Tumbler and Motor Belt

Unplugged dryer. Front came off easily. Removed front of blower. Wheel came off fairly easily - could then see that shaft of motor was circular with flattened side but inside of old wheel was rounded. New wheel popped right on. Took tumbler off so I could clean lint out more easily and get a good view of how the belt threaded through. Put the tumbler back on and reached back with both hands to thread it. Took a half dozen tries until I was sure it was seated correctly and not twisted. Put front... of dryer back on. So far (a week or so) the rumble is gone. Seems blower wheel was the cause of the rumble. Belt didn't seem worn but replaced anyhow.

1. Removed front of machine (2 screws at the bottom).
2. Removed 4 screws from inside the dryer, to take off the blower housing.
3. Removed 4 screws and took out the large metal piece which supports the drum at the front. Removed the drum.
4. Replaced the two rollers that support the drum in the rear. Cleaned the pins they run on, and oiled very lightly. Also replaced the idler roller. I was surpirsed to see that these rollers use plain bearings, not ball bearings.
5. On the front support piece, drilled out the rivets for the glides, and replaced the worn out glides with new parts. Applied a little glue (3M weatherstrip adhesive) to the cork pieces, to glue them to the metal. Attached the plastic pieces over the cork pieces, and riveted in place using rivets that came with the glide kits.
6. Replaced front and rear felt seals. This was not as tricky as I expected it to be. They were held in by metal tabs. Glued the ends where they came together.
7. Replaced the felt blower seal. Glued to the blower housing.
8. Reinstalled the drum, installed new belt, which came with good instructions (luckily).
9. Reassembled front support piece and the front of the cabinet.

I also cleaned the lint from the cabinet and from the vent hose.

In general, the job went without a hitch, and the machine probably has quite a few years left, despite the fact that it's 18 years old. This gives me a good feeling.

I'd say this would be challenging, though, for someone who is not pretty experienced with machinery repair. Also, the cost of the parts was significant enough that it would not have been unreasonable to have opted for a new machine.

I searched the internet and found my symptoms really seemed to indicate a problem with the blower wheel, which was very noisy. Feeling confident that was what I needed, I ordered the blower wheel, and also the tumbler belt (the belt was 12 years old). Both parts were genuine Maytag and arrived quickly. Before the order arrived, I went ahead and UNPLUGGED THE DRYER and disassembled the dryer using the partselect.com helpful parts diagrams and the repair notes of others. This allowed me to confirm the blower wheel was in fact loose on the motor shaft. I removed the old blower wheel and belt. Shop vac'd out the entire dryer cabinet. This way I was able to take my time with preparation, and when the new parts arrived, I was ready to just pop them into place. If you disassemble before you order, you can also determine if the tumbler front guide set and /or rear tumbler roller wheels also need to be replaced (mine did not), but this would have been the perfect time to replace those too. I saved a bunch of money and have the satisfaction of having done this job myself. Dryer works great now.

I have a 15 year old Maytag dryer that finally broke its belt.

First I unplugged the dryer from the outlet, and then I removed the access plate in the back of the dry by removing the four screws. Once I removed the plate, it was quickly obvious that the belt had broken, as bits of belt were all over the interior of the dryer.

I removed the front panel of the dryer (where the main door is located) by removing the two retaining screws at the bottom of the panel. After removing the screws, I was able to swing the entire front assembly up and remove the panel. The door sensor is attached to the front panel by two wires; I simply pulled the two wires from the door sensor, which allowed me to completely remove the front panel from the dryer.

I removed four screws on either side of the dryer which attached the front tumbler assembly to the dryer frame. The tumbler assembly also has the lint screen attached to it as well. Removal of the lint screen allowed me greater access to the internals of the dryer. I took the opportunity to use my Shopvac to clean out the accumulated 15 years of dirt and lint from inside the dryer.

Once the front tumbler assembly was removed, the main dryer tumbler came out easily. I removed the tumbler from the dryer and inspected it for damage. I also did more cleaning inside the dryer with my Shopvac. Removal of the tumbler is required for installing the new belt.

I wrapped the new belt around the tumbler and reinserted the tumbler back inside the drier. I reinstalled the front tumbler assembly, but I didn't tighten the four screws until I was sure the main tumbler was seated correctly on both the rear and front tumbler assemblies. Only then did I tighten the four screws.

I then went to the back access panel on the dryer and threaded the belt around the dryer motor rotor and belt tensioning roller. The new belt twisted a few times in the process, so I manually rolled the tumbler to straighten out the belt.

Once I was confident the belt was seated properly around the tumbler and motor rotor, I replaced the front dryer panel loosely. I also reconnected the two wire door sensor and then plugged in the dryer. I purposely left the back access panel off, so I could observe the motor and belt while the dry was running. I turned the dryer to a non-heat setting (i.e. air fluff) and started the dryer. I observed the rotation of the belt for about 2 minutes to insure it was rolling properly. Next, I set the dryer to a heated setting and ran it again for 2 minutes to be sure all the heating elements were working. It is good to check both the rotation of the belt and the heat elements prior reinstalling the back access panel. There is nothing worse than putting the dryer back together only to discover the belt is improperly tensioned/seated or the dryer heater elements are no longer working.

I secured the dryer front panel using the two screws. I reattached the back access panel with the four screws. Finally, I reconnected the dryer hose.

Dryer is running like new and haven't had any further problems.

I noticed a rattling noise coming from the dryer. I disassembled the dryer to troubleshoot. I assumed the rollers were bad, but I discovered that the blower wheel was loose on the motor shaft. The rollers were fine. I also discovered the belt was worn.

I ordered a new blower wheel and belt. Replacement was as described elsewhere.

I couldn't get to the screws on the front panel because my screwdriver was too long. So I put a pressure treated 2x4 under the front dryer legs to elevate it. I used pressure treated lumber because that's what was in the garage. Untreated wood would also work.

After removing the front panel screws, the bottom of the front panel needs to be tilted away from the dryer. At about 20-30 degrees of tilt, the front panel will suddenly drop away from the top.

Rotate the front panel to your left so that the wires don't get stretched. It isn't necessary to unplug the wires. But after touching the wires and getting shocked, now is a good time to unplug the dryer. In fact, it would have been better to unplug the dryer before you start any work on it.

Remove the front bulkhead and lint filter housing as a unit. 4 screws hold it to the dryer.

Remove the screws holding the faceplate of the wheel assembly, and remove the faceplate.

Next remove the spring clip from the blower wheel shaft. Then remove the circlip using a circlip plier. The wheel will now slip off the motor shaft.

Put the new wheel on the shaft, making sure to align the flat part of the shaft with the flat part on the wheel. Install the circlip and spring clip.

Replace the faceplate, Note that the perimeter of the face plate goes inside a groove. Install the screws.

Replacing the belt has been covered before, so I'll leave it at that. Just make sure that the belt goes on the proper side of the belt guard.

Install the front bulkhead-lint filter housing. Make sure the lint filter housing lines up with the blower wheel housing and goes inside the felt.

Install the front panel. Make sure the felt doesn't get pinched by the drum.

The first time I disassembled the dryer, it took about 1.5 hours. The second time was only about 45 minutes. The third and subsequent times were even quicker. Practice makes perfect.