GFDN120ED3WW General Electric Dryer - Instructions

I used a flat head, a phillips head, and two sizes of sockets with my screwdriver to complete this project. I initially undid the control panel, but I don't think I needed to. I next took out two long screws that were holding the top of the cabinet on. These screws were just inside the doorway, directly above where the door sits when closed. I took the top off and set it aside. Being careful to mark which wire went to which lead, I undid the leads to the door open/closed switch. I next found two, black, hex-end screws, one each on the upper sides, towards the front, and undid these with a socket end on the screwdriver; being careful not to drop them as they came out. I then tilted the front panel out and up and set it aside. Note that the front opening holds the drum up so it can spin. Next, I tilted the front of the drum up, and pulled it outwards, till bearing at the back pulled out of the socket, and the drum dropped down enough that I could push the belt off the back of the drum. I then pulled the drum out through the front opening. I could see that the bearing was mostly worn away and metal was rubbing on metal. On the drum, I took off the air diffuser and the drum's half of the bearing assembly, and attached the new part of the bearing assembly, where the old one was. There was a metal disk that I was careful to reinsert in its former spot. I tried to make sure that all screws were tightened with equal force. Then I removed the entire bearing housing/blower assembly by undoing the outer screws that attached it ti the back wall of the cabinet, I rotated it outward at the top , pivoting around the compression fitting (no screws) at the base. I then removed the back half of the bearing housing, and replaced it. I needed to screw in the screws from the front while holding the spring-clip-thing in place (once installed, you can stick your finger through the hole in the bearing housing and feel the clip right behind it). I took this opportunity to clean all the excess lint out of the cabinet. I then replaced everything in reverse order until I got to the drum. I put the belt loosely arounf the drum, with the grooved/ridged side facing in. Then put the bearing (with drum), back in the socket. Feeling through the hole under the front of the drum, take the belt where it hangs off the drum TO YOUR RIGHT, run it under then up around the left side of the small pulley, then pull it to the right (above the small pulley) and around the right side of the big (tensioner) pulley, and let go. Note that there is a swithch in the tensioner that won't switch on unless there is enough tension on the belt! Put the front back on, lifting up the barrel from the inside, so that the barrel opening slides around the outside of the front's assembly. Ours seemed to fit more tightly than it had previously, into the felt padding around to bottom of the front assembly, but it seems to work fine? Screw in the two black, hex-head screws from the sides into the front, and re-attach the door-switch wires. Turn it on (carefully) to make sure it runs. Then attach the top, using the two long screws up through the door opening into the top. Ours is working much better than before - hotter, faster, quieter! Should we have lubricated the bearing with lithium grease?

The instructions that came with the bearing were limited and the illustrations were too dark to see. However, after reading the reports of others on this website, the repair was very easy.

Prior to disassembly, remove theaccess panel on the rear of the dryer. Pull the belt drive pulley arm up and the belt will easily slide off of the motor pulley. The belt can be left on the drum.

Then, remove two screws at the inside top of the dryer door. The top of the dryer will then lift up at the front and slide forward to remove. This will allow you access to two bolt head screws on each side of the front panel. Remove these two screws and then lift the panel slightly up and forward. The front panel will then be free and the dryer drum will slide forward and out. Remove the four bolt head screws (behind the electric elements) from the heater element on the inside back of the dryer box.

You can now exchange the bearing on the drum and the bearing insert on the dryer heating element simply by removing the old and reinstalling the new just as the old was removed - four screws for each.

You will need an assistant to re-install the bearing. Someone needs to hold the three pieces behind the drum as you insert the three screws. You'll also need a star wrench set for this.

The drum is easily reinserted - just be careful to get the front of the drum placed into the front bearing surface when reinstalling the front panel. One word of caution, My wife tried to remove the felt bearing on the bottom of the front panel thinking that it was lint.

I found that the inside of my ten year old dryer was unbelievably full of lint. I'm sure that the efficiency improvements by cleaning the air passages will be substantial and I've just saved $400 on the price of a similar dryer ($900 if my wife and I decided to upgrade to the "new" model that we wanted but really didn't need.

With the help of doityourself guy on the internet

To get to the slides, needed to take off the front panel, the top and then can loosen the front of the dryer. Pull it out enough to get to the slides and replace them.

the pulley spring took so much pressure to hold it down it took 3 men and a boy to hold it and place it in position to to get the belt on. Also there is not enough room to get your arms and hands in without getting some small cuts.Ultimately I removed the screws in the back of the dryer and spread the side of the dryer out to gain proper access. It was an easy repair if the spring would not have been so strong.

good replacement procedure on you tube.

First I replaced the timer, but dryer still did not start. took apart dryer, jumper out door and componet near motor to see what problem was and to be able to run dryer while opened up. Actually motor had seized up just enough to not allow motor to start rotating. Lubricated motor shaft and rotated motor for oil to work its way in. Tried starting again and motor started. Buttoned dryer back up and reconnected wires to appropriate places and started dryer again and again.Worked for 4 loads of laundry and still working for 3 loads on Wednesday. Working fine

I followed the YouTube video and it gave me step by step instructions however I really needed to replace my dryer slides to fix the problem.

I followed the directions I found on my tablet on youtube.

