of the drum up, and pulled it outwards, till bearing at the back pulled out of the socket, and the drum dropped down enough that I could push the belt off the back of the drum. I then pulled the drum out through the front opening. I could see that the bearing was mostly worn away and metal was rubbing on metal. On the drum, I took off the air diffuser and the drum's half of the bearing assembly, and attached the new part of the bearing assembly, where the old one was. There was a metal disk that I was careful to reinsert in its former spot. I tried to make sure that all screws were tightened with equal force. Then I removed the entire bearing housing/blower assembly by undoing the outer screws that attached it ti the back wall of the cabinet, I rotated it outward at the top , pivoting around the compression fitting (no screws) at the base. I then removed the back half of the bearing housing, and replaced it. I needed to screw in the screws from the front while holding the spring-clip-thing in place (once installed, you can stick your finger through the hole in the bearing housing and feel the clip right behind it). I took this opportunity to clean all the excess lint out of the cabinet. I then replaced everything in reverse order until I got to the drum. I put the belt loosely arounf the drum, with the grooved/ridged side facing in. Then put the bearing (with drum), back in the socket. Feeling through the hole under the front of the drum, take the belt where it hangs off the drum TO YOUR RIGHT, run it under then up around the left side of the small pulley, then pull it to the right (above the small pulley) and around the right side of the big (tensioner) pulley, and let go. Note that there is a swithch in the tensioner that won't switch on unless there is enough tension on the belt! Put the front back on, lifting up the barrel from the inside, so that the barrel opening slides around the outside of the front's assembly. Ours seemed to fit more tightly than it had previously, into the felt padding around to bottom of the front assembly, but it seems to work fine? Screw in the two black, hex-head screws from the sides into the front, and re-attach the door-switch wires. Turn it on (carefully) to make sure it runs. Then attach the top, using the two long screws up through the door opening into the top. Ours is working much better than before - hotter, faster, quieter! Should we have lubricated the bearing with lithium grease?

This repair was a no brainer repair. The factory replacement knob that I bought from this site comes with a new "D"-Ring. Some other aftermarket parts houses sell the knob and the "D"-Ring as seperate parts. The knob from this site already has the "D"-Ring ring installed in the knob. My "D"-ring was broken and I simply removed it with my fingers. All I had to do was properly align the new know knob with the timer shaft and press it into place. If your "D"-ring is not broken and not still inside the old knob, you will need to pull it off the shaft with a pair of pliers before pressing the new knob onto the timer shaft. Dr. "B" The Hot Rod Doc

Removed filter as for cleaning. Replaced with new filter. NO TOOLS REQUIRED!

Per suggestion of "Parts Select", I replaced the "high limit thermostat"....very simple task on the dryer: 1 - unplug from power source; 2 - remove screws securing top to front (open door, screws located beneath lip of unit); 3 - tilt top up allowing access to everything; 4 - remove connections to 'thermostat' (note which wires go where); 5 - loosen screws securing thermostat to unit and remove thermostat; 6 - vacuum any and all lint while unit is apart; 7 - install new thermostat and put everything back together; 8 - test dryer to see if repairs worked!

I wanted to be sure a replacement would be available when the need arose. The dryer might be 30+ years old. Within a very few minutes I found the filter and placed an order. It arrived in 2 days. Now I won't have to worry about it in this aging lifetime.

Just took it out and installed the new one--thanks so much

removed top, 2 hex screws, removed front 2 hex screws & 2 star screws. removed belt, slid drum out. Removed old bearing and replaced with new bearing kit. assembled in reverse.
It would help to have another person assist you.

Replaced the rear drum bearing. Not doing it before ,it took about 1 1/2 hrs. Problem was fixed.

1. removed old switch 2.wrote model # 3. went to web site found part 4. ordered part 5 part came in 2 days 6. installed part in 15 min. works like new saved over 95.00 thanks ed

The first thing I did was move the dryer out so I could "unplug it" !
Then I took the 4 philps head screws out that hold down the top of the dryer, then I lifted up the top and moved it off to the side making sure the wires didn't get pulled out.
Then I removed the 2 5/16 cap screws that holds the front panel on and lifted that off "Make sure you mark the down were the 2 wires for the door swich go" Like white on pin 1 and yellow on pin 2!!!
The next thing is to slide the drum foward so you can remove the element package then remove the 3 philps screws in the back of the drum make sure you have someone hold the element package there is a sheild between the drum and the element package that may fall that is a watch out you will need to move the element package up so you can work on it there will be wires hooked to this ring so becare full you don't break them off.
remove the element package you will see the bearing kit attached to that.
There are 4 5/16 cap screws that hold the bearing kit to that remove them and then remove the old bearing kit you may find and E Ring holding the old bearing kit in place (this would be found in the older models).
Before you install the new bearing kit take the new self tapping screws and tap the holes in the new bearing kit mounting plates this will make things go faster!!!
Now mount the bearing plate with the 4 holes to the element package there is a tab that needs to be mount in there too so look at the old one when you are taking it off.
Pick up the sheild that fell pick it up have a second person help you hold everything in place while you line up the holes for the front plate to the back of the drum and start your screws.
Now tighten them down check to make sure your belt didn't slide off the tensioner that is next to the motor before you slide the drum back in place if it did take the time to figure out how to get it back on the right way our you will be pulling things apart again.
What I did was spin the Drum by hand to make sure everything was ok. you will know if the belt is off it will not move when you spin the drum by hand.
Now that you made sure the belt is on you can put the front back on there are 2 studs on the bottom that you need to set the frount panel on before you can put the screws back in in it.
Now that you have the fron back on it hook your 2 wires back up to the door switch like you took them off!
Now move your top back over and you will see 2 clips on the back of it that slide into a grove in the back now that you have that in place start putting the screws back in put the middle 2 in first and tighten them down them put the last 2 in.
Now plug it back in if your vent pipe fell off hook it back up as you slide your dryer back in place now try it to make sure everything is working right and you will hear the differance.
Good Luck with your repairs....
Just a quick note this dryer is over 40 years old and still going.
I have replace 6 elements and 1 drive belt since it was bought new now the bearing kit.
Clean it once a year and the vent pipe every 6 months it will last!!!