LEA80AL (PLEA80AL) Amana Dryer - Instructions

Took dryer apart, and found that the idler arm pulley was in pieces. Ordered the replacement from Partselect.com. Received part very promptly. Decided to also order a new belt, and that arrived in a very timely manner also. Put the parts in, and assembled the dryer. This was for my 90 year old grandmother, and she is ever so pleased that it is up and running again. Completed the repairs for about $50, and saved big money by doing it myself versus a service call, that would have boiled down to replacing the unit for the price it would have cost to fix. Will use partselect in the future for all my appliance repairs, as they offer a great selection of parts for all different appliances. Very pleased with satisfied with quality, and service from Partselect.com

1.Unplug unit
(gas model, did not shut off)
2. Remove bottom front panel-2bolts
3 Remove main front panel-2 bolts (no need to remove door)
4. Make note of wire colors on door switch and light, disconnect
5. Remove 3 screws that hold air duct assembly(that lint filter rests in) then set main front panel aside
6. Remove lower air duct (to blower motor)-3 bolts
7. Lift and tilt-up top lid/panel of dryer and wedge wood or ? (this will give you easy access and better light)
8. Reach back behind motor to move idler pulley and remove belt from motor & idler pulley
9. Remove 4 bolts and lift up and out front bulkhead frame that holds drum in place
10. Slowly pull straight out & slightly up entire drum
11. Remove circlip/retaining ring, washer, roller, washer and shaft assembly.
12. Vacuum entire unit
13. Light lubricant on shaft when reinstall in reverse order.

Snap ring pliers and a mental note of how the belt is routed on idler will prevent unwanted profanity.
This is an inferior/substandard unit before Maytag bought them. Spend the money and replace both rollers with new shafts (about 50.00). I have spent over 140.00 in parts to keep this unit running (less than 8 years old). So do the math before you start pouring money into this model.

Replaced glides and assy idler pulley cleaned all parts fron dust and debree, vaciumed heating eliment to remove all excess lint and wool to make sure I did'nt have a fire in the lower unit.
Job was'nt all that hard just have to watch what you're doing.

(Used joe From Beacon Falls Instructions)
UNPLUG THE DRYER FIRST
1. There are two bolts on the back of the dryer that connect the control panel and the dryer. Remove these bolts with a socket wrench and their brackets. Set aside.
2. Lift up rear of dryer top a few inches to locate two metal flanges on the front top of the dryer. Lower the back side. Now on the front of the dryer, insert the flat head of a large screwdriver (cover flat head with rag to prevent scratches) where the flanges are located and pry upward, one side at a time. It does not take much pressure until the top “pops” open. Repeat prying motion on other side of front dry to free the top.
3. The top of the dryer is now loose and can be slid backwards enough to see down the front of the dryer. Locate two screws (one on each side) inside the front panel a few inches down. Use the same socket size with wrench to remove these two screws.
4. Notice there are three wires that connect for the light on the right hand side. With care, these can remain attached. Alternately, take the time to write down the color and order and remove these now
5. Pull the front panel towards you slightly and lift up. The front panel will now come free and can be set aside. If you did not remove the wires, the front will need to be propped up close enough to the dryer so that the wires are not ripped out.
6. Remove the three Phillips Head screws located inside the dryer drum that attach the Lint Duct Assembly. Pull out the old assembly. Vacuum out if necessary.
7. Insert the new Lint Duct Assembly and secure with the three screws.
8. Reattach dryer front and top.
9. Done.

Removed lower front panel.

Removed door assembly* making note of the wire positions on the door switch
* When removing the door assembly DO NOT LET IT DROP DOWN! Doing so will destroy the door switch. Swing the door assembly upward from the bottom toward you as high as it will go then pull it free.

Removed the drum and belt assembly.

Removed the idler pulley and idler pully spring.

Vacuumed up the interior dryer floor and blew out the motor w/ comp air. Also cleaned the ribbed motor pulley with a nylon brush and brake cleaner sprayed on a shop towel.

Removed the drum tires and cleaned their shafts and internal bearing sleeves with brake cleaner sprayed on a shop towel.

Reinstalled the drum tires after lubricating their shafts with a very light coat of general purpose grease.

Replaced the idler pulley and idler pulley spring after cleaning and lubing shaft and pulley bearing as done on the drum tires.

Reinstalled the drum with the new belt (ribbed side down) roughly in place.

Reinstalled the front door assembly after reconnecting it's wiring making sure to insert it's top locking tabs with the bottom of the door held up high then swung down into place

Tensioned the belt by positioning the flat side of the belt that comes down the right side of the drum over the idler pulley flat side down and then the ribbed side of the belt over the motor shaft. You will have to move the idler pulley arm to apply full tension against the spring in order to have the slack to get it around the motor shaft.

