DWSR483EA1WW General Electric Dryer - Instructions

I followed the varied instructions out there for getting the dryer open. WATCH the videos on uTube; I took out more screws than needed on first attempt -- which isn't a big deal but took me longer than it should have to pull it apart. It appeared the grinding was coming from the dryer bearings due to some abrasion I could see and worn front slides, so I replaced the front slides (4) and the rear bearing. The kids helped by crawling inside the drum to tighten the new bearing bolts (just for fun). When I put it back together it was making a somewhat different grinding noise. It wouldn't make any noise until I put the belt AND front cover on and then it would make a periodic (about every 10 degrees) grind when I rotated the drum; I took it apart and the grinding would stop even if I rotated the blower by hand. Put it together, the grind would start .... It took me awhile to figure out that the blower retaining bolt had come loose so the plastic blower was grinding on the metal cover. CHECK THE BLOWER RETAINING BOLT visible from the front with the dryer door/cover off -- it's not obvious that it's loose by looking at it since the retaining clip still sits over the blower shaft even when it's loose. You might even see small nicks in the blower fan blade. It's super quiet now.

Took the dryer apart in an adjacent unused bedroom. Saw that the element was bad. Ordered new part from Part Select and installed when it arrived. The whole situation went as smooth as could be.

I suspected and removed the timer to check it and found the timer knob had a crack in it and realized I did not know where it was pointing to. Checking the selector knob also showed a crack which prevented the dryer from starting.