Dryer Retaining Ring WP9703438

removed front panel,lifted top, removed drum and drive belt,remove old rollers and acc and instlled new and reinstalled dryer parts.

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.

Disconnected dryer, took off front, took off screen housing, took belt off pulley and lifted out tub. Removed snap rings from roller shaft and removed rollers. Then removed roller shafts. Reversed procedure and added new shafts, rollers, washers, nuts and snap rings. Put tub in and put belt on pulley. Replaced auto dry sensor before replacing lint screen housing and connected wiring. Put front on and connented dryer. Be very careful when working with roller shafts. My wrench slipped and I ended up with 8 stitches in my right hand. The sheetmetal is sharp!

I read all of the reviews and what people used to fix the problems. I ordered a drum support roller and a shaft. I didn't realize you needed two of each. After taking everything apart, I didn't have the tool to take off the retainer ring around the shaft. I pryed off the ring, and replaced the support roller. The second roller looked worse so I replaced it with the other used roller. It took forever to get the ring on with out the correct tool. I did get the rings on with a needle nose pliers, but it doesn't have much tension left. The dryer sounds great. It did take me some time to figure out how the tension worked for the drum band, but I eventually figured that out. Now I bought the tool for the ring retainers, another new drum support roller and shaft, and I plan on installing them all some day soon. The ring retainer took most of the time as it kept flying off with the washer. Don't start the project with out the proper tool to install the ring, unless you a lot of time on your hands.

The process was pretty methodical. This is a washer/dryer stack unit, and the dryer is on top. I removed the top 2 screws on the dryer front cover, and pulled it down, while being careful of the connecting wires that are attached. I also removed the lower front panel (it angles in at the base), and pulled that out. There are a few plates to remove (one steel and one pale green) and as I removed them, I had labels for the screws on a few pages to keep track of where each screw and plate went. Then, finally, I removed the screws that held the main tumbler in place. There are four. From that point, pulling the tumbler out is relatively easy, as long as you turn it as you pull it out, so the belt can slip off. The only real problem I had was the expanding washer that holds the drum roller support from slipping off. It has to be pulled apart so that it can be removed from the roller shaft, and when I did it, the piece snapped off, and fell into the inside of the dryer bottom, and I had to hunt for it. But once that was done, I put the new roller support on, and it was completed. I didn't need the other parts. It was the Drum support roller that had rusted.

** Your best bet is to use a digital camera to take pictures of the various stages as you take apart the dryer - especially the wiring. And, use masking tape to label all the wires.
** I removed the Blower Housing which made the process much easier.
** Find a friend with or buy the snap ring pliers
** Big Secret not mentioned anywhere - the Motor Support (diag. #20) can be removed ! Hence - the entire Motor assembly can be taken out to remove those irascible Motor Clips.
** For the Green ground wire going from the dryer frame to the motor, you need to take the screw from the old motor and use it to screw into a hole marked with a black "slash" on the new motor.
** After 3 days of WD 40 and an allen wrench, I could not remove the Motor Pully from the old motor, so I would buy one if I were you.
** Hardest Parts - Removing the Motor Clips, reattaching the idler spring!, having another person hold the drum while I installed the Belt and reattached the front drum frame thingy, and deciphering my wiring schematic and reassembly diagrams ! That is why a digital camera is so helpful.
** The process is really very easy if you use the suggestions above and read the others.
** Find the "Model Diagram" on the PartSelect website - an excellent resource !!
** A twenty+ year old Maytag - up and running again !! Many thanks to others who shared their story.

Replacing the blower fan took way too long, like 4 hrs, because I didn't know how to disassemble the dryer and get to the problem. Replacing the idler bracket and assorted retaining rings and washers was fast, something like 1 hour. Disconnect the power cord, exhaust hose, and gas line. Remove two screws at the bottom of the face of the machine, unplug the electrical harness to the door light, switch and ground and remove the front of the machine. Remove the access panel at the back of the machine and remove the belt from the idler pulley. Remove the four screws holding the front drum support assembly and remove the drum. Replace some old retaining rings and the spring washers on the drum support rollers. Around back assemble the idler pulley assembly with some new washers and the old roller which seemed in good condition. Put it all back together. About one hour.

