Rear Drum Seal Kit

My wife had been complaing about excessive noise from our 25 year old dryer so after DISCONNECTING the dryer from the wall outlet I popped the top panel loose @ the front with a screw driver @ each front corner @ took a look. No cause was visible so I removed the rear cover & still nothing so I laid the dryer on it's back to remove the front cover. First the 2 wires to the door switch were disconnected then the 2 screws @ the top corners that hold the front panel to the side panels were removed. The front panel then slid up & lifted off exposing the front of the drum, belt & support pulleys. Upon inspection I found the bottom support pulley sleeve bearing to have worn out. Both pulleys were replaced because they only come as a pair now along with the tensioner pulley (idler pulley), the belt & the rear lip seal on the drum since it had a 4" section missing from the edge @ one point (all of these were the original components). Replacing the rear drum seal took the most time because the old adhesive had to be removed. I did this first so the glue could set while I installed the new pulleys & belt. By the time they were installed, the glue had set enough & I could continue the re-assembly.
We now have a 25 year old dryer that sounds like it's new & @ a fraction of the cost

We discovered that the front of the dryer popped off after removing screws at the bottom of the front panel.
The tumbler seal had rotted away, the drum support rollers were frozen and the belt had broken. My husband did most of the work. I assisted, this was a 2 man job. We removed the old seal glue with Goo Gone, we put the new seal on with both of us working on it using clothes pins. Then we glued the new seal with one of us holding the seal up while the other put the glue under it. My husband replaced the drum support rollers, got the idler pulley ready and put the belt around the drum. He lifted and I guided the tumbler (drum) into position. I held the drum while he installed the idler pulley assembly. I kept holding the drum while he got the front panel, put it in position and re-connected the electrical wires on it. Once we had that done he was able to install the front panel. Then came the moment for the test drive, and what do you know but it worked!! We didn't have to spend $$ for a new dryer, it cost us some time (probably around 5 hours total, taking apart, ordering parts and putting together), and a little over $100!! We were happy!

I new that the drum would need to be removed to perform the seal replacements but it didn't look that difficult. Sure enough, it was a piece of cake. The whole process of installation took less than one hour to complete. The saving to repair vs. replacement of the dryer amounted to the equivilant of 4 - 5 rounds of golf. Yes I would do it again!

Opened up machine per instructions.
After examining drum slides and rear drum bearing, determined that all should be replaced due to excessive wear. Drum slides were the chief cause of the squealing, and they were as simple to replace as removing 4 nut drive screws, pulling off the old parts, and replacing with new. The drum bearing had to be coaxed out by tapping with a screwdriver, but the old was just able to be pushed in. All parts came with instructions, so the repair was easy. And no more squealing!

I thought this repair would be a lot harder than it was. First I removed the top of the dryer ( removed two screws from the backside) then I removed the frontside of the dryer( i think two or four screws) just look along the edges to see where it's attached. Then I also removed the lower panel of the front of the dryer The one with clips to secure on the dryer. Removed the ground wire from panel. I removed the screws that holds on the lint vent and took that off. I easily took the drum out of the dryer and then placed it on the floor with the backside facing up. I then removed the damaged old felt strip (which had been glued on) I sanded a little to remove some of the residue. I checked the instructions to make sure I placed the new belt on correctly, and then glued it to the drum.(Note; the belt I received was too big about 3". I just cut it and sewn it together. It fit perfectly after that.) If this is a problem for you I don't think it has to be sewn because the glue you use to secure it holds tight and dries fast.
I also inspected and touched up the front felt seal with the glue.
After it dries about 10-15 min, I put the drum back in the dryer and then reattached the dryer vent and the front panel. I took a look at the instructions to set the back felt belt correctly. I turned the drum, gently pull the edge of the felt seal to the surface. After that I set the dryer belt up. This was bit tricky, I had to reach from the bottom panel area and after a few trys I got it . ( When setting the dryer belt, It works better if you push the spring arm with your hand instead of trying to use the belt to pull it toward the motor) Then I turn the drum a couple of times to make sure it was on good. then I put the bottom panel on and then the top back on and I was good to go. It works great now.

So the first thing I did was search the web for the parts and came to this site. I knew the model and that I needed rollers and a rear seal. I found both on this site for order in less than 10 minutes, which included finding the wonderful diagrams and directions for replacing the parts. I placed the order got the parts two days later.

I printed out the directions to take the drum out and followed them. After unplugging the dryer, I pushed in the clips that were indicated to release the top and pushed that up. I then disconnected the door switch. I reached under the dryer (not having a kicker panel for some years...) and worked to release the belt. I then took the front off removing the four screws as described. The drum removal was a little more awkward than I had anticipated, but came out without major hassle. Getting the drive belt off was the worst part other than the size.

I then removed the warn rollers after taking the clips off with a pair of needle nose pliers. I put the new rollers on and secured them.