Once I figured out how to remove the control panel. The rest was very easy. Upon pulling off the knob in the center of the control panel, there was a screw behind it. Once removed I used the palm of my hand and gave it a couple of upward hits in the center while the door was open. It slid up and I removed the electrical connections. Then carefully removed the top by pushing from the rear of the machine slightly and lifted off. Then removing the screws that hold the front on . After that it went pretty easily, reassembly went in reverse and. That was that!

The first thing I did was move the dryer out so I could "unplug it" !
Then I took the 4 philps head screws out that hold down the top of the dryer, then I lifted up the top and moved it off to the side making sure the wires didn't get pulled out.
Then I removed the 2 5/16 cap screws that holds the front panel on and lifted that off "Make sure you mark the down were the 2 wires for the door swich go" Like white on pin 1 and yellow on pin 2!!!
The next thing is to slide the drum foward so you can remove the element package then remove the 3 philps screws in the back of the drum make sure you have someone hold the element package there is a sheild between the drum and the element package that may fall that is a watch out you will need to move the element package up so you can work on it there will be wires hooked to this ring so becare full you don't break them off.
remove the element package you will see the bearing kit attached to that.
There are 4 5/16 cap screws that hold the bearing kit to that remove them and then remove the old bearing kit you may find and E Ring holding the old bearing kit in place (this would be found in the older models).
Before you install the new bearing kit take the new self tapping screws and tap the holes in the new bearing kit mounting plates this will make things go faster!!!
Now mount the bearing plate with the 4 holes to the element package there is a tab that needs to be mount in there too so look at the old one when you are taking it off.
Pick up the sheild that fell pick it up have a second person help you hold everything in place while you line up the holes for the front plate to the back of the drum and start your screws.
Now tighten them down check to make sure your belt didn't slide off the tensioner that is next to the motor before you slide the drum back in place if it did take the time to figure out how to get it back on the right way our you will be pulling things apart again.
What I did was spin the Drum by hand to make sure everything was ok. you will know if the belt is off it will not move when you spin the drum by hand.
Now that you made sure the belt is on you can put the front back on there are 2 studs on the bottom that you need to set the frount panel on before you can put the screws back in in it.
Now that you have the fron back on it hook your 2 wires back up to the door switch like you took them off!
Now move your top back over and you will see 2 clips on the back of it that slide into a grove in the back now that you have that in place start putting the screws back in put the middle 2 in first and tighten them down them put the last 2 in.
Now plug it back in if your vent pipe fell off hook it back up as you slide your dryer back in place now try it to make sure everything is working right and you will hear the differance.
Good Luck with your repairs....
Just a quick note this dryer is over 40 years old and still going.
I have replace 6 elements and 1 drive belt since it was bought new now the bearing kit.
Clean it once a year and the vent pipe every 6 months it will last!!!

Exactly how your perfect video instructions showed me. Thank you for a job well done!

When the dryer was installed last year by the dealer, one of the hot leads was not screwed down tightly. Over time the screw loosened and began to arc causing the plastic holding the screw to melt. When I moved the dryer the hot lead fell off and hit the terminal block cover shorting out the dryer. I was able to locate the exact terminal block I needed with their helpful dryer section diagrams. The part came in the time they said. I took off the old terminal block with just 2 attached screws. i kept track of which screws held the hot and neutral conductors and the ground before I removed them. I was then able to slide on the dryer wires and attached the home conductors. I put on the cover plate, turned on the circuit breaker and it worked.

Took the dryer apart to get to the rear bearing. Took the bearing assembly out, kept the e-ring from the old bearing shaft, replaced the bearing kit, took the o-ring off the new shaft and replaced it with the e-ring, then reassembled the unit. Make sure to place a nail or long screw into into the rear of the drum, so that you can realign bearing on the drum. It is easier with two people when reassembling.

After unplugging the dryer, I removed 2 metal screws up under the dryer sill rim, and removed the dryer top. Then, removed two more at the top of the front (door) section to remove it.

I wasn't careful enough when removing the door, and the wiring connectors popped loose from their connections. No harm done, though. Disconnect the wires once you remove the front panel.

I had to loosen the bottom metal screws on one side panel to have enough give to pull the dryer drum out.

The only way to replace the belt is to bend over the side of this unit and with one hand put the belt around the motor drive shaft, pull the tension pulley back, and put the belt on the wheel.

The hard part is working the drum back into place while VERY carefully slipping the belt into the drum goove. Many attempts were made only to have the belt slip off of the tension pulley or motor driveshaft. Be care full to turn the drum clock wise if the belt twists while working it into the drum groove. It was very disappointing to finally get the belt on, and work the drum back into place only to discover I had twisted the belt with the smooth side making contact on the driveshaft. Thus, I started over.

Aiming the drum into the back of the dryer is a tough task. I recommend a 1" X 4 " X 12" board to slip under the drum when beginning this process to help stablize, and guide the drum. It helped me tremendously, and was easy to remove out from under the drum once everything was back in place.

Use gloves. Yes, tough to work with in small places, and I did take them off to replace the belt around the tension pulley, however, there are too many sharp edges on the metal body of the dryer and especially the drum to do so without gloves.

Wires were easy to reattach and reassembly was smooth except for the top...check out the tabs, and spring tabs before you try and just plop the top back on. It goes a certain way...You'll know what i am talking about when you do this task.

I truly hope you have L O N G arms to do this task, and that the new belt lasts a long, long time!