FDE7977ES0 Frigidaire Dryer - Instructions

The hardest part was getting to the part and removing it and putting it back on. The schematics that you had on your website helped us locate where it needed to go and, hopefully, that will solve our problem.

The repair was a bit more simple that what I had read here earlier, to see if I could handle it or I would have to call someone. The biggest relief was that I didn't have to remove any of the connectors from the control panel. Only 4 total connectors were removed at the Heating Element itself. Here's the steps I performed: 1) Pop the top off by prying the lid to release the 2 front clips and lift the top all the way up (like the hood of a car). Rest this against a door or wall. 2) Remove the rear access panel (2 phillips screws) on the bottom left of the unit. Remove the tension from the dryer belt and take it off the pully. 3) Go back to the front and remove (4 allen heads) from the back of the dryer drum. The drum should now have some play. 4) remove a plastic retainer that stops the drum from being lifted out. Now you should be able to lift out the drum. There is a ball & socket fitting that needs to come apart. This can be done by sharply lifting straight up. This gives you access to the heating element and you should be able to see where the coil has burned, thus opening the circuit. 5) remove (4 phillips screws) from the back panel of the dryer. Remove two pairs of connectors that attach to the heating element. Now it's out and you can begin the swap of the new element and reverse this process to put it back together. If I had to do this again, it would take less approx 30 minutes.

All I did was push the new part into the machine! So easy!

Very easy and straight forward repair.

Unplug the dryer and move it to a location that offers some room to work.

Use flathead screw driver to pop the front side top of the dryer up then lift the top of the dryer up to expose the drum.

Use phillips head screw driver to remove the two screws from the access panel on the rear of the dryer. Reach into the access area and remove the drum belt from the tensioner assembly. It's spring loaded so watch your fingers.

Disconnect the wiring harness at the right front of the dryer.

Remove the two screws that secure the front of the dryer to the sides.

Remove the front panel of the dryer by pulling the panel forward then up and off the two tabs at the bottom.

The felt strips and glides (which are worn off if you are doing this repair) are glued to the front panel of the dryer and now need to be removed. Removing the old felt will take some time and is the most difficult part of this whole repair.

Use some goof off or similar solvent adhesive remover to ease the removal of the felt. A putty knife will likely be helpful too.

Once the felt is off, wipe off any excess solvent and make sure the area to be re-felted is clean and dry.

Apply small serpentine bead of provided adhesive to the felt strips and glue the new strips on to the dryer. There is more than enough glue in the tube provided to get the job done. After applying felt strips, let them sit for about 30 minutes before reassembling dryer. You may want to use some light duty clamps to hold the felt in place while the glue sets but that's probably not necessary since the glue sets rapidly. Follow the directions on the glue tube.

Reassemble in opposite order.

Take the opportunity to vacuum out your dryer and give it a good inspection while you have it cracked open. You just might find those socks that disappeared.

Here are some "while your at it" ideas:

Replace both upper and lower felt strips.
Vacuum out entire dryer cabinet and the foam seal on the air box.
Replace drive belt.
Replace light bulb.
Replace bearing ball on rear of drum or apply some lubricant to the bearing.

I'm not saying do all these things, I'm just suggesting these items as things to consider based on the age and usage of your dryer.

This is an easy one person repair that requires no experience or special tools. Don't pay the repair man. Do it yourself.

I took the repair video in with me and set my lap-top on top of the washer.
My dryer did not match the type on the video exactly (mine has the controls in the front instead of on top and in the back) - however - the parts replacement for the rear drum bearing itself was the same.
After getting the front apart and releasing the drum the rest was pretty easy. Didn't really need instructions for the heating element - that was an obvious change out.
The tips on the video changing the rear drum assembly were very helpful.
Just watch the vid and do it! It took me exactly two hours since I was also changing out the heating element and I did it on a Friday night while having a couple tasty beers.
One tip I would give is the old grease in the bearing is very messy and I got it all over my shirt and pants - and when changing that stuff out don't lean on the front of the frame - I did and bent it out of whack a bit.
The dryer runs like new now that it's done!

1 Unplug the dryer and Raise top up by releasing the clips and fold back to expose the drum. 2. Take Phillips head screw driver and remove two screws inside the front dryer panel and then take flathead screwdriver to pop out both sides and set aside. 3. Lay on your stomach and reach inside to the belt pulley and push right so the belt will release then stand to either side of dryer and grab the belt and lift the drum up out of its bracket. 4. Go to the front and pull the drum out and replace the Rear Drum Bearing Kit . 5. Grab the front panel and remove the Top dryer guide and replace to match evenly with the bottom dryer guide by cutting at least 1/8 -1/4" from felt and use High temp adhesive to glue down. 6. Replace everything in order that was taken apart and reconnect electrical plug and start dryer.

used a putty knife to press the clips away from the door and lift the assembly away out of the door. Used the putty knife to push the clip over the lip and snap the new handle into place

I removed dryer exhaust hose.unsnapped top cover the clips are in front and exposed inside of dryer,remove 2 screws on inside of front cover and set aside. remove lower cover in back and push belt extender until belt is loose remove 3 screws on inside of tumbler. remove tumbler out the front of dryer be careful not to damage belt set aside remove ball plate by pulling up and out it will unsnap. Now remove 2 sets of wires that are connected to heater element plate remove 4 screws holding element plate in place. Since dryer was all exposed I cleaned everything out with a wet vac put back together following instructions in reverse. Good luck

Unplugged the drier, a couple of screws, remove the wires (take a picture of the wires with your cell phone to remember how they go back, twist out the thermostat. Installation is the reverse. A piece of cake.

put the new one on

I remove the old lint filter and just put the new one in.

