MDE4000AZQ Maytag Dryer - Instructions

Turned off gas and unplugged dryer
1) Removed bottom front panel
2) lifted top panel up like a car hood
3) Removed door springs
4) disconnected electrial connections to door unit, removed door unit
5) removed drum, scraped old felt from drum
6) glued new felt with a very strong glue (nanoglue or gorilla glue, same thing), let it dry overnight
7) secured back inside panel, replaced drum and put dryer back together.

My 20 year old reliable Maytag 512 lgp dryer was not heating anymore. At first the heating element would glow red but not hot enough to ignite the gas. I replaced the element and it worked for a few loads but then stopped reigniting after the first cycle.

After some research and diagnosis (checking connections, amperage flow on each electriical part, etc.) I determined that the two coils were faulty. I ordered parts and replaced them (easy to do) and it worked again, for another few loads. Then nothing worked. The coil did not get hot and I did not hear the clicking sound that initiates current flow to the ignitor through the coils.

I checked the coils and ignitor again, they were fine. Frustrated, I called in a repairman to diagnose the problem. $55 and 15 min later he narrowed it down to the High Limit Thermostat. To demonstrate he bypassed the thermostat by directly connecting the two leads together and the ignitor fired right up.

His price to replace the thermostat? $45 part plus $130 labor. I bought the thermostat online for less than half his parts cost and the labor took me 5 minutes. Simply unscrew the small screws with a small socket set or nutdriver and replace the thermostat. Just two connectors, real simple.

All in all it was very easy to replace the parts, just tricky to diagnose unless you are good with electrical work.

Instructions were great. Very step by step. It could not have been easier. Repair saved me a $100 service call.

I just inserted the door catch, which by the way fit in perfectly. Thanks. Took 5 seconds to repair.

We tried replacing the door switch first, still didn't start. Next we tried the thermal fuse and it turned on and has worked ever since.

After changing all the rollers in the dryer (which didn't fix the problem) I decided to take apart the blower. Sure enough, that was the problem. As the dryer heated up, the damaged wheel would swell and start rubbing the housing. I replaced both and fixed the problem. The repair was pretty easy, since I had taken the dryer apart several times replacing the rollers.

Opened front panel .Tested both coils on gas valve.
Found no continuity on one of the coils. Replaced coil,
dryer works like new.

popped out old female clasp on dryer itself with screwdriver, undid 2 screws on dryer door and door handle with phillips screwdriver, popped in new male clasp part, put door knob back on and put the two screws back in door and it was all set to go. Less than 15 minutes to do. Better than new and wife is happy. No more duct tape holding door closed now.

Well, I had to find out just how the dryer came apart. Most of the time, the back comes off but with this particular Maytag, it is the front that has to be removed. Once the four screws from either side are removed, the front pops off and the canister that holds the heating element is right there on the bottom. Cleaning away years of lint was fun but the heating canister was removed quickly using two screws and removing four wires that attached to the unit. Once the screws were removed (top back and bottom front) and the wires removed, the replacement unit slid right in without any problems. The regulator on the old unit had to be transferred to the new unit before installation. I closed up the front, put the four screws back in and snapped the front closed and the dryer worked perfectly.

Took out two front Panel screws and removed the panel. Removed Gas solenoid coil holding bracket by removing two phillips head screws. Disconnected the coil leads. and removed the coils. Connected the new coils to the leads and set in place. Replaced the holding bracket and the two screws. Replaced the front cover and the two front cover screws. Piece of Cake!

Before I started, I pulled the dryer away from wall, unplugged it and removed the vent piping for good access to the back of the dryer. Then, I took out the screws holding the back plate of the control panel to the base. This revealed the inside of the control panel, and also allowed the panel to come loose--roll forward--for access. Then at the front of the control panel, I took the top center disk of the dryer dial out, and pulled off the dial itself. This revealed the timer post and the 2 hex-head screws holding the timer part in place. I removed the screws, the timer came loose. With the timer free and the replacement part in hand, I carefully pulled the wires from the old part and put them on the new one. Once completed, I loosely reinstalled the timer on the panel, set the panel in place, and plugged in the dryer to test the part before I completely buttoned up the control panel. It was at this point that I discovered the dial was loose on the new part. I looked at the old part and found a sleeve fitting on the post the dial slides onto. I removed it from the old, put it on the new, and now the dial fits snugly as it always had. Spun the dial, pushed the button, and the dryer works again! After cleaning dust collected over the years, I'm ready to finished tightening up the timer, and reinstalled the back plate. With the dryer ready for service, I took the extra step of cleaning the vent outlet on the bottom back of the dryer and installing new vent piping. Years of use can cause a build-up of lint, what better opportunity to clean this up? Finally done, I pushed the dryer back into place.

Switch can be removed from outside of dryer and your video described the repair as having to work from inside dryer. But since wires were still attached to old switch, it could be popped out and wires switched. Since there were three wires on new switch to allow it to turn on and off a circuit, it was useful to check the resistance of the switch compressed or released to be certain I was attaching the two wires to the right two poles of the new switch. But that all required only a couple of minutes. Thank you.

Pull the electric plug. With a nut driver and phillips screw driver remove two bolts and three screws on the rear access plate. Gently pull the knob from the front pannel and with the nut driver remove the two bolts under the knob. The timer is now loose from the drver. Match the wire plug codes on the old and new timers. Remove one wire at a time from the old timer with pliers and plug it onto the new timer on the same coded pin. Slide the timer back into the pannel and replace the two bolts that hold it. Replace the knob. Replace the three screws and two bolts holding the back pannel. Plug the electric cord back into the wall socket.

Unscrewed 4 screws,pulled off front of machine.Unscrewed 2 screws holding coils on,unplugged coils,installed new coils,plugged in coils,reinstalled 2 screws for hold down brace.Reinstalled front cover,plugged dryer into outlet(remember to unplugged dryer before working on it).started up,instant heat,works great.thanks Partselect for helping me out!!!

After replaceing several parts including the thermostats the last part I replaced the coils were the defective part. I originally metered out the themostats and they appeared to be okay but since this was my first time I thought I might have been mistaken. It turns out the last part I thought it could be was the part that was defective. I will say that it is very simple to replace any of the parts involved. The hardest part was trying to open the dryer itself. But after having to do it 3 times, I'm now a pro. I also replaced the drum belt and since I had it open I also replaced the belf idler with a newer modified idler rolller.

Putting the belt back on is easy, but it helps to view the video or a picture to understand how the belt goes around it.