Front Glide Kit

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 received my parts promptly and had no problems, they were accurate and fit well.

After removing the screws to the front door and panel I removed the wires to the door switch. Carefully I removed the belt and removed the drum. I took the time to vacuum all of the lent from the inside and and remove from all the wiring, motor and heating elements, etc. I replaced the drum rollers, belt, front glides and a buzzer that was on the blink. I reassembled the dryer and unforetunately the dryer was still squeeking. I later repeated the process and found that the tensioner wheel for the belt was the culprit. I cleaned then greased the bearing portion and replaced it. I reassembled the dryer a second time and now it's quiet as a mouse. By the way, you will need a rivet gun to replace the front glides and I recommend you give the belt tensioner wheel a good inspection the first time.

If your dryer is squeeking, go ahead and order the tensioner wheel also, it's a little money spent toward making sure you get rid of the noise! It might save you a lot of time and trouble.

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.

1 Disconnect dryer from electrical outlet
2 remove vent pipe
3 Tilt dryer backwards and remove front cover bottom 2 philips screws.
4 remove lint assembly and then the fan blower housing with nut driver.
5 with pliers remove retainer clip from fan
6 remove snap ring with pliers or a flat blade screw driver will also work.
7 remove fan
at the same time I replaced the front glides if you do not want to do this then reinstall in reverse order and job is complete.

for glide replacement
1 remove the 4 screws holding the outer ring to the frame of the dryer.
2 drill out old rivits from the back side and then knock out. be careful to only drill rivit and not into metal frame
3 install new new glides makesure you install in correct direction.
4 install pop rivets with stud end on top side of glide. pushing rivet through glide and into the frame ring.
5 pop rivits and make sure they are secure.
6 reinstall ring making sure seal is around ring correctly
7 reintal 4 screws.
8 follow reassembly of blower and lint housing if you changed the fan. if not then just the lint assembly.

good luck the job is really easy and you will save yourself some money

After much coercement from my wife, I listened to the squealing noise she kept telling me about. Then it quit working completely and I had no choice. Probably the motor. Not being one to want to do this more than once and figuring after 16 years all of it could be bad, I ordered all moving parts, as well as new front and rears felt seals for the drum and the blower seal. Everything in taking the dryer apart was straight forward and obvious. The tricky part was getting the belt back on the tensioner. Working from the front of the dryer, I did this one-handed via the lower left side around the motor while my wife held the drum in place.

1. Unplugged dryer, removed front (2 phillips screws near bottom) set aside with wires attached
2. Removed front support (4 hex head screws)
3. Drilled out pop-rivets, discarded old glides (why didn't Maytag use rollers?)
4. Riveted new glides in place.
5. (Oops!) trimmed cork pads, smeared with glue, shoved under glides, held down until firm
6. Removed drum (pushed belt back to groove, pulled drum off rollers, lifted belt off drum, worked drum out) Left belt on pulley and tension wheel as pattern when I replace it.
7. Scraped old gasket felt off back chassis and front support
8a. Folded gasket lengthwise and glued into front support channel with fold on outside diameter. It was too short.
8b. (Oops! Why didn't this come with instructions?) Pulled it out, reversed it and replaced it with fold to inside diameter. It fit. Glued ends together.
9. Glued other felt gasket into back chassis. (Good ventilation needed here!)
10. Replaced rollers. (This did have instructions, despite being easy. I didn't use any grease. Experience as a locksmith says don't lube anything that isn't sealed from dust. I also vacuumed out 15 years of dust.)
11. Replaced belt. (The old one looked fine, but I was advised to do the belt and rollers along with the glides.) The grooves touch the drive pulley, the flat goes around the tensioner, and the belt exiting to the left seems like it will rub the pulley, but it doesn't once the drum is installed.
12. Turn the drum around (Nice, it's symmetrical!) and work it back in.
13. Lift the belt around the drum edge (I used bull clips to hold it in place.)
14. Check the belt on the pulleys, move the drum in more, take off clips, move the belt to the groove.
15. put the drum on the rollers, lift the belt out of the groove, and spin the drum a little while watching the pulleys to check it.
16. Screw the front support back in place.
17. Screwed the front on and plugged it in.
It works!

Utilizing the online schematics, I disassembled the dryer, marked and disconnected all wires, and removed the drum. Once the drum was removed, I thoroughly cleaned the inside of the dryer and removed all lint accumulation from the heating element, motor, and blower fan areas. I replaced the front guides and drum support rollers/shafts, belt and idler pulley. I reassembled the dryer and it worked! Be sure to lay all the screws and parts in a logical sequence as you disassemble the dryer, it makes reassembly much easier.

Remove top two front cover screws. Disconnect wiring. Set aside front cover - door assembly.

Remove two screws at top of the vertical riser cover to expose entire dryer interior. Remove filter. Remove screws to blower cover plate. Remove 4 screws that fasten front drum guide assembly. Remove drum. remove and replace 2 drum support rollers . Replace one rusted drum roller shaft. Replace both drum rollers and non-metalic washers.

Drill out 4 rivets holding two front drum glides. Replace and rerivet new drum glides.

Pry back slighty the many retention points around the front drum assembly which hold the front drum felt seal. Refit the new front drum felt, pressing the retaining clips back in place with a screwdriver.

Replace tumbler motor belt.

Install Drum. Install front drum retention assembly. Install new blower seal with reassembly of blower cover.

Total time - about 1 hour

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.

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!