1. Lift the dryer top off to get to the two screws holding the front of dryer. 2. On the back bottom left of the dryer, remove the vent so you can get to the tension pully to loosen the belt around the drum. 3. Remove drum. 4. Disconnet element coil from wires. 5. Carefully remove element coil from ceramic holders. 6. Get new element coil and attach to wires while carefully keeping coil loose and untangled. 7. Again, carefully restring coil into ceramic holders without springing the coil making it misshapen. Once all of the coil is in the holders, retrace your steps. 8. While you have the appliance open, it's a good time to vacuum out all lint to prevent a fire from occuring. 9. REMEMBER TO ALWAYS UNPLUG THE APPLIANCE BEFORE WORKING ON IT!

The disassembly was very easy and it appeared that this would be a very quick repair. But the removal of the old felt was difficult and once it was removed it took a lot of effort to remove the bits still stuck on. The tool of choice to remove the stuck on felt was a small torch. After that use a coarse sand paper to remove the remnants. Glue on the new felt and reinstall the front panel.

1. After checking the Parts Select website for some useful information I unplugged the dryer.
2. I popped the two clips holding the top down and lifted the top up and out of the way.
3. I used the 8mm socket and screwdiver combo to remove the two screws holding the front of the dryer on. These screws are so close to the sides of the dryer that you need something very thin to seat the socket, it is so thin a small rachet would not fit.
4. Once the to screws are free to forget to unhook the two wires that lead to the automatic cutoff switch on the right. Label them and move them out of the way.
5. The front of the dryer should pivot forward and come right off. Don't forget about the two clips at the bottom, they are not really attached to anything and can be easy to lose.
6. Get your screwdriver and dive into the drum, on the back should be three screws, take those out.
7. Spin the dryer around and take off the vent cover in the lower left corner of the back of the dryer, watch out the socket is a smaller size.
8. Once inside there is an idler pulley like on the back of a ten speed bike, pull the tension out of it and take the drive belt off the pulleys.
9. The drum should be able to be pulled out the front of the dryer, set aside with the door. The screws on my dryer were so tight I had to use a hammer drill to remove them.
10. This is were I got stuck, no one mentioned how to get the bearing plate off, as if everyone would just know. You must lift up on the bearing plate and once it moves up then you can pull it out.
11. Use the 8mm socket to unscrew the old plastic bearing guide. The small metal clip on the back of the dryer will fall off with the grounding ball bearing.
12. With brum bearing kit in hand start off by putting as much high temp lubricant as you can into the bottom of the new bearing guide. I also use a little lubricant like glue to hold the new grounding ball bearing in the little hole on the back of the bearing guide.
13. Here is the tricky part you have to screw the bearing guide into the the dryer while simulaneously holding the little metal clip in place on the back of the dryer. I used duct tape to hold the metal clip and once the screws got started I just took the tape off.
14. Now you have to do the impossible, the bearing must be screwed to the drum. So unless you have 7 foot long arms you can't hold the bearing and drive the screws. Another problem is the bearing itself, the holes are not the same size as the original and they are not threaded. I stripped every screw that came with the kit trying to get them through the metal of the bearing.
15. With an unwilling victim holding the bearing steady I finally got a replacement screw to seat through the bearing. Once you get one the rest are easier.
16. You are ready to reassemble, after vacuuming everything ou, pick up the drum making sure the belt is around the drum about where it was when you took it off. Push the drum through the front of the dryer all the way to the back, aim a little high so the bearing can move down and seat in the bearing guide.
17. Tuck the clips on the front panel of the dryer into the bottom front edge of the dryer and the whole front should pivot up, when you get it almost closed you will have to lift the drum and set it on the front bearing in the door.
18. While holding the front of the dryer on you have to reach inside and get the 8mm screw started on the left or right, if you let go the front of the dryer will pop off and you have to start over with the pivot. Now is a good time to have a magnet on a stick so when you drop the screw or screw driver you don't have to take the front off to retrieve your tools.
19. Once the front is on reconnect the two wires to the switch in the front of the dryer. Remember the ones you were supposed to have labeled earlier.
20. Close the top of the dryer and spin the dryer around so you can reach inside the vent door and pull the tension pulley over and reseat the drive belt. Rem

Followed your website repair guides and the great belt replacement video.

Other parts used were; front lower basket seal, dryer seal, and dryer drum belt.

Had no problems except for keeping the drum belt idler pulley tension spring in place. Used the rear access panel to solve this issue.

John H.
Palm Desert, CA