Idler Pulley Wheel and Bearing

From the first time the motor buzzed (but dryer tumbler then started to turn), 2 weeks elapsed for the dryer drum to stop turning altogether. If this occurs, DO NOT continue to push the start button because the motor armature wiring will heat up and the insulation will begin to melt and smell - a SAFETY HAZARD. Unplug dryer and lockout/tagout as appropriate.

Through basic troubleshooting, discovered the motor had seized up. Since the unit was about 10 years old and it had to be disassembled for replacement, the decision was made to replace "likely to fail mechanical components including motor, belt, both rear drum rollers/shafts, idler arm pulley/assembly/wheel, associated washers, snap rings and both front glides. Reviewed the PartSelect website and drawings, ordered the parts and they delivered on time. Buy the correct sized snap rings at a local hardware, they're much less expensive. Also once inside your dryer, you'll likely find alot of lint to vacuum out...have fun.

I went online and Googled several resources that showed how to remove the front dryer panels, as well as PartSelect repair stories. From that point on, I took photos as I was disassembling so I would know how to put it back together. Utilize pictures or whatever system you prefer to keep track of taking something apart and putting it back together.

Remove the dryer door, then the front panel Disconnect wires to the light, dryness sensor and door switch. Note belt and pulley configuration that is near the motor-this will help you later when reinstalling the belt. Also note if the ribbed side or the flat side of the belt is against the outer drum wall. Remove the door shroud.

Slip the belt off the idler pulley wheel. Remove front drum support, then dryer drum Note which end of the dryer drum is the front and the orientation of the glides on the drum support. Discard old belt. Drill out and remove the old front glide supports, then install/rivet the new glides.

Remove both old rear drum rollers/shafts, washers, etc. The rear drum roller shafts are secured to a back bracket by a hex nut....feel around you'll figure it out. Replace new roller shafts. Lightly grease using a high quality silicon grease, then replace new washers, roller, snap ring, etc

Carefully unplug wiring harness on motor, there are fragile clips on each end. Don't forget a separate ground wire from the harness is attached to the motor mount bracket. Carefully release tension on the idler arm spring. Using the correct size nut driver, remove three screws (on this model) then take out the motor/idler arm assembly. Remove the old idler arm/pulley assembly. Remove the motor mount clips on each end of the mount (I used a wide blade screwdriver). Remove and replace the motor. Motor configurations changed after Whirlpool bought Maytag, so orient it correctly insuring mounting gasket "nubs" on each end of the motor correspond to the cutouts on the motor mount. Reinstall the motor mount clips. Replace the new idler arm assembly/pulley wheel; grease moving parts with high quality wheel bearing grease. Replace motor/mount bracket assembly back into the dryer. Replace ground wire to motor mount bracket and plug wiring harness back in. Reinstall idler arm spring.

Place belt back on the dryer drum and move into place on rear rollers. Reinstall front drum support. Dryer drum should turn relatively easy. Insure belt is oriented on the drum correctly before connecting belt to motor shaft end and idler arm wheel pulley (the picture you took comes in handy here).

Reinstall the rest of the parts in reverse.

First, I read reviews on this forum. Great help! I was betting, from previous reviews, that it was a drum roller. I took everything apart prior to ordering any parts. Sure enough, one drum roller was seized on the roller shaft. Decided to replace all rotating parts (rollers,shafts, belt, idler pulley) while everything was apart. I also took the opportunity to clean out all of the lint (there was a lot) from the motor and intake.
Parts were on my doorstep in two days. The dryer is like brand new. I could do this job again in less than an hour. This was money and time well spent.

disassembled dryer and removed and replaced rollers and shafts and installed new belt while i was at it. very easy fix, ordered parts from PARTS ELECT.COM , excellent website with great views of my machine made it east to order correct parts.very fast delivery , will use partselect again! HIGHLY RECOMMEND

Did an on-line search on Matag dis-assembly, pulled front panel, dryer drum, replaced idler pulley, rollers and belt. Also, vacuumed dryer cabinet , now the dryer works like new. This is an easy repair for anyone with any mechanical ability, and just basic tools.

