MDE336RES0 Kelvinator Dryer - Instructions

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!

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

i first looked up the diagram for this model and checked for the best way to take the front cover off the dryer. after removing the front cover i start looking for the wires that connect the door switch and remove the wires. the front cover also supports the weight of the drum, so carefully pull the cover until the drum comes loose. at this point you can visually see the parts of the parts that make up the workings of the dryer. i first noticed the drum was coming out with the front cover at this time i knew the rear drum assembly was broke. i then took the belt loose from tension pulley and slid it off the drum and removed both from the cabinet. after the drum was removed i also noticed the heating was broken in several places. i removed four screws from the heating element assembly and also removed two wire that were connected to the element. with all pieces removed i checked the thermal switches, there are three switches, one on the heating element, one on the vent side and one on the back panel of the cabinet. i then installed the rear drum assembly and the heating element assembly and connected the wires. i then slid the drum almost all the in place and put the new belt around the drum and dropped the rear drum into the bracket that supports the rear drum then run the belt around the tension pulley and around the motor pulley. i then placed the front panel back in place and connected the wires for the door switch and lifted the drum assembly up just enough to insert the front panel door support into the drum and placed the clips in place, checked all connections twice and connected power back to the unit and turned on and run it through all its settings.

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

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!

Watched on-line video, then applied those steps.
1. Pop the front of the deck loose using putty knife to depress clips;
2. Disconnect wires from light and door switch;
(Before I disconnected wires from door switch and light, I made wiring sketches to make sure I reconnected in original manner.)
3. Remove lint filter mount screws and mount from bottom of door opening;
4. Cut drum belt with wire-cutters and removed it;
5. Remove drum support clip from top center of front panel;
6. Remove (1) screw from each side of dryer body that hold front to sidewalls, removed front panel;
7. Remove drum by lifting the rear out of the bearing, then moving it forward through the machine front;
[While I had the dryer disassembled, I thoroughly cleaned it of lint, dirt & metal filings. The metal filings were from the worn ball hitch and drum support bearing cup. I spent as much time cleaning it out as I did working on it.]
8. Stand drum on gallon paint bucket while removing ball hitch (Use a #2 drywall phillips apex to obtain sufficient seating & torque to remove and reinstall ball hitch screws at rear of drum.);
9. Have a second person hold the new ball hitch in position while starting screws, if necessary;
10. Use nut driver w/5/16" socket to remove bearing retainer & ground ball clip;
11. Install new bearing into retainer clip, insert attachment screws through the holes in both, stick grounding ball in depression on back of bearing as screws are fed through back panel;
12. Hold ground ball clip in place to start one screw, then the other & tighten with nut driver;
13. Start drum belt on motor shaft and position against tensioner pulley;
14. Feed drum through front of machine and loop belt over rear of drum;
15. Slide belt forward on drum as drum moves to rear to keep it aligned with position of tension pulley;
16. Lift rear of drum to place ball hitch on top of bearing, then press down to seat it into bearing;
17. Turn drum to ensure belt alignment, then re-accomplish steps 6 thru 1.

I followed the recommendation from William, from Ardmore, OK and Elvis, from Miami, FL for the repairs. Elvis had detailed instructions as well as William, so I just combined the two and I was able to repair my dryer in three hours time. My sincere thanks to partselect web site in posting the repairs on line and for everyones input. I will be back to use the web site again to troubleshoot my other appliances and order parts (great price, fast service for parts) and I will highly recommend this site to my friends.

I disassembled the dryer using instructions from the following website for White Westinghouse (pictures really helped)
After removing the drum, I first noticed that the grouding ball was sitting on the bottom of the dryer (along with much lint). I then saw that the bracket for bearing support cup and the bearing support cup were both worn well past use. The bracket had been worn down about 1/4" to the SE with matching wear on the bearing support cup. There was a hole in the bottom of the bearing support cup (hence the grouding ball on the floor of dryer).
I installed the new idler pulley assembly and completely vacuumed out the dryer (I didn't know lint could get so stiff!). I installed the new parts from the kit once received (and the new belt bought previously) and the dryer works great. I'm so used to the obnoxious squealing that it seems odd to be so quiet.

The internet is a magnificent thing!

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

I googled and found parts select, listed model make and found parts diagram, found suspected parts from trouble shooting blog. I read repair stories, people who performed identical repairs, followed their lead, made notes ordered parts and
easily repaired my dryer for a fraction of the cost of replacing dryer.

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

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.

When it comes to repairs the only thing that I can fix are sandwiches. To say that I am a handy man is usually followed by snickers from my wife and friends... However, I was able to completley take apart my dryer, replace the heating pan and coils, put it back together and it works all by myself (my wife was standing behind me with a fire estinguisher when I plugged it in for the 1st time). I took the advice of some of the post I saw on this sight and took some before shots with my camera phone and marked the wires with tape so I knew where to return them and was able to get it all done. I was suprised at how easy it was to do and how simple a dryer really is on the inside. Ordering the part and doing it myself saved me a couple of hundred dollars easy.... this was the way to go!

much as described earler,
1. Removed 2 screws on back at the top and 2 on the chrome vent to access the belt and pulley.
2. Disconnected spring from pulley assembly and removed belt from pulley and motor.
3. Removed top of dryer.
4. Removed control panel.
5. Removed screws from inside dryer tumbler (all of them)
6. Removed bottom kick plate.
7. Removed 2 screws from inside panel (near tumbler) and 2 screws from bottom of front panel. Removed front panel.
8. Removed tumbler housing.
9. Removed heating element cover.
10. Removed heating element pan. (wires first)
11. Removed "bearing" by lifing it up (snaps in)
12. Cleaned and regreased "bearing"
Assembled in reverse order.