FED34ZEMW0 Frigidaire Dryer - Instructions

When I described the noise to a YouTube appliance diagnostician, I was directed to check the felt seals front and back of the rotating drum for wear, tears, or foreign objects. As it happens the felt seals looked find and there were foreign objects so, not wanting to disassemble and reassemble the dryer more than I had, I ended up replacing all the replaceable moving parts that I considered possible culprits: The idler tension spring, the idler tension bracket (which includes a nylon pulley wheel), the drum belt, the five rubber-tipped bearings that support the drum and keep it in place, and the foam seal on the blower housing which seemed a little brittle and old, as well as high-temperature adhesive for the latter. The instructional videos here and on YouTube were extremely helpful (I doubt that I would have attempted this job at all, had I not watched these ahead of time). The most time-consuming aspect was waiting for the arrival of the parts as I didn't order them all at the same time or all from the same place (I ordered from whomever could ship me a given part the fastest. Disassembly took less than an hour. Re-assembly with the new parts in place took about the same but was a little more awkward because this appliance sits in a very narrow closet and it's difficult to ensure that the 4" flexible duct stays in place when sliding the appliance back into the closet. No regrets. Now I know the basics if this dryer needs attention in future and I also know all the parts that I can eliminate as suspects in any future maintenance (the parts that I replaced)

1. Loosened the 3 screws inside of the drum
2. Removed the entire back of the dryer (lots of screws)
3. Removed the old vent (there are 2 screws at the bottom that hold it in)
4. Install new vent (put the screws back in)
5. Close up back and proceed to put all of the screws back

The blower wheel was a bit difficult, but manigable to do yourself.

The repair actually was quite easy but diagnosing the problem was another story. I found out that the dryer would not buzz and vibrate , if I just ran the fluff cycle but no heat. As soon as heat applied, the slight buzzing and slight vibrating would occur after a few minutes. I knew it wasn't the drum bearing, the drum rollers, the rubbing collar on front of drum, idle arm, belt, etc - I had replaced all of them less than a year ago. Anything I found on the internet dealing with the motor was always geared around not running or slow starting or shutting down, loud buzzing, needing a push start to start, etc but that was not the case. So I figured it was the blower housing and ordered that part. However, once I had the machine apart the blower housing seemed to be just fine - nothing obvious, everything tight. The one issue I had was removing the plastic nut with the metal insert on the blower unit that attaches it to the motor shaft which just wouldn't bulge. So I said to myself, the h*ll with it, lets get a new motor, too and remove both parts together which btw, was very easy. So that is exactly what I did. Now with new motor in hand and new blower housing in hand, I easily removed the old motor still attached to the old blower housing together and replaced both which was very easy. Hooked everything back up and no more soft buzzing or slight vibration. Now back to the problem or my guess at this point. I noticed that the rubber mounting bushing in the back of the motor which is used to attached it to the dryer bracket was funking looking - kinda soft and a bit perished. So I am surmising that once heat was introduced, it was enough to soften that bushing enough to cause the slight buzzing and slight vibration but without the heat to soften the bushing a bit, it was quiet and steady. Just a guess but for anyone that has this issue with just heat but no issue with fluff (no heat) check out the condition of that rubber mounting bushing on the rear of the motor. No where on the internet was there any info concerning the symptoms I had and I was flying by the seat of my pants. So am taking the time to get this on record in case someone else has these symptoms and finds it.

I removed the front, top and back panels of the dryer, installed belt around drum and through the pulley system so the belt was snug, replaced all screws and panels, and done.

I determined the problem was the fan wheel and housing. I located the part on partsselect.com, Ordered it and installed the afternoon I got it in the mail. Perfect fit.

I have used partsselect before, always had great luck, great prices, always have the exact part.

followed the repair video and replaced thermal fuse and thermostat(recommend replacing both due to the problem could of resulted in either part being the cause),Repair went relatively easy.I also recommend to clean and vacuum the dryer while you have it all apart due to a lot of lint buildup and don't forget to unplug before servicing!Stay Safe!!!

Removed the back panel and the exhaust hose.removed the heater element and changed the thermostat wire was melted cut damaged part of wire soldered and rapped with black electrical tap

Remove top lid by pushing tab on either side with a putty knife. Disconnect the 2 wire carriages on right. Remove one
phillips head screw on each side that holds front panel to dryer body. Remove front panel by using flat head screwdriver to pry panel from body. Remove thermostat located on bottom right attached to front of motor on a plastic body by removing two phillips head screws. Disconnect wires and place on new part.

Had to loosen drum and move it forward to get at switch. Didn’t have to remove belt.

You must disconnect appliance from the gas, water and vent to access the back. Remove the top of the dryer which then allows you to remove the rear panel by removing all screws, You may also have to remove 2 electrical connections to get this panel off. Now you have access to the air duct. To remove the air duct there are 3 screws inside the dryer and 2 screws on the lower part of the air duct. One of the lower screws is facing toward the inside of the dryer and you will need a 12"+ screwdriver to be able to remove. Once you do all that install the new part and repeat steps in reverse.

Once we got the dryer out of the cramped where we could work on it, the project went a little quicker. I'd recommend using paper plates/bowls, that you label, to hold all the screws for each piece you remove off the back. It doesn't seem like it will be a lot, but we had at least 20-30 screws in 4-5 different sizes. Unlike someone else's install, we had to completely pull the white back panel off, as well as the main back cover, due to one screw holding the air duct from the inside of the dryer compartment (meaning we couldn't reach everything from the back). Getting this screw out was a challenge and seemed like a huge design flaw, but if you can't get to that screw, the old air duct isn't coming out. There are 2 other screws holding the air duct but they're easy to reach once the back panel is off.
Once that was taken out the process was straightforward, we just took our time reattaching everything step-by-step. Now our dryer works like new.

First i replaced the drum bushing on the rear of the drum ,it was definitely bad but noise was still there
Decided it was the blower assy , pulled the dryer out disconnected the power,took off the frt panel with the door, disconnected the wiring to motor remover motor and fan assy, most trouble i had was fan is on motor with reverse threads messed with removing fan until I figured out it was backwards after that removed old fan and housing installed new one ,put dryer back together,started it and only normal noises
Good for another 5 years
Chuck

Blower wheel came apart from molded-in nut, was loose, was rubbing on housing wall, and was likelynot moving to much air. I read some troubled stories about separating the wheel nut from the motor shaft so bought a new motor and blower housing and install wall pretty easy. There are videos on the teardown process and does that long and not alot of parts to keep track of either. I have already done the felt drum liner and rear drum ball and belt so if it's older than 15 years and your going to take the dryer apart, replace all these parts and you will about have new dryer at half the cost of new.

I researched possible causes on line and watched a PartsSelect video on YouTube on how to test. I ended up misreading test results and ordered the High Limit Thermostat but subsequently realized problem was the Terminal Block. No problem, PartsSelect took back the Thermostat (I hadn't installed it) and shipped me the Terminal Block. My dryer was back up and running in less than 7 days from initial analysis to installation of Terminal Block. Instructions that came in confirmation email for installation were perfect and easy to follow. Total cost with new power cord from Home Depot was less than $50 vs a quoted service call of $175+ parts from local electrician.