7MKGDS400DW0 Kenmore Dryer - Instructions

Removed back cover. Removed old timer and connected wiring to the new one. Installed new timer and put the back cover back on.

Had a problem holding drum in place and putting front back on. Got it together and drum wouldn't turn. Had to tear it a part again and belt had turned.

Very difficult for one person, trying to get the belt engaged into the motor pulley and the idler pulley at the same time. Trying to overcome the tension of the heavy spring on the idler was the main problem, while coping with the small working space with the drum in place. Solved all the problems by removing the drum (for the 3rd time) and making a piece of wood to wedge in against the outside wall of the machine to hold back the spring loaded idler. Then slipped the drum back in place and gently slid the belt around the drum. Then reached in under the drum and slipped the wood piece out while making sure the belt remained on the pulleys. If I had the wood idea at the start, it would have been about a half hour job. Good luck, and don't pinch your fingers.

Took the two screws holding the lint trap to top. Used a putty knife to loose the clips holding the top of the dryer up so it could be hindged up for access. Used a nut driver to remove the four screws hold the front door on. Removed the lower dust panel, just clips holding in on. Pull the dryer drum out along with the broken belt and old belt tensioner. Took shop vac and cleaned lint and removed about $2.00 of loose change from the base. Installed the new drum supper wheels. Held belt around drum to put back in. Looped the belt through tensioner and around motor drive pulley as shown in instructions. Put front door on only to find the felt around the door had slipped making the drum hard to turn. Pulled the door back off and laid the dryer on it's back before putting the door back on , so you can run your hand around the door to make sure the felt go inside the drum. Put the four screws back in the door panel before uprighting the dryer. Sucess the drum turned freely. Put other remaining panel and srews in lint trap . Hook the dryer back up to vent, power and gas, and turned on the dryer. Runs like new!

Followed the included instructions in the Maintenance kit. Very easy to understand & follow. Only advice is to have an extra set of hands to assist in re-installing drum w/ the new belt. Entire disassembly & reassembly could be done w/ basic hand tools but went alot quicker using a cordless drill w/ a set of nut/screw driver bits.

I use the manentance kit that was not the problem. I end buying the drive motor and that was it. I was happy with the service I got from part select, overnight mail what more could I ask for? I am also glad I replace everthing with mainentance kit. Thank you for your help john degnan

1. Popped off hinged dryer lid at front and supported to allow access to lint chute
2. Removed back sheet metal panel
3. Removed dryer chute to expose sensor; removed same-deformed terminal on top needs to be straightened with pliers to remove through slot.
4. Installed new sensor; terminal needs to be twisted to ensure solid installation and good ground. Bottom pops in but took a bit of finagling.

Accessing and replacing the sensor was straightforward enough; bulk of the job was cleaning off old gasket material (severely degraded) in two locations. Used plastic scraper and razor blade scraper, then cleaned sticky with goo gone. Installed new gasket strip from Home Depot; available in rolls. I used 1/4" x 3/8". Surprising how much lint/hair/debris was in bottom of lint chute. Glad to get it all clean.

I first tried replacing the Radiant Flame Sensor, which was located in a tight space and was very difficult to access. I finally gave up and called a handyman to replace it. That didn't fix my problem. I needed a new igniter. That was easy to replace, but it's fragile and I broke the first one...

I watched the video on replacing the belt and it was amazingly as easy as the video described. I had asked my son if he could replace it if I couldn't and I didn't have to ask him. If you are only moderately ept at repairing anything you could do this. I was waiting on it when it finally arrived and in no time I had it replaced and my dryer back working. Being a woman I like it when I can repair something myself and not have to rely on someone else to do it.

