DE180 Maytag Dryer - Instructions

I had replaced other parts on this dryer before (drive belt, interlock switch), so knew how to remove the front. That is easy to do. Didn't even have to pull dryer away from the wall. Removed heater assembly. NOTE: take a picture, or note which wires go where! Took a chance that it was only the heating element after measuring the resistance of the element and noting that it was an open circuit (very high resistance). Could also have been something else in addition, but turned out, not. The hard part was getting the new housing assembly to fit in the circular hole at the back. It comes as a poor fit, not shaped right. I eventually just used pliers to bend in the edges, like crimping, and finally got it to fit in. Some pushing to get all screws back in place and now it runs and heats. A great dryer, over 30 years old, and still going. Well worth the effort to repair.

First, it is IMPERATIVE that the dryer is unplugged from the wall or the appropriate breaker is turned off to prevent electrocution!!! The front of the dryer is removed by removing the two screws at the bottom of the front with a Phillips head screwdriver. Next, remove the door wiring from the wiring clamp and set front / door of dryer to the side. Next, remove the bulk head by removing four nuts from the sides with the appropriate nutdriver. The drum belt will have to be disconnected from the motor pulley by lifting the spring of the pulley to release belt tension. This can be done from the front or back access panel of the dryer. The back access panel gives you a better view of the motor pulley and attached belt. After removal of the belt from the motor pulley, the drum of the dryer can be removed. Next, remove the heat shield at the front of the dryer. It is held on with two nuts and can be removed using the appropriate nut driver. Next, remove the blower wheel housing cover using the appropriate nut driver. The blower wheel will be next. It can be removed by using a pair of pliers to remove the circular clamp. A pair of snap-ring pliers will also be need to remove the snap-ring also holding the wheel in place on the motor axle. After the blower wheel is removed from its housing, the housing will need to be removed. The housing is again held in place by several nuts and the appropriate nut driver will be needed to remove them. Next, take all wiring loose from the motor. It would be a good idea to photograph or note how and what wires were attached in specific locations on the wiring harness. The new motor may be different when it comes to wiring and will be accompanied by a wiring diagram and the needed connection ends for the wiring. If it is a different wiring layout, as was my motor that I ordered from this site, a set of wiring strippers / pliers will be needed to cut, strip, and crimp the new connectors. After wiring has been removed from the motor, remove the motor by removing two nuts with the appropriate nut driver from the bottom of the motor mount. The motor, mount, and pulley will then all come out as one piece. The motor will then need to be removed from the mount. This can be accomplished by using a flat head screwdriver and a hammer. Place the flat end of the screwdriver into the raised edge of the motor mount clamp and pull away from the locking bracket. If needed, use a hammer to give that extra tap to the end of the screwdriver to remove the clamps. After the motor is removed from the mount, an Allen wrench will need to be utilized to take the belt glide / seat off of the motor axle. You will also need the snap-ring pliers again to remove a snap ring from this axle as well. Clean the motor mount and dry thoroughly. Grease the pulley housing where it contacts the motor mount for smooth gliding against the mount. It is important that you use a NON-FLAMMABLE grease. This is the end of the "tear-down" phase. Now is a good time to vaccum and clean the inside of the dryer cabinet. This will help insure that excess lint and fuzz is removed to prevent an accidental dyer fire. Next, place the new motor back into the motor mount in reverse order. Make sure the belt glide / seat from the motor axle aligns with the belt marks on the pulley. Reassemble the dryer in reverse order, making sure to follow the wiring diagram provided with your new motor. Also you need to insure that the motor is turned at a 45 degree angle to allow the dryer drum to pass the motor without striking it. After reassembly, plug in the dryer and attempt to start. If your dryer does not start, troubleshoot the wiring first. Wiring was the most difficult part of this repair and working in the tight space provided was a trick. Also look up a video of the repair! This helped me tremendously. Videos can be found on this site or at YouTube.com.

Looked in one of the back removable panels and saw the broken belt. Took the machines front panel off per a You Tube video and saw the repair was simple but too the time to vacuum out a large amount of Lint Debris that had accumulated over the past 34 years all over the inside of the machine which is dangerous.. After cleaning it all up I simply put the new belt on and put everything back together and it all works nicely again!

This dryer has been really reliable. This is the first time I've had to repair it. PartsSelect.com says the noise had a 30% chance the problem would be the tumbler rollers and shaft and 18% it would be the blower impeller fan. I took a chance on the rollers, thinking I would save $20 on the blower fan. Big mistake! Once I dissambled the dryer, I realized almost immediately it was the blower fan and not the rollers. When I manually turned the motor shaft, I discovered the problem. The plastic fan's shaft hole is worn to a larger diameter and is semi-freewheeling on the shaft causing the racket. I replaced the rollers and belt and ordered a new fan. I tried putting electrical tape on the shaft to enlarged the OD like a fellow on this site said, but it worked for about 3 minutes then the racket started again. Also, I had to pull the dryer away from the wall and open the access door to the back of the motor in order to thread the drive belt on the motor and idler pulleys. I couldn't fit my arms along side and under the tumbler. I've got the scratches on my left arm to prove it. Suggestion: Replace the blower fan, rollers and shafts if you have the rumbling noise when operating the dryer. Might as well replace the drive belt while you have it apart, too.

