DV316BEW Amana Dryer - Instructions

I removed the dryer top and saw that the belt was intact. (I had suspected the belt or something stuck in the exhaust fan or somewhere.) I watched a few youtube videos and took off the rest of the top plates and front door and inner structure that held the barrel. After i inspected and cleaned out the fan blades and exhaust areas, I looked at the pulley rollers (motor and idler rollers). The idler roller looked a little melted and chewed up. I replaced it with the new assembly. Also replaced the belt. Putting the barrel and new belt back on was harder for me than the videos indicated because the spring was very tight and the area to put my hands was small and didn't give me enough leverage. I eventually got someone to give me the third hand pulling the idling roller a little further over and the belt was back on. It didn't take me long to put the whole dryer back together. It is running fine now.

These are not instructions as much as warning that although it is a one-person job, the idler pulley assembly is not as easily manipulated with the barrel there. Doing the fix was straightforward: one screw holds it in place. The men in the videos seemed to have no problem with easily replacing the belt, but I needed help with the tight spring. Perhaps now that I've done it once, I could figure out how to reach around the barrel and yank the roller enough to replace the belt, but with the extra hand it took seconds and was super easy.

The design of my dryer is a bit different from the video on PartSelect - but it is very close. And if you watch the really good video on PartSelect plus a few others on Youtube you can figure out how Samsung in general designs the different components. You can fix this yourself definitely.

Cost of part to fix - about $50.
Repairman - didn't even ask. Would probably be $300-400.
Cost of replacement $1,000.

I rated the repair "A bit difficult" only because this is the first time I have ever repaired an appliance. If I were to repair this one again, I'd rate it as Easy.

I'm really thankful for the PartSelect video. This makes DIY repairs possible.

Thanks.

I'll make this quick. To access the motor you need to take half of the drier apart. I cut a access door on the side where the motor is with a small electric saw. It gave me clear access to the motor. You still need to take the front cover off to remove the blower wheel . One more thing, make sure to have the belt back on when testing, otherwise the motor wont start. It took me about an hour and 15 minutes

Removed top of dryer, control panel, front (door) panel. Removed screw holding heating element and housing assembly in place, and removed wiring connections. Attached wiring to new heating element and housing assembly, installed screw to hold in place, replaced front (door) panel, control panel, and top of dryer.

replace Drum support roller & axel and belt

Ordered part on 8/24/22. Received wrong part twice now. It is 9/10/22 and I am waiting for the third. Right part number on package but it contains the wrong part. Beyond mad!

Took off the back of the dryer and replaced the thermistor. A $7 part that would have been a couple hundred dollars if we had to call a repairman.

Took the top back screws off (2) then pulled the top toward me and it came off. This left four screws that hold on the front control panel. I took out this four screws, which the control panel came out. You will then have to disconnect the door switch. Then I took off the front door, which which has two screws. Then I took the four screws out of the front panel,which are all on the top below the front control panel. You then have to pull up on the front panel to lift it up, it is sitting on two slots. This will give you excess to the heater. There will be one screw take it out and the heater will pull out also there will be six wires that you will have to disconnect so pay attention where they go (write it down.) You will have thermostat 2 and 3 and heater switch. Test them with a ohmmeter, my thermostat 3 was bad. There will be two screws to take out to replace the part. Put the wires back and put the dryer back together like you took it apart.

Test thermal fuse for resistance. If has 0 resistance you have a bad fuse. Also check voltage going to wall outlet. Must use at least 600 volt tester. Motor will run on 110 volts, but will not activate heating element. Heating element must have 240 volts to operate. Always make sure you turn off power when working on electrical problems. Be safe and good luck.

