MCE8000AZW Maytag Dryer - Instructions

Was a little hard getting at the idler pulley being it was behind the blower assembly, but it was the only draw back.

Shut off power and gas, unscrewed lint vent, raised top on angle with rope, unscrewed and moved door switch, unscrewed and took off front, put new belt around drum, then raised front end of drum with 4 narrow pieces of 1" foam insulation which let me view and install the belt connection to the drive motor shaft, adjusted the level of the drum using the rope holding up the top, removed foam pieces, replaced and rescrewed the front to fit the drum front channel, replaced the door switch, replaced the top and screwed it to the lint vent, returned gas and power, and ran confirmation test.

Ordered belt, received it two days later. It was a perfect fit.
The top of my dryer pops up from the front where 2 screws will allow the front to drop to the ground. Lift the drum slightly to get the belt on. Had to wrestle with the idler arm for about five minutes, but I won.

Before ordering the part, I found this website by linking from a video on YouTube where several people showed how they did it. Simply two screws in the lint removel chute and pushed in the two clips holding the top and two inside screws holding the front panel. Held the machine tilted back onto a table and placed two 4" wooden cubes underneath it so it wouldn't come forward and one more 4" cube under the drum. After cleaning out the inside, I slipped the new belt around the drum (ribbed side down) and taped it in place with a couple of pieces of painter's tape temporarily. Hooked the idler wheel guide and looped the belt in it. Tested movement by spinning it by hand to check alignment and removed tape. Reassembled the front, side and top panels accordingly and tested it. Voila! This was my first attempt and I saved myself some bucks. The last repair was done by Se•rs and their service person took my credit card number for the invoice and promptly went out and charged over $3,000 on it. He was eventually caught. Great incentive to do yourself, huh?

Step 1. Read all the comments about how to do this job in this forum. (i found them very useful)

Step 2. Read the directions that come with the dryer (they helped a lot)

Step 3. Don't forget to disconnect the power cord before reattaching the door switch wires (oucH! ) or doing anything with your dryer.

Removed the two screws holding in the Filter and removed the filter.

Removed the two screws holding the front onto the dryer.

Put the belt over the drum and proped the drum up.

Reseated the tension spring and pully in the proper slot. (On my machine it is the position closest to the motor).

Reassembled the dryer in the reverse order.

-Took top of by prying with screwdriver.
-2 screws and door wire to take off front panel.
-proped drum with 4X4 piece of wood.
-looped belt around drum where the mark for the old belt was.
-looped belt through tensioner and pulled with the screwdriver over the motors drive shaft.
-manually spun drum to make sure everything was right.
-put panels back on and was done.

You cant go wrong with the included directions and belt diagram. this is the first repair I've done of any kind that went flawless.

First unplugged dryer from outlet. Lightly pryed up on top of dryer to disengage retaining clips. Removed 2 screws holding sides and front panels together. Diconnected electrical connector from door switch. Remove clip retaining electrical harness of door switch from front panel. Removed front panel and placed to the side. Removed screws using a nut driver to retain the blower cover from blower wheel housing. Note there are 2 of the screws used to secure the blower cover to the base of the dryer, a phillip screw driver can be used for this. Also there is some sort of brace on the LH side of the blower cover that needs to be removed as well. Can be removed with either a phillips screw driver of nut driver. Remove retaining clip from motor shaft. Remove retainer clamp that had broke off from dryer duct work. Was able to us needle nose pliers for both. Removed old blower wheel and broken pieces. Vaccumed out lint build up with Shop Vac. Installed new blower wheel to shaft of motor. Had to lightly tap with rubber hammer to slide on to "D" shaped shaft of motor. Manually turned blower wheel to check out. Re-installed cover, front panel and lid in reverse order. Plugged in power cord. Told wife the dryer was fixed and became a hero, (might be