GFMS170EH0WW General Electric Dryer - Instructions

Un plug the dryer. Gather phillip, flat head and torix screw drivers. Remove the rear of the dryer to get the spec sheet with the appropriate part number. Next called for part. Belt installation requires removal of front and top of dryer in order to slide belt over the drum. Getting to all the fastners requires tilting the dryer on its back. Clean out excess lint from dryer interior and duct work. Slide drive belt over drum and use some masking tape to hold it in position. Reassemble dyer. Return dryer to upright position and put the belt on the pully and tensioner from rear access port. Remove tape. Replace access panel. Reattach vent duct work. Plug in. There are 5-6 different size screws holding everything together...you may want to use masking tape to label where each type of screw goes. All totaled it took about an hour and cost less that $25. Well worth the effort.

Open up the unit's lid first and then removed the front panel. Then I removed the broken belt and then routed the new belt around drum, through the belt tensioner, and onto to the motor pulley. I checked to make sure the belt was securely in place and if it would rotate the drum. Once I was positive it was in place I put the dryer panels back together, plug in the dryer, and tested operation. The only thing that was difficult was trying to figure out the routing of the belt through the tensioner because the old belt wasn't in place anymore. In all it was a 45 minute job.

I removed the front cover and top of the dryer by removing screws visible from opening the dryer door. I then had to figure out exactly how the belt was set around the drum and other pulleys. With the belt around the drum and around the motor rotor, the other pulley had to be very forcibly pushed towards the drum in order to get the belt seated correctly. This being my first dryer repair, I was unsure of how the belt was needed to placed. But eventually figured it out using pictures from the internet. The second pulley required a lot of force and I had to squeeze my hand and arm under the drum of the dryer in order to make the belt fit correctly with enough slack to reach around the second pulley.

I removed the two screws inside the door and popped the top loose. I took the top off to see and have access to the interior. I leaned the front out and inserted the belt around the drum (with my wife's help), replaced the screws and laid the dryer on it's face on a rolled up blanket and proceeded to run the belt around the pulleys (two). The drive pulley was easy but the idler pulley, not so easy. I had to figure out how the pulley arm was supposed to provide tension on the belt. I figured it out by looking at the diagram. It was then I found the idler pulley was broken and fell apart in my hand. I advise that a new pulley be installed at the same time as the belt. Everything I read on your web site helped.

All the stores had either a smaller watt or a larger watt and the book suggested always using the correct watt. I was glad to find it on this sight and it was delivered very quickly.

removed two phillips screws from front panel, removed front panel and raised top cover, had my wife hold up top cover while i removed belt and installed new one, reassembled in reverse order, turned on dryer and checked for proper operation, and yes i did unplug the unit. worked great!!

no problem open top remove front install new belt

Removed the top of the dryer 2 screws. procedure
open dryer door. At the top of the dryer door their is
two screws left to right, Remove them and lift top
off. Inside where the top was is two screws left to
right. Remove the two screws and take the front
panel off. Carefull not to pull wireing loose. Lean door against something so you don't have to disasemble wireing. Pull broken belt out and install new belt around tumbler and up and over
tension pulley and pull down and slip over the motor pulley. Your'e done. Reassemble front then
top. My dryer ran just fine after these steps. The question and answers helped me do this.

This is a space saver one piece unit with dryer on top. I first removed ten screws that hold the top on, I then removed four more screws that hold the front service cover on and two last screws that hold the rear service cover on. Now I seperated the front cover of the dryer from the dryer tumbler tub and slipped the new belt around the tub, then at the rear service cover I feed the belt through the tensioner and back onto the motor pully. Now just put the covers back in reverse order of removal and all done! "Piece of cake"
Ron

Thanks to your great DYI video I completed the repair in less than 45 minutes very easy.

Great service. I got the part in 3 days and having the youtube video was fantastic. I also was able to find other videos also so doing these tasks yourself nowadays is much easier. I was a bit nervous but it turned out to be easy.

I followed the provided video precisely. Made the job quite easy. My only problem is I'm 6'2", 275 lbs. with bad knees. Can't go at it exactly as shown in the video because I can't squat down in front of the dryer without pain. Called in a neighbor of smaller stature for him to come from one side, and me from the other. Worked flawlessly. Video is excellent. I do recommend wearing gloves and/or long sleeve shirt. I cut up my arms a bit, but that could have been easily avoided.

Watch the video on how to replace the belt on PartSelct site belt installation page.

It took a while to diagnose the problem. I finally figured out it was the door switch by pushing it with my finger with the dryer door open and starting the dryer. It would run like that, but the switch was not being pressed in enough by the door. I ordered the switch and I should have been able to replace in about 15 min. But the old switch broke while I was removing it and it fell back inside the unit. So I had to remove the top and the front panel to access the door switch. That's why it took so long. If that had not happened it would have been a much simpler repair.

Removing the top and then the front of the dryer went fairly easily after finding the screws. The drum came out with just a little coaxing, does not gets screwed in place. To me the trickiest maneuver was getting my hand under the drum to place the belt over motor pulley and around the tensioner pulley. You must look up an image of the belt routing. It took me forever to figure that out. If not for that, this in a half hr fix. Ps don't forget to unplug the dryer.