After reading other posts, I learned that "tO" meant that the thermistor was open. Also, I read that this part would bench test with a multimeter correctly but could still malfunction in the dryer. FIRST UNPLUG DRYER. After checking all of the exhaust ducting including inside the dryer for any blockages that could result in an overheating problem I decided to order a new thermistor. To replace thermistor: First, there are two screws at the rear top that you remove and the top tilts up and comes off. There are four screws on the top front that removes the front control panel. Next remove the screws at the top of the dryer, two screws in recesses behind the door and tilt front forward while unplugging the door switch. Lift and remove front with door attached. Remove screws from exhaust duct and slide down and out. Thoroughly clean inside of duct and fan blades. Clean out any other lint build up. Locate thermistor to the right of duct, unplug and remove two screws. Replace with new part and reassemble while not forgetting to plug the door switch back in. At the rear of dryer, remove screws around exhaust duct and remove. Dryer will have to be slid away from wall about three feet to remove duct from inside dryer. Clean thoroughly and check/clean and check for blockages in ducting from dryer to outdoors. Re assemble making sure rear duct engages the front ducting properly.Plug dryer back in and enjoy.

Remove 2 screws which hold dryer/washer together on back. Remove 2 screws back top dryer and slide top back. Remove 4 screws top dryer that hold timer panel. Remove 6 screws that hold front panel on..4 on top of panel and 2 inside door. Disconnect wires to door at slide connection. Unplug dryer..this is actually 1st step. Remove 1 screw on heating element (lower right). I found that by removing the red wire the element will wiggle loose and come far enough out to disconnect black wire. There are 4 other terminal connections which are jumpers that will slide out with element. Note where wires attach and remove all. Use Multi meter on highest ohms setting or a continuity tester to test heating element - thermostats - thermal fuse. They should all have continuity between terminals. Replace any that don't . My thermal fuse was open (no continuity). I replaced it and had heat..but inadequate heat. Got new thermostat which fixed problem. Video I watched said to replace them together..I guess he was right. I suggest that while you have dryer pulled out to take time to check/clean dryer vent..also flapper outside.(mine had lint built up in hinge and prevented flapper from closing letting cold air and anything else in). Parts Select has great videos/skematics and even with "snail mail" delivery part was there in 2 days. They are the best!!

The repair was pretty easy to install the heat element, but had to replace several other parts do to the manufacturer that had broke off

I verified that the thermistor was bad by testing the resistance. My manual said it should be 10K ohms at 78F. I was reading over 30K ohms. This is what caused the thermostat to blow, as the thermistor was telling the dryer the air temp was a good 30 degrees cooler than it actually was. You can also verify the thermostat is bad by checking it for continuity. I removed the screws on the top-back of the dryer and slid the top back to reveal the screws holding on the control panel. I removed those and popped off the control panel. It required a good bit of force. I then removed the four screws holding the front piece on and removed it by pulling it slightly towards me and up. The parts are located on the bottom right. They were underneath a black plastic flap on my dryer. I removed the cables and the took both parts out with a screwdriver. I replaced them with the new ones (they should only fit in the right slot) and reattached the cables. From there, reassemble in reverse of the disassembly.

I change the Thermistor 3 bracket and worked well for 10 minutes and the thermistor is broken again

*Disconnect power cord before performing this task...(1) Remove the two screws holding top.(2) Remove four screws holding control module, tilt forward, pull up and unlatch. Place module on top, out of the way (still connected by wires). (3) Open dryer door, remove two screws holding lint trap assembly, close door. (4) Remove four screws on top of front cover, disconnect door light wire, tilt front cover forward, lift up from catch at bottom and remove. (5) Disconnect moisture sensor connection on bottom right for easier access to duct assembly. (6) Remove three screws holding duct assembly support bracket in place, raise duct assembly six inches to allow the bracket to be tilted toward rear and lifted out of the way. (7) Disconnect Red and Blue wires from front of duct assembly and pull assembly carefully from the rear of the unit and out the front paying attention to the wires still connected. (8) Remove wires connected to the thermostat and thermistor. (9) Remove screws holding in both units and replace with new components. (10) Reverse process and test. *note* if the unit appears to heat but clothing still wet, make sure moisture sensor was connected (I must have forgot and got to go back in to check, ooops). Regardless, this is an easy task. Could be intimidating at first but after the part has been accessed twice its no big deal and can be done over a lunch break.