I then went to the drum.After cleaning it a bit, I attempted to dry fit the seal onto the drum to get the idea of how it would fit. This didn't work easily as the seal needed to stretch a bit more than it could while staying on all around. I grabbed a couple of clamps and worked it on using those. Once that was sorted I started to apply the glue. It was more runny than I had anticipated. After working that around the seal I let it dry overnight to an excellent bond.

The next day I put the drum back in, adjusted the seal properly and put the machine back together. The tension roller is not fixed to the machine so getting that back on was a little bit of a trick but was overcome easily enough.

A few loads of laundry later and I knew it was all done and working OK. It hasn't dried this good or been this quiet in years.

This was my first major appliance repair. With the assistance of the diagrams on here and directions I would say to anyone contemplating a diy repair on something like this to give it a shot.

My only recommendation to the site is to more visibly recommend doing the seals, rollers and drive belt at the same time. While in there I could see wear on the drive belt and will probably need to replace that in the next six months or so.

Unplugging the dryer and opening the front was just 2 screws and 2 bolts. I found the rear drums felt gasket was torn and folder over. This was pulling the drive motor down until it kicked out. So I removed the drum from the dryers housing and placed it on the floor. With a pliers gripped the felt and pulled it from the drum. With sand paper I cleaned the remains and then used clothe pins to hold the new gasket in place so I could glue it back onto the drum. After 5 minutes I removed the pins and remounted the drum. Using a butter knife to guild the felt from folding over, I turned the drum by hand once to ensure proper movement. The entire repair was done in 27 minutes alone.

Removed the drum from the machine. This involved taking the dryer almost completely apart. However, it wasn't that difficult. The hardest thing was remembering where everything went to put it back together. So far so good. Replaced the read drum seal as this was the most likely cause of the problem. The rollers were replaced too since that was a possible cause and the machine would be apart anyway.

I first disconnected the power cord and the vent hose. I removed the screws on the top of the back side to raise the top of the unit. There are also 2 screws holding the lint filter shoot which were also removed to allow the top to be lifted up. Its not necessary to remove the top since this would require disconnecting the wiring harness etc.

Next I removed the 2 screws located on the top-inside surface, which connect the front panel to the unit. After these were removed, the front panel lifts up and off--there are two clips which slid free on the bottom of the unit. The shut off switch on the door has to be disconnected to remove the panel.

With the front panel removed, the drum can be removed. I vacuumed out the interior and retrieved the idle pulley which had popped loose when the belt broke.

I removed the old rear drum seal and cleaned the edge with some brake cleaner solvent and steel wool. I then wiped the edge with paper towel and more brake cleaner to remove any oily residues. Before applying the glue, I test fit the seal which turned out to be a bit tight, so I stretched it a bit around the drum until it would fit on easily.

I used a disposible glue brush to spread a thin layer of the contact cement along the edge of the drum. By the time I finished one round, the glue was dry where I had started and so I did a second thin coat.

I then oriented the seal as per the directions and began fitting onto the edge trying to keep the free felt surface from getting into the glue. By the time I had reach the opposite side, the belt was pretty tight and so I had to stretch it a bit to get it to go on. I then worked my way around the edge a final time insuring that the seal was positioned correctly all the way around and the glue was pressed tight. I let the glue set for several hours before reassembling.

After the glue was dry, I put the drum back into the unit and worked the seal up onto the circular back panel until the groove on the drum was correctly positioned on the rear rollers. I propped the front edge of the drum on two 2 in rolls of duck tape so that I could rotate the drum freely several times. I checked the outside and inside to be sure that the seal was not turned under any place.

Finally, I slipped the new belt over the drum and past my 2 rolls of tape and positioned it groove side in over the drum. I then reinserted the tensioning pulling back into the slot just in front of the motor. The pulley goes just to the left of the motor pulley, the end of the tap on the base inserts in a slot and then 2 pins rest in a second slot to the right of the first. A loop of the belt then passes through underneath the pulley and then over the motor pulley. This requires pulling the tensioning pulling pulley towards the motor to get enough slack. I then rotated the drum several times and made sure that the belt was not twisted and the groove side was towards the drum.

To help hold the drum up while I was fitting the front panel. I supported the drum with a piece of 2 in tape run from the top/front edge of the drum to the back panel of the unit. I removed my two rolls of tape from under the unit, slipped the front panel back onto the two bottom clips, and then worked the front open of the drum over the front seal by opening the door and pushing from the inside and rotating the drum. I replugged the door switch and made sure the wire clips were secure.

I then replaced the 2 screws to hold the front panel. I put the top back down and resecured the screws on the back before reattaching the hose and replugging the unit. I test ran the unit for several minutes empty, listening for weird noises that would indicate something didn't go together correctly.

Dryer started making noises years ago. Finally it was intermittently starting, then...didn't start at all. It made a buzzing noise, like the motor was in over-torque. Then it over heated and wouldn't do anything until it cooled down. Then the cycle started all over again. I thought it best to change out all the worn parts. Found the belt, the rear seal, the rollers and motor all needed to be replaced. All were very simple to do. Followed the instructions and videos from others located on this site.