1) Took off the front door of the drier (first unscrewed it in the sides, then lifted the door to lift the hinges up and pulled the door off)
2) Pulled the front panel down and off
3) I checked the belt to see if it was broken and it wasn't
4) I tried to turn the drier barrel manually to see if I can move the belt... it didn't move. Not knowing if there was just too much resistance, I tested the drier while looking at the motor and motor pulley as it ran.
5) I noticed that the motor pinion rotated, but the belt was slipping against it... that's why it smelled. The rubber was burning
6) Then I found that the idler pulley had stopped rotating, and the belt actually cut a channel into part of the plastic... That's when I realized that I had to replace at least the idler pulley.
7) Not knowing whether the bushing and other parts were going to be salvageable, I ordered parts for the whole assembly... but I wasn't sure how to best approach the repair...
8) Then I found partselect.com, and they had both diagrams of the assembly, all the parts easy to order, and best of all, a video of someone actually going through this repair! I was dumbfounded! :)
9) For swapping the parts I just watched the video on how to pull out the drier barrel... the only difference is that I didn't see a need to unplug the cables from the front top panel before removing the drier tumbler. (Obviously the power was turned off :P)
10) when I removed the barrel, I swapped the whole idler pulley assembly, just keeping the original spring.
11) Put everything back together, and it ran like a champ!

The video helped me save a lot of time though... it showed me how the whole thing is most easily serviced and made the repair a breeze!

If your dryer is squeaking it is most likely either the idler pulley or drum rollers. First I took apart the dryer to see which parts I would need. I checked the drum rollers by spinning them with my hand to see if they spun freely and also checked them to see if they were loose, they were okay. Then I checked the idler pulley and found my problem, it was hard to spin it so I figured the bearing was shot. I sprayed some lubricant on the bearing to help with the squeaking while I waited for my parts. It took about 30 minutes to diagnose my problem and put the dryer back together.
I took some advise from another story saying to get the whole idler arm, shaft and pulley assembly. It might have cost me a few bucks more, but I did not want to run into the same problem he did (the pulley bearing was fused to the shaft). It took me about 20 minutes to take apart the dryer, install the part, and put it back together. If you are pretty good with fixing things, you should have no problem doing this repair.

After taking the dryer apart, I found that one of the drum support rollers was barely hanging on the pin and was the main cause of the metal on metal squealing noise that became increasingly worse over a month's time.

I replaced both rollers, the idler pulley, and put on a new belt after giving the dryer a thorough cleaning.

It was a 100% success and fixed the problem making the dryer work and sound like brand new again.

Replaced bower wheel, drum rollers,belt and Idler pulley while the dryer was apart. so far so good. Easy repair
Motor bearings seemed tight so hopefully will get another ten years out of dryer.

I watched the very helpful video provided by Parts Select. The repair went smoothly except for two problems. After reassembly, there was still a noise coming from the rotating drum, which I later discovered was the result of not making sure the felt gaskets around the front and back edges of the drum were not being pinched. Smoothing the felt solved the problem. The other issue was that after the repair the dryer was shutting off prematurely, before the clothes were completely dry. This was again my fault. When I first removed the bulkhead, a wire to the automatic moisture sensor came loose without my noticing it, hiding itself deep inside the cabinet. Since the model used on the video did not have such a sensor, disconnecting/reconnecting the wire was not mentioned. Upon reopening the cabinet, I noticed the loose wire and reconnected it -- problem solved. Thanks Parts Select, and thanks to the other user reports that provided useful tips.

I watched all of the video provided for repairing each of the parts and used them several times! They were excellent and beneficial! I used the suggestions provided and found the involved correction to do exactly as planned. The end result was very good and the dryer now works like it is supposed to without any noises. I thank you for all of your help.