Reinstalled the lower front panel.

Checked dryer operation OK.

This repair was rated a bit difficult because I didn't know the trick for removing/installing the door assembly and destroyed the switch. Furthermore, putting the belt back on is a somewhat difficult challenge because you have to do it mostly by feel

watched video for Each Part

All you need for a Maytag is a snub nose Philips screw driver. The screws on the front panel are at the bottom angled down, so a regular length Phillip's won't work. Just unscrew the 2 screws, then lift the panel up and out. Careful not to pull out too far, there are 2 wires attached to the switch. The replacement switch is NOT an exact copy of the old one. My Maytag is over 30 years old and it only had 2 prongs on the switch. The new one has 3. Don't let that throw you. It is the same size. Just attach, 1 wire to the bronze connector & the other to the silver. Push the switch into the door opening, re-attach the door. Total time 20 minutes. Saved well over $100 in a service call. Anyone with an IQ above freezing can do it.

I watched the repair video and followed the instruction given to replace the belt. The instructions were easy to follow and to the point. The one thing that was not covered was to vacuum the interior prior to closing the dryer up.

My repair was very easy, the lint trap just comes assembled like when you buy the dryer. However, I had a hard time finding the dryer part at a store.
Part select had the item, they made it really easy to find online. The best part is how fast I received it! My dryer broke the day before thanksgiving (wednesday) i ordered the part that night and had it saturday morning! and thats with thursday being thanksgiving! I didnt even the pay extra for faster shipping! I would use them again and recommend them!

There was no repair, just replacing the old, wornout lint filter. But I wanted to thank you for the ease in finding the part and for your prompt delivery. I really appreciate that. If we need any other parts we will order them from you.
Thanks again!

Door switch was very easy to replace as it simply snaps in for the outside and you just clip on the two control wires that already have clips on them.

Remove screws to top of appliance lid and control panel paying close attention to location and type of screws. Lift back of top panel and lift off front top lid until it snaps up. Slide top panel to side and remove upper front panel screws from the inside of dryer one on left and one on right. Be careful to not let front door fall outward. Slide door panel up off of hooks at base of panel. Remove duct assembly by removing three screws located on the inside of the dryer at the front. Slide out and remove air duct assembly.

Removing the High Limit Thermal Fuse was straight forward. Didn't really understand the online instructions but performed a continuity test across terminals and there was no continuity, so I replaced.

Repare took 1-2 hours, next time will probably cut in half now that I know where to remove screws to access motors & fuses and dryer assemblies at base of dryer.

After removing the lower access panel, I observed the drum and belt and saw it turning freely. The support rollers in the back turned freely and were in good condition as well. At odd intervals the unit made a humming or grinding noise, and i decided to check the blower wheel (the other rotating part in the system). I found that the central hub of the wheel (which is made of a nylon like plastic) had sheared off from the wheel itself. I ordered a new part and started to remove the old wheel. **NOTE** many of the stories I read described how this part would have a reverse thread, it did not and that cost me an extra 30 minutes to figure out (the new part had arrows showing the correct direction to put on and remove - the original didn't). Once everything was cleaned and reassembled, I started the dryer again, but got no heat. I had previously replaced the heating element, so I thought my wiring was wrong. That wasn't the problem, but a hint from this site about checking the incoming wiring was the solution, my ground wire had come off the terminal in the back of the dryer and I wasn't getting the volatge across the element that it required. With the ground wire back in place, everything worked fine.

First I was told by the maytag repair man that the motor was shot and it would be 467 dollars to repair. Since I didn't have that kind of money I decided to take it apart to see if I could replace the motor myself. Once I had it apart I saw the part that held the motor in place was broken off and the motor was out of place causing it too shut itself off. Once I figured it all out it took about 2 minutes to replace the less than 6 dollar part! Thanks partSelect!!!

I used your great video for pointers as to what to do. I took off the front, raised the top, vacuumed the whole thing up, that took quite a while. Took out the drum. Did more cleaning. Then took off the old retaining rings with retaining ring pliers, took off the old drum rollers and support. Replaced with new roller supports, washer, roller, washer and retaining rings. Then I replaced the belt. Tested it and turned the wrong way and it came off. Replaced and tested it again and I don't know why but it came off. Replaced the belt again, tested fine. Then I replaced the felt pads and glides, they were worn. I ended up asking my husband to help hold the drum so I could get the front back on. Replaced front and door. Tried the dryer. Works great AND very, very little noise. Note: when taking the wiring off the light and the door switch, I took photo's of those places with my cell phone and had them to look at to make sure the wiring was correct.