WED4850HW0 Whirlpool Dryer - Instructions

Replaced the belt and the wheels supplied with the kit. I also cleaned the inside of the unit. It looks and works like new.

**** Remove power cord from the wall****

As said earlier, you will need to lift the top. Drop the two screws holding the lint shoot and pop the top by sliding a screw driver into the corner on the front. Lif tthe top and rest against the wall behid the unit. remove the two (4 total) screws at the top and bottom of the front door assembly.
Place sometin under the front portion of the drum. At this point you'll see the need to clean everything! :) Slide the belt off and around the drum, (take note of the routing it takes.) Remove the drum by gently pulling it towards you. Set it aside. Clean more. :) (It is nice to have a vacuum handy.) At this point you really need to get to the rear of the system. So I tipped the top back down, and spun it around. Removed the rear panel and cleaned some more. (15 years of a lot of lint in there!) Then you'll need to remove the rear cover on the left side, covering the blower impeller. Get read for a whole lot of debris. Vacuum again. So now you have the motor exposed in the front and rear. You need to remove the impeller by turning that clockwise to loosen it. The trick is holding the shaft in place from the front at the same time. I used an old rag and wedged it into the impeller edges and worked it around until it jamed up. Once the rag was wedged pretty good, I went back to the front spun the shaft. Then you can remove the impeller by hand. Vacuum more. You may get by without having to remove the lint shoot completely, but I did just to clean it up more. I did have to remove two screws in the upper corner near the top of the lint shoot. (Basically the hold the back in place.) I took a few notes at this point about the wiring harness. Used a heavier screw driver (standard), You can push down on the clips that hold the old motor in place. Then work it out the front. Clean more. The new motor is not an exact replacement slightly differnt but the instructions with it were ok. Follow them for the correct wiring. You will need to remove one wire and cut and recrimp a spade lug or two. I used ty-wraps to secure the lines back in place. Look closely at the diagrams and make sure you set the motor down in the same direction the instructions say, if you twist it slightly it will sorta lock in place where it needs to be. Re-install the hold down clips to the front and rear of the motor. Clean up your impeller, and reinstall it too. Then basically reassemble the dryer...tracing your steps backwards. This isn't really difficult, it just takes time and as you can see, you will/should clean as you go !

Everything seems to work on the electric/gas dryer, but would not generate any heat. Did some research and ordered the thermal fuse & thermostat based on that. Replacement was simple and went well, however it did not fix the issue. Should have checked the continuity first as I found the "replaced parts" to be good. Have checked all other possible symptoms except the heating element, which requires addition labor. Overall, partselect portion was as advertised. All parts arrived quickly and were priced fair.

If you were to do the Belt Replacement only, here is the quick synopsis:
1. Unplug dryer;
2a. Open lint door on top of dryer and remove the two phillips head screws that hold the lint bay to the metal dryer top;
2b. Next remove the two brakets holding the metal top to the dryer back (one screw on each bracket);
3. Use a flat-blade screw driver to pry off the top of the dryer (leaving the timer and start button area attached);
4. Lift off top and push back to expose just enough area so you can get to the two screws holding the dryer sides to the dryer front;
5. Unplug door switch;
6. Unscrew screws from #4;
7. With door open, lift dryer front (only about an inch) and then pry bottom of dryer front from dryer sides. The bottom of the dryer front is not screwed, just siting on Front Panel Clips;
8. Once the front is off the dryer, simply remove the belt and install the new one. Please note that while you are in here, you may want to inspect the rear drum seal and replace if it is worn to the point where metal is rubbing on metal. This is also a good time to clean out dust from inside this cavity to help extend the life of the bearings on the rollers and prevent dust from accumulating and gunking up the motor, etc.
9. Re-assemble tin the opposite order.
If you have any mechanical sense at all and you don't know anything about dryers, you will be surprised at the simplicity of the dryer.

The dryer wouldn’t turn on at all. It was like it was unplugged from the wall. However, fixing it couldn't be easier. I simply removed the back panel, found the fuse, tested it with an Ohmmeter (to determine that this was the part that didn't work), ordered the part from this website, and replaced the part. The part arrived in about two days. The shipping was a little pricey, but overall the whole thing cost me $20 vs. whatever it would cost me to get someone else to repair it. The website helps to identify the problem, and it is helpful to read how other people fixed their problems. It was so easy and the service was so good, I will definitely use this website again and recommend it to others.

The dryer motor quit working. Learned, if you are changing one that is old, get the blower wheel fan too! I could not break mine loose from the motor shaft, and had to bust it off.

To un-screw the blower wheel fan from the motor shaft: from the front of the dryer, grab the plastic fan on the back of the motor with an adjustable wrench, and the motor shaft on the front of the motor with vice grips. Turn the motor shaft CLOCKWISE holding the fan still to un-screw the fan. If you have to remove the pulley, grab the shaft and turn the pulley COUNTERCLOCKWISE with a wrench.

