Idler Pulley Shaft Washer

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.

Took the two screws out of the front of the dryer. Tilted the bottom out until the clips in the top came loose. Disconnected the door switch and put the front panel aside.
Removed 4 screws holding front drum support in place using small socket set. Pulled drum support off and set aside.
Took note of how the belt ran through the idler pulley, pulled up idler pulley until the belt slipped off idler and motor pulley. Drum pulls straight out of dryer.
With the drum out there is plenty of room to get to the screw holding the idler pulley arm in place, remove it so you can pull the old pulley and washers off shaft. Reassemble using new parts and reattach idler arm.
Put the drum back in place, wrap new belt around drum (non groove side against drum), thread the belt around the motor shaft and work it back around the idler pulley. This was the hardest part of the job since your working in tight quarters and you can only fell what your doing.
One the belt is in place, rotate the drum by hand to make sure the belt tracks properly. Finish cleaning up any dust accumulation inside the dryer/fan assembly. Reattach the front drum support, reattach the door switch wires and reassemble the front panel by tilting the panel until the top catches, swing down into place and attach bottom with the two screws. Done!

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.

I found that I replaced more parts than I needed to fix fhis problem. The source of the rumble was the blower wheel connection to the motor, allowing the wheel to wobble (plastic wheel flat spot worn off over time, no firm lock to the motor shaft). But the dryer should be good for another 10 years!

Disconnect dryer from electrical outlet and exhaust.

Remove the back access plate to release the belt from the pulley. Remove the two screws at the bottom front of the dryer, rotate the front to release it at the top. Remove the wires from the door status switch. Remove the 4 nuts holding the drum support frame and pull straight out. Remove the drum. Remove the two bolts holding the thermostat cover (silver odd shaped metal plate at the front of the dryer). Remove the dryer blower cover plate by removing the 6 bolts holding it to the blower housing. Remember to remove the bolt holding the plate to the bottom of the dryer. Release the door status wire from the clips on the left side of the dryer and set the blower housing plate to the right, out of your way without removing the wires. Remove the blower wheel by removing the Circlip at the front of the shaft and then removing the shaft compression clip. Pull out the blower wheel and then remove the rear Circlip from the motor shaft. The back of the blower housing can be removed by removing the 4 bolts holding it to the motor support frame to make access easier but this may not be necessary. Release the 5 wires attached to the motor. Release the front and back motor clips. I used a large straightblade scerwdriver to press down and out on the end of the clips. Lift out the motor. Remove the rear pulley from the motor using an allen wrench and transfer it to the new motor. Set the new motor in the support frame, ensuring the lips of the vibration isolation rings are pointed down to slip over the frame and are not facing up towards the clips ( makes clip instalaltion much easier). Hook up the wires, following the color coding on the motor controller you are attaching to. Reinstall the blower back housing if removed, rear circlip, blower wheel, front circlip, shaft compression clip, blower housing front cover (Including the bolt to the dryer bottom) , reroute the door switch wire up the left side, reinstall the thermostat cover, reinstall the drum and belt, reinstall the drum front support frame (ensure the felt seals for the drum and the blower cover are properly aligned and seated correctly), hook up the door status wire when your set the front cover and install the 2 screws, reinstall the belt through the pulley and idler wheel (make sure the belt smooth side is against the drum) through the back access panel and reinstall the panel.

My husband and a friend decided to take the dryer apart to see what the problem might be and if it could be repaired. I had already decided the dryer is about 14 years old, it is history. They discovered the roller was broken, and other parts such as the belt, a pulley and so on. I went online to www.partselect.com. I was surprised to see diagrams of the inside of my dryer. That helped us order the right parts. I ordered the parts for a total of 68.00 (including shipping) The parts came, the dryer was fixed and runs like new. I saved 400.00, because I did not have to buy a new dryer. I am very proud that we were able to use this site to locate our needs and fix the dryer. The diagrams helped us perform the task without calling a repair person.
Thank you for this opportunity!

Note: You may want to consider replacing the 2 Drum Support rollers at this time (while your in there)

1. UNPLUG YOUR DRYER FIRST.

2. Using a phillips head screw driver - Remove 2 screws that secure the dryer door hinges to the frame, Lift door very slightly to unhook hinges and pull out door with hinges attached as straight as possible, set aside. Remove the 2 plastic tabs from the opposing side of the door hinge also secured by screws.

3. Remove the front panel (panel is shaped like a football goal post) by tilting out the top ends of the front panel toward you, then lift up to remove panel from the bottom metal retaining tabs.

4. Remove the 2 hexhead screws from the 2 retaining clips (security hooks) that secure the top
of the dryer closed.

5. Systematically remove the hexhead screws from the rest of the front of "shroud" (it holds (suspends) the drum in place between the front and back of the dryer).

*** I didn't disconnect any wires, I carefully swung out each piece that had wires attached, propped up those parts vertically ensuring no strain on the attached wires. Others may want to disconnect wires to avoid breaking or damaging them.

6. Vacuum out any dust/lint that may be present.

7. Draw a quick diagram of how the underside of the belt is threaded on the idler pulley and motor pully first. Release the tension of the belt from the underside of the drum. The easiest way is to push the idler pulley arm away from the belt and slide off the belt from the idler pulley and motor pulley. Slide the drum out.

8. Remove the hexhead screw from the bottom of the idler arm. Disconnect from retaining spring.

9. You may only need to replace just the Idler Pulley Wheel. I recommend replacing as a "unit" the Idler Pulley Wheel, Idler Arm, Ring-E and Idler Shaft Washer(s) - then you can just swap out the old one for the new one.

10. Reassemble

(When reassembling the belt - place around drum first and slide drum in place. Now from the underside-place (drape) belt around the motor pulley (it will be very loose) Now push the idler pulley arm toward the motor pulley, engage the left side of the belt around the idler pulley and slowly allow idler pulley to increase its tension on the belt) You can test manually by rotating the drum by hand to ensure proper movement.)

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.