It was very easy to access the parts that needed to be replaced (blower wheel, belt, and glides).
1. Unplug the dryer power cord.
2. Removed the two screws at the bottom of the front dryer panel. Pull the bottom of the panel forward, which frees the retaining clips at the top of the panel.
3. Disconnect the two wires from the back of the panel, and remove the panel. The drum will be resting on the motor/blower hosuing.
4. Slide the belt off of the back of the tumbler, and remove the tumbler (have to angle it a bit, to clear the frame) and the belt.
5. Remove the thermostat cover (piece of angled sheet metal, in front of the blower unit).
6. Remove the screws from the blower housing, and lay it forward, to expose the blower wheel.
7. Remove the snap ring, and then the retaining ring from the blower wheel. Remove the old wheel.
8. Install the new wheel, then the retaining ring, and then the snap ring. Reattach the cover to the blower assembly.
9. Reattach the thermostat cover.
10. On the tumbler, drill out the rivets for each of the glides, and remove all glide parts. Install new glides.

This is a good time to complete any general cleaning inside the dryer cabinet, especially in the area of the motor. Since there is limited access to the motor itself, might help to use the blower function of a shopvac to blow out that dust.
Vacuum out all lint from around the felt drum seals.

11. Loop the new belt over the tumbler, and install the tumbler (the glides go towards the front of the dryer). Note: to keep the belt from falling off, I taped it to the drum with two pieces of painters tape..the blue tape that comes back off easily.
12. On the back of the dryer, remove the access panel, and complete installation of the belt to the idler pulley.
13. If you taped the belt to the drum....don't forget to remove the tape now. Reinstall front panel to dryer.

This was my first experience working with snap ring retaining rings. Even with snap ring pliers, they are difficult to remove without stretching them out. Be sure to order a new one with your blower wheel.

Also my first experience using a pop rivet gun ( to install the new glides). Found a rivet gun at Lowes for $9.99. Worked okay, and all rivets set properly. Good thing, because you don't get any extras with the glide kits.

After replacing the parts, and starting up the dryer, all of the clunking/squelling/rumbling noises were gone. There was a noticable smell while the new glides got broken in...smelled a bit like melting rubber. However, after a couple of drying cyles, the odor was gone.

My 11 year old grandson and I did the repair together. He had a blast and I did too. First we removed a bunch of screws that got us no closer to getting the machine apart than when we started. Then I remembered from the last time I had the machine apart that there are two screws just below the door, angled as not to be visable unless you know where to look. Once we removed those the from came off. We removed the wires for the door light and heat sensor, remembering the order of the wires for later reinstallation. Then we undid the bolts holding down the top. Once the top was removed we took off the belt and removed the drum. We used the retainer pliers to remove the retainer ring from the first roller. We removed the roller and also the shaft as this roller was the noise maker and the shaft was not in reusable condition. We installed a new shaft, roller washer, roller, another roller washer and then the retainer ring. We repeated the same process on the other roller, although we did not replace the shaft as it was in good condition. It turned out I did not need to order the shaft washers as the rollers came with washers. Oh well, its not a good job unless you have parts left over when you are done. Once we replaced the rollers we commenced reinstallation. But first we had to google for diagram of the proper belt installation, which we found and that got the drum and belt installed properly. Thankd god for the internet. Once we had the drum installed we put the machine back together in the opposite order we took it apart. An operational test showed we did the job right, no more squeaking. The only injury was my grandson cut his thumb right after I gave him the speech about watching where your hand is going to end up when that bolt breaks free. It broke loose and into the metal bracket went his thumb. Oh well it was a good lesson and it was not a bad cut. All in all a good repair.