11086983830 Kenmore Dryer - Instructions

Following the very helpful instructions that I found at PartSelect.com I was able to open the dryer and access the heating element which I suspected was bad. I realized later that I didn't need to open up as much as I did but the job was easy. In the future I would only open the panel below the door to access the element.

Just to make sure that it wasn't a problem with a thermostat or thermal fuse I also checked continuity from the temperature selector knob on the control panel to the heating element. When I verified continuity (zero resistance) I knew that the element was bad. Once I removed it I could see that one of the coils was broken and I should have just checked that first and not bothered opening up the control panel at the top.

Still it was less than an hour of work total. I have some experience with DIY projects but have not worked on appliances before. Thanks for the great site with good instructions and lower costs than the local parts counter.

Removed old filter and put in new one.

Used toothpick for a year to push switch acctuator far enough to engage switch. Broke my foot and found time to order part thru PartSelect. Went from cast to boot and received part 2 days after ordered. Had difficulty with foot and getting to switch. Went back into PartSelect and figured out how to dis-assemmble panels thru the diagrams. Time on my job doesn't, just that their service and expertise that is available to everyone is there to use. Broken bones or not, I will always get my parts and advice from PartSelect. Thanks to PartSelect.

somthing fell down in the blower motor compartment and busted up the bloewr motor fan,and was making noise and out of balance.i changed the blower motor and runs like a charme

My wife reported that the dryer was not working. I checked it and it seemed to work fine. This went on for about a month or two. Every time I checked it, it started just fine.

Well, she threatened to go buy a new dryer, I took her more seriously. I thought perhaps a thermal protection was the cause. But when I dug into it, I learned that when those trip out, they are permanent (have to be replaced).

I finally noticed loud humming sound the motor made at start-up, when it failed to start turning on one occasion and eventually tripped out the motors thermal protection.

I ordered the new drive motor form PartSelect.com.

Replacing the motor was fairly easy if you like to take stuff apart. One thing that I had not anticipated was that the two foam gaskets on the exhaust duct were dry rotted. I went to my local part supplier to get them. They did not have them in stock. :( While I was there, I asked how much the motor was, they wanted $50 more than PartSelect.com :D

I put it back together without the new gaskets, and it runs like new. I ordered the gaskets from PartSelect and will add them when they arrive.

My wife is happy again, she can bust out the laundry in one day; it had been taking here all weekend.

I learned to take her at her word.

First, I opened up the front of the dryer and then unscrewed the entire back piece. I assembled the new exhaust piece from the kit. Next, I took out the old straight rear exhaust and then replaced it with the elbow shaped left eshaust from the kit. Lastly, reattache the back and front pieces of the dryer.

Replaced

**** Remove power cord from the wall****

As said earlier, you will need to lift the top. Drop the two screws holding the lint shoot and pop the top by sliding a screw driver into the corner on the front. Lif tthe top and rest against the wall behid the unit. remove the two (4 total) screws at the top and bottom of the front door assembly.
Place sometin under the front portion of the drum. At this point you'll see the need to clean everything! :) Slide the belt off and around the drum, (take note of the routing it takes.) Remove the drum by gently pulling it towards you. Set it aside. Clean more. :) (It is nice to have a vacuum handy.) At this point you really need to get to the rear of the system. So I tipped the top back down, and spun it around. Removed the rear panel and cleaned some more. (15 years of a lot of lint in there!) Then you'll need to remove the rear cover on the left side, covering the blower impeller. Get read for a whole lot of debris. Vacuum again. So now you have the motor exposed in the front and rear. You need to remove the impeller by turning that clockwise to loosen it. The trick is holding the shaft in place from the front at the same time. I used an old rag and wedged it into the impeller edges and worked it around until it jamed up. Once the rag was wedged pretty good, I went back to the front spun the shaft. Then you can remove the impeller by hand. Vacuum more. You may get by without having to remove the lint shoot completely, but I did just to clean it up more. I did have to remove two screws in the upper corner near the top of the lint shoot. (Basically the hold the back in place.) I took a few notes at this point about the wiring harness. Used a heavier screw driver (standard), You can push down on the clips that hold the old motor in place. Then work it out the front. Clean more. The new motor is not an exact replacement slightly differnt but the instructions with it were ok. Follow them for the correct wiring. You will need to remove one wire and cut and recrimp a spade lug or two. I used ty-wraps to secure the lines back in place. Look closely at the diagrams and make sure you set the motor down in the same direction the instructions say, if you twist it slightly it will sorta lock in place where it needs to be. Re-install the hold down clips to the front and rear of the motor. Clean up your impeller, and reinstall it too. Then basically reassemble the dryer...tracing your steps backwards. This isn't really difficult, it just takes time and as you can see, you will/should clean as you go !

