KGYE650VHT0 KitchenAid Dryer - Instructions

This was so much easier than I though it was going to be. Pulled up on the top part of the dryer and folded it over to the back. Removed 2 screws for the front panel and disconnected some wires. Laying down I fed the new belt on and made sure the tensioner was put back into the right spot, because when the belt broke the tensioner sprung to the other end of its travel. Put everything back together. This was made super easy because you guys had the parts and the shipping was super fast. Alot of the local shops in the area didnt even carry the belt or were not helpful..

Prop up the hood of the dryer with flat bar. Take out 2 screws holding dryer front end and 2 switch screws for dryer light inside dryer door. Secure dryer drum with bungee cord. Lift front end and remove. Remove broken belt. Route new belt over drum and pass underneatch idler pulley at botttom of dryer. Apply pressure to idler pulley w/one hand while securing belt around motor with the other. Make sure drum seals are snug between front and back of dryer while putting everything back together.
Have confidence. This is a very easy fix.

I first disconnected the power cord and the vent hose. I removed the screws on the top of the back side to raise the top of the unit. There are also 2 screws holding the lint filter shoot which were also removed to allow the top to be lifted up. Its not necessary to remove the top since this would require disconnecting the wiring harness etc.

Next I removed the 2 screws located on the top-inside surface, which connect the front panel to the unit. After these were removed, the front panel lifts up and off--there are two clips which slid free on the bottom of the unit. The shut off switch on the door has to be disconnected to remove the panel.

With the front panel removed, the drum can be removed. I vacuumed out the interior and retrieved the idle pulley which had popped loose when the belt broke.

I removed the old rear drum seal and cleaned the edge with some brake cleaner solvent and steel wool. I then wiped the edge with paper towel and more brake cleaner to remove any oily residues. Before applying the glue, I test fit the seal which turned out to be a bit tight, so I stretched it a bit around the drum until it would fit on easily.

I used a disposible glue brush to spread a thin layer of the contact cement along the edge of the drum. By the time I finished one round, the glue was dry where I had started and so I did a second thin coat.

I then oriented the seal as per the directions and began fitting onto the edge trying to keep the free felt surface from getting into the glue. By the time I had reach the opposite side, the belt was pretty tight and so I had to stretch it a bit to get it to go on. I then worked my way around the edge a final time insuring that the seal was positioned correctly all the way around and the glue was pressed tight. I let the glue set for several hours before reassembling.

After the glue was dry, I put the drum back into the unit and worked the seal up onto the circular back panel until the groove on the drum was correctly positioned on the rear rollers. I propped the front edge of the drum on two 2 in rolls of duck tape so that I could rotate the drum freely several times. I checked the outside and inside to be sure that the seal was not turned under any place.

Finally, I slipped the new belt over the drum and past my 2 rolls of tape and positioned it groove side in over the drum. I then reinserted the tensioning pulling back into the slot just in front of the motor. The pulley goes just to the left of the motor pulley, the end of the tap on the base inserts in a slot and then 2 pins rest in a second slot to the right of the first. A loop of the belt then passes through underneath the pulley and then over the motor pulley. This requires pulling the tensioning pulling pulley towards the motor to get enough slack. I then rotated the drum several times and made sure that the belt was not twisted and the groove side was towards the drum.

To help hold the drum up while I was fitting the front panel. I supported the drum with a piece of 2 in tape run from the top/front edge of the drum to the back panel of the unit. I removed my two rolls of tape from under the unit, slipped the front panel back onto the two bottom clips, and then worked the front open of the drum over the front seal by opening the door and pushing from the inside and rotating the drum. I replugged the door switch and made sure the wire clips were secure.

I then replaced the 2 screws to hold the front panel. I put the top back down and resecured the screws on the back before reattaching the hose and replugging the unit. I test ran the unit for several minutes empty, listening for weird noises that would indicate something didn't go together correctly.

Took off the lower front panel, removed duct piece from filter to blower fan, removed two screws and two wires to thermostat in exhaust ducting, then replaced thermostat with new one. Very easy job and everything worked like new when I reassembled it.