Fliped it on its side and removed the front of dryer, access to the rear screw was nearly impossable but with the aid of a 3' extension it finally came out

Tip: If the belt broke make sure the Drum Rollers are not seized which could have broken the belt. I recommend if replacing the belt replace the Drum Rollers (2- required) at the same time.
The instruction sheet that came with the Drum Roller kit is straight forward. It provided detail on what to disassemble to replace the rollers. So follow the instructions. Tip: Make sure you have a C – clip ring pliers to remove the C clip. The instruction sheet calls it the snap ring
The Idler Pulley came with no instructions, however it was easy to replace. The idler pulley is secured with an “E” shape clip which can be removed with a small straight blade screw driver.
The instruction sheet on how to install the belt was good showing how the belt is routed. The instruction wants the belt installed from the front around the tumbler then from underneath the tumbler towards the back and around the motor pulley and idler pulley. It is hard to see the motor and idler pulleys from underneath the tumbler. However I think it was easier if the tumbler was moved forward enough so you can see the motor and idler pulleys from the top. Install the belt as shown in the instruction sheet diagram around the motor pulley with the groves of the belt are against the pulley, then around the idler pulley. While holding the belt with slight tension, move the tumbler back into position while routing the belt around the tumbler and slowly turning the tumbler until the belt is completely installed. The belt should be about 1-1/2” from the back screws which hold the tumbler baffles. Note: the belt should be installed with the flat side against the tumbler. The belt should not be in the back grove of the tumbler.

The video was excellent and made for an easy repair. Would highly recommend.

I was able to order exactly the same lint filter as the original. The dryer is a 1984 Maytag.Thank you Partselect.com

I happened to come across a repair story posted by Wayne From Minneapolis MN about how he reinstalled the tumbler, plugged the dryer in, and started it up but forgot the belt and realized that it was the blower wheel that was loose on the shaft. As soon as I read that, I said, "Yes! that's it!" So I ordered the blower wheel and a belt. I decided to replace the belt since I saw it was slightly frayed. After all, the dryer is almost 20 years old!

First, switched off the power to the dryer or disconnect it from the outlet. Took the front panel off by removing the two screws near the bottom of the dryer. Pulled the bottom of the panel out and the two clips on the top just disengaged easily. Be careful, there are two wires connected to this panel. Just rotated it to the left and let it rest vertically. If need be, the two wires can be removed easily.

Next, I removed the four screws to take out the front tumbler and the tumbler. Set them aside. Then I removed the belt. You might want to pay attention as to how the belt goes around the motor pulley and the idler pulley before removing the belt.

After nearly 20 years, I'm surprised that it wasn't full of lint and dust. Gave it a good vacuuming and clean up.

Next, I removed the blower cover, the retaining ring, the hub clip, and the blower wheel. Installed the new blower wheel, hub clip, and here's the challenging task without the proper tool - putting the retaining ring back on the shaft! It took me about 5 minutes to put it back on the shaft with a small flat-head screw driver and an awl. Reinstalled the blower cover.

Next, I put the new belt over the pulleys and loosely hung the belt on the back tumbler to hold it up. Then I put the tumbler back in and worked the belt over the tumbler. I let the belt sat in the groove of the tumbler first and then when the tumbler was in position, I worked the belt over the two pulleys in to the proper position. Then I moved the belt to strap over the top of the tumbler. At this point, I just rolled the tumbler with my hand when part of the belt was out of the groove and on top of the tumbler. The motion took care of getting the rest of the belt out of the groove and on top of the tumbler as it should be located. Reinstalled the front tumbler and then the front panel.

Powered it back up and started the dryer and viola! the rumbling noise was not to be heard. Just like it used to sound - a low humming noise. Thanks Partselect.com for the helpful repair stories and the speed in getting the parts to me.

First I unplugged the dryer. Then, I took off the front cover, then a piece that holds the tumbler on. I put the new belt on and took a few minutes to make sure the belt was placed correctly. Lastly I put everything back on and plugged it back in. She started right up.

Remove the two screws that hold the front cover. Remove front cover and disconneted wiring to door switch.Remove the cover ( lower right hand corner )back of the dryer to gain access to belt idler pulley/tensioner. Remove old belt and slide new belt on the tumbler.

Unplug dryer
Remove front (2 screws at bottom)
From bottom lift out and up to release top bracket
Move front panel gently to the left not disturbing wires
Remove blower cover with nut driver
Remove expansion clip on shaft with expansion clip pliers
Remove blower clamp with pliers
Slide blower wheel off
Replace blower wheel an reassemble

Problem was the blower wheel, (Plastic deteriorated). Replaced the tumbler and motor belt as well as th idler pulley. While the blower wheel turned out to be the problem, the other parts were significantly deteriorated. Since I had the dryer disassembled it made sense to replace the other parts. The 24 year old dryer runs like new. The parts select instructional videos were extremely helpful.

Fast receipt of parts from supplier . All parts went together very quickly. Don/t recommend this work for those who have no mechanical skills. realignment of screws can be very tricky . They must all be correctly aligned first and driven in at diagonals to equalize pressure . Job needs to be used with hand tools as it is easy to strip out the threads in dryer by overtightening the screws.
PS before this we had replaced the drum belt.
Update:
We ran the dryer after replacing the drum support rollers and the idler pulley and it was smooth for about 5 minutes. then the rumbling and uneven rotation started up again! The tip-off was when we had done a test roll on the drum after changing the above parts, we heard a rumble from the blower wheel! so we ordered the blower wheel, replaced it and the dryer sounds like new.
Thanks to others who have written their stories which helped us figure out the problem. : ) saves big $$ on buying a new dryer. PS ours is 15 years old and has had heavy use.

opened dryer front; disconeccted old heating unit and removed same. re-installed and connected new part; re-installed door switch assembly replaced front panel. problem related to fact that rear of replacement part was to big to fit into orifice in dryer, had to compress to fit.