It was easier to remove the blower manifold cover, (3 screws) to get at the heater element. Remove the heat shield, disconnect the two wires from the element. There is another screw on the side holding the element in the housing. Remove it and slide the element torward you. I used pliers as it was a snug fit. Replace. Good time to vacuum the whole area.

After unplugging the dryer, I removed the bottom panel in front. Remove the the filter inside the dryer and remove the filter housing below. There you can see the thermal fuse on the air duct, its white with two blue wires. You can check it with a ohmmeter after removing the wires. If its open its bad. Its held in place with two sheet metal screws. After replacing the thermal fuse the dryer worked fine. However I would suggest cleaning the air duct and the outside discharge opening. Hope this helps.

I disconnect the power, then the vent pipe. I removed the back panel of the dryer to access the pulley and removed the belt. Replaced the back and put everything back together.

Inside the dryer tub, remove the filter housing by removing two phillips head screws. Unplug the sensor wires, note when replacing wires, black wire goes on upper sensor.
Separate filter grill from housing. Using the pliers, compress the tabs on the sensor plugs and push it thru the grill. The small blade screwdriver may come in handy here to pry up on sensor to assist in pulling the plug end through the grill. Replace the sensors by hooking short end into grill and pushing the long end through the grill. When replacing the housing to the dryer, the most difficult thing is getting the screwdriver onto the recessed screws. Be sure to put the tab on top of the housing under the dryer frame when rotating the assembly into place.

I deduced the lid switch was the problem.

I removed the two screws holding the control panel on. Pulled the control panel back.
Disconnected the ground wire of the lid switch.
removed the two top clamps that hold the panel to the top of the machine.
Pulled back the casing (outside of the washer) and placed it on it's side on the floor. Here I could reach the switch. Removed old, installed new and reversed the process.

The part that gave me the biggest problem was setting the casing back on to the frame. You have to slide the front part in at the bottome, then lean back the rest of it.

With the correct parts and watching the video, it was so easy to repair. We ordered the wrong part (for the Electric Dryer when it should have been for the Residential Dryer) but the return was easy and we got the new parts super fast. Next time I would probably look at the offending part first before ordering just to make certain. But we used a socket set and Philips screwdriver and actually had our teens do all the work for experience. Fixed the loud noise one and for all.

First and most important was to unplug the unit.
I removed the 2 screws that hold the lint screen shoot to the top cover and then simply popped the top of the machine open using 2 screw drivers and
gently prying it up. I raised the top cover about 8 inches and supported it with a block of wood.
I opened the front loading door and removed the 2 screws that hold the door actuator switch while holding the switch on the inside so that nothing would fall down into no mans land. Once the switch was loose I pulled it into view and could see that the actuator spring was broken. I used the search at the Part Select Web site and found the placement part very easy. I was amazed that the part was shipped and delivered to my house the very next day. The actuator spring simply snaps into place and I assembled it in the reverse order of removal, I removed the block of wood and snapped the top back into location and reinstalled the 2 screws for the lint screen shoot . I plugged the dryer in and it work perfect. I can't say enough about how well the experiance with Parts Select went, I will recommend them to others.