Just make sure to pay attention to the orientation of the new motor in the instructions. If you match the old motor, it will not fit. It is all spelled out in the directions.

Very Very Easy all you need is a 1/4 inch nutdriver. 1st remove the screws from the back of the dryer. 2nd you will see a shaft like duct work. remove the 2 screws from this shaftway, lift out the old heating element and replace with the new element. Part select was right on target and fast. 2 days to recieve my order. I expected to have to buy a new appliance. Partselect made it possible to fix it like new for around $80.00

1) Removed top of dryer
2) removed belt and drum
3) removed front of dryer
4) popped clips holding down motor
5) unscrewed rear fan from motor (by exposing and holding fan)
6) changed motor
7) changed support rollers and idler pully
8) reassemled dryer

First, I watched a utube video of replacing the dryer belt. Then I went to Sears Hardware and couldn't find a part. Then I ordered the parts for my favorite online repair parts source - partselect.com. I had the part in one day! We did exactly what the video showed and also replaced the two wheels that looked like roller blade wheels. Piece of cake. Saved a $75 repair call plus whatever the parts would have been and spent about 20 minutes doing it. Back in business. Great for a 12 year old dryer! Buy the dryer kit!

I looked for squeaky dryer within parts select and went with the 80%. I received the Maintenance Kit, replaced two rollers and it works like new. Amazing since this is the first time I have ever opened a dryer. The instruction sheet and parts were all I needed.

The video provided by this site on YouTube on this topic was perfect. Saved us a couple of hundred dollars DIY rather than repair man.

I watched the installation video on both parts before I purchased them and it was a piece-of-cake after that.

With the dryer taken apart to replace the broken belt it was obvious that the lint seals had not been working properly due to the excessive amount of lint covering all of the inside surfaces of the dryer. The belt idler pully had also moved from its normal mounting position and was laying at the bottom of the dryer. Because the lint had covered the bottom before the belt broke it was obvious to determine where the idler pully attached to the bottom.

Before cleaning I marked the exact location where the idler pully mounted to the bottom of the dryer.

While waiting for the replacement parts to be delivered a vacuum cleaner was used to remove lint from the inside surfaces of the dryer as well as the old fragments of the lint trap housing seals were removed and surfaces where the new seals would attach were cleaned.

Assembling the dryer with the new belt was a challenge due to the lack of support for the drum while getting the new belt in place, lined up properly, threaded through the idler pully and attached to the motor drive shaft. This is how I installed the new belt:

I used a piece of wood wider than the sides of the dryer, drilled holes that allowed for a piece of cloths line rope to be looped through and used to support the door opening end of the drum.

The drum was set on the seal and rollers at the back of the dryer.

The temporary wood /rope hanger was placed at the front end of the dryer resting on the sides with the top of the dryer raised.

The rope was adjusted until the drum rested on the back rollers and the rope like it would be positioned normally.

The new belt was then gently installed under the temporary support rope and around the drum.

The new belt had many kinks from shipping and was difficult to align with the location on the drum where it needs to ride so small strips of tape were temporarily used to hold the new belt in position until it could be fed through the idler pully and on to the drive shaft.

Several small pieces of a cardboard box were used to shim under the idler pully to hold it in its proper location as well as to make the belt attachment to the drive shaft easier.

With the belt attached, the temporary cardboard shims were removed from under the idler pully.

The front of the dryer was attached .

The temporary board and rope hanger was removed.

The tape that had been placed over the new belt to hold it in proper alignment was removed as the drum was rotated slowly by hand to ensure that all tape was removed prior to closing the top of the dryer.

The seals as well as the remainder of the dryer assembly was completed without any problems.

The dryer ran well for its initial trial spin and has dried several loads of laundry since.

Great parts and support Thankyou

PartSelect sent me three different door catches with instructions for choosing the correct one. I did choose and simply inserted it into the slot and voile! All finished and it works great now! PartSelect had the part delivered the day after my order was placed. I would suggest doing business with them to anyone asking who they might contact for a part. I especially appreciated the ease of identifying and ordering from them. I was able to do all of this on-line via their website.

1. Shut off gas and disconnected dryer.
2. Opened cabinet. Easy sheet metal screws and fairly obvious how everything goes together. NB: You'll need a block (or a helper to hold things while you run to look for one) to hold the drum while removing the front.
3. The motor is connected with a single harness, so wiring is a snap.
4. Removing the blower wheel from the back was hard. I braced the motor shaft and turned with all the leverage I could muster, but it was stuck. Plan B: Recip saw to cut the shaft. Motor comes out one side and the fan comes out the other.
5. The fan, of course, was unusable because there was still a piece of motor shaft stuck in the thread. This is why I had to spring for a new wheel.
6. Put everything back together and receive wife's adoring praise...