Looking at the schematics, it wasn't clear exactly where the motor was located. I took off the rear panel thinking I could get to the motor through the blower. Realizing that was a no-go, I did some web searching and found that the lint screen chute had to be unscrewed, the top had to be lifted to gain access to the top 2 screws holding the front panel to to the main body. The barrel was then dropped and the rib belt removed from around it so I could set it aside. The clips were removed from the front and the back of the motor to gain access to the blower shaft. .The motor shaft is screwed into the blower shaft but it took me a while to figure out how to grab the blower shaft( made of hardened plastic?) with an adjustable wrench while torquing the end of the shaft with a (3/4"?) socket wrench. Access to the rear was rough, but getting the motor out an back in was easy. The spring tensioner for the belt was the next hurdle. With the s-curve facing outward and clipped to the base, the belt with the rib side wrapped around the barrel, the belt was slid between the roller and the tensioner bracket and wrapped around the motor drive rib side inward. I had to take the old motor to kind of prop up the barrel so I could at least see the tensioner and motor interface. I had to do a balance trick where I held the barrel up while centering it to the belt and the rear panel while ensuring the cloth seal was seated to the outside of the chamber. The front panel went on, and the front cloth seal was seated by spinning the barrel. The rest was just a matter of reversing the steps. Tons of lint/dust is probably what crashed this motor. Disassembling the front and the back allowed a thorough clean up - vacuuming and wipe down. Should go another 10 years/

Old door catch came out, new one slipped in. All works great.

Half of my pulley was broken off so there were no wrench flats to take it off. I was able to remove it using Channel Locks and the 7/16 wrench shown in the video.

Hint: Use a one gallon ice cream bucket to hold up the drum while connecting the belt. It makes it much easier and gives you more clearance.

Do to age and heat the dryer door handle was brittle and broke. Ordering was easy on line. Part was delivered faster tan expected. Oh and the repair time, Less than 1-minute.

Thanks for the great service.

I was reluctant to call a repair service. Typically when an appliance is as old as my dryer (14 years old), service people encourage you to replace, not repair. I had replaced the dryer's motor within the last 5 years and believed my dryer still had life to it. At first, I tried cleaning the lint build up from the dryer cavity and hoses. This worked but only for a couple of days. After reading other successful repair stories on the website, I decided to try replacing the thermal fuse. It was so easy. The part was easily identifiable. It was just a little hard to yank off the connecting wires. Good as new and no service call.

removed front of dryer located igniter removed two screws disconnected wires then put new one in also replace thermal fuse and thermostat on back of dryer works great.

I suspected a faulty igniter and disconnected the cable to the igniter and measured the resistance of the igniter and found it to be 70 ohms then I checked the voltage at the same cable towards the power source and found it to be 25 volts ac which should be 120 volts ac. Next I checked the radiant flame sensor and found it to be open (it should be a closed circuit when cold). I removed the flame sensor (with the power off) using a small box wrench and found a broken lead. Replacing the flame sensor solved the problem.

Took everything apart, replaced the igniter flint, and still didn't get heat. Then found out the thermal sensor wasn't running a electrical current through it with voltmeter and just replaced that, now it we have heat again!

Removed lower front cover of dryer, located coils, removed old coils by disconnecting the wires and removing the hold down bracket screws. Pulled the old coils out replaced them with the new coils by aligning the index pins on the coils with the holes in the bracket then reattached the bracket and plugged the wires into the new coils. Then closed the cover on the front of the dryer. Dryer now ignites and stays on to heat up and dry clothes.

The most difficult part of this repair was making sure I purchased the right part !!! Part Select.com has a great website with pictures of almost every part you could ever need. I was able to select the right part and from there the repair was easy.

I took the dryer apart by visually looking at it and removing screws, etc. until I had the top off and the front off. I took the dryer apart so I could get the part out and use it visually ascertain I was ordering the same part.

I bought the replacement part and only then did I have the instructions to take the dryer apart. It was further apart than the instructions said. I had to take the front off to retrieve the broken part which had fallen inside the front of the dryer.

I put the front back on the dryer and installed the new part, which, fortunately could only be installed one way. Once I had the two screws tightened into the part, the remainder was to simply follow the instructions that came from your web site and put the link filter and top of the dryer back on. Of course, I plugged in the dryer and checked to see that it ran before completing this.

I am amazed that I was able to find this part for a 30 year old dryer. The part hasn't changed at all. I guess, if you have a good part, there's no need to modify it.