The repair was pretty simple.
1. unplug dryer.
2. use a med. flat screw driver with some cloth wrapped around the blade as not to chip the paint surface. From the front of the dryer,
carefully pry open the top surface of the dryer. There are 2 points to lift, about 3" from the right side and 3" from the left side.
3. The top will open like the the hood of a car, lift gently, you might have to move the dryer out if you can (if you are on a flexible service connection).
4. Unclip the push bottom elec. switch.
5. Carefully remove 2 sheet metal screws on the top left and top right (from the inside of the dryer cabinet. These hold the front of the dryer in place. You have to remove the front of the dryer to get the drum out. I can't believe that these 2 flimsy screws hold the dryer together.
6. Pull the front panel off, tipping it forward. More on this later, it's really important!!
7. Remove the drum, it's light weight, but bulky.
8. Now you will see the motor assembly and idle pulley.
9. Follow the belt diagram with the replacement belt package.
10. It gets a little tricky to get the drum back in because there's a bit of spring tension on the drum from the belt.
11. You're ready to re assemble. BUT, the next step is really important.
12. Since you have the front panel off, you can get at the lint trap. Yeah, lint. Ever wonder why your favorite Tee shirt gets thinner and thinner? Well, look in the lint trap. I filled a vacum cleaner bag with the hard packed lint.
13. By the way, you have to remove the 2 torx screws that hold the lint trap assembly.
14. Vacuum the whole exhaust pipe while u are at it.
That's it!

I yanked up the front of the lid, the broken belt laid across the drum like a dead snake. Pulled that out, then removed the two screws holding the front. Using the pliers, pulled off the two wires snapped to the door switch.
Lifted out the front panel, and lifted the drum, (added a bit of a yank to get it out of the two rollers in the back).
Vacuumed out the dust and dead bugs, then tried to figure out how to thread the belt on the idler and motor. (This was the hardest part) the picture that shows the parts is an exploded view, and does not show the way that it goes together. After about half an hour, I asked for help, and we found a slight rubbing on the idler and figured out that the tensioning spring pulls on the lower part of the idler arm, not the top. Putting the belt on, and getting the spring into the hole in the base was tricky, but not hard. Reassembly was straightforward, and took less than 5 minutes. (put in the drum with the belt on it, hook the belt on the motor and idler, push the rear of the drum into the rollers, then put on the front panel, re-attach the door switch, and the two screws holding the front, and close the lid).

Worked with a guy, I'm a girl. He had a good "feeling" about how to take apart the dryer, install the belt and put it back together. After one go putting the belt on, starting the dryer and having the belt come off....I followed along silently looking at the directions. Definately needed 4 hands to put the drum back in alignment. Other than that, this was very simple PROVIDED THE DIRECTIONS TO REALIGN THE DRUM are followed at the end. So simply: my directions are meaningless here, just follow the ones enclosed with the belt and this should take no more than 1 hour. :)

Dont go in through the back!! Take the top off then the obvious steps to get to the drum and belt. On the kitchen aid model at least I would advise to make all the hassel of replacing the belt well worth your time to go ahead and buy a new tension pulley with the wheel on it as opposed to the all metal tension pulley. My dryer is much more quiet now and seems to be more efficient.

I waited a two days to get my belt then deciced to get a new tension pulley. Ordered it one day and the next it was at my door. This was well worth my time and effort. Thanks PartSelect!!

Unplugged the 220 line, removed lint cover, (2 screws). Lifted top with a screw driver, (2 plastic fasteners) then unplugged a ground line at the front lip to separate the front panel. There was a 50/50 chance here that I would not put the wires back correctly, didn't not make note of the color differences. There was no lower panel, just a single panel on the front, which I first tried to remove like the top, but quickly saw no results, then lifted the panel easily, which I set aside. I rested the drum on a 4x4 piece of wood. I then slipped the new belt over the drum, aligned the bulkhead at the rear, and positioned the belt in the original position, there was a distinct mark showing this. Next I saw the idler pulley lying on it's side, hmm, thought this might take some time, but the illustrated instructions were very accurate, reset the pulley, pushed it toward the motor and doubled the belt around the pulley, it sort of felt right, according to the grooves on the floor panel. I then rotated the drum counter clockwise, then tested. It worked! Became a hero to my wife and found $1.86 in change, woo hoo! Total cost, including shipping under $20., two day delivery, amazing. Thanks.

We took off the front of the dryer and saw how the new belt needed to go on. It took myself, my daughter, and my husband to get the belt in place and the drum aligned. Once that was done, I put the front of the dryer back on, this holds the drum in place. After that, we sealed the back of the drum like the instructions stated, turned it on, and it worked. We were a little concerned with the instructions stating if the drum was not sealed properly it could cause "fire & death". We kept checking the dryer throughout the evening... no fire, so we were very happy to have done this repair ourselves. Thanks. I would not have tryed it myself except for the positive comments on your site when I looked to order the part. They were correct, it was easy to do and saved us a lot of money in repair service. It also showed my 23 year old daughter how easy it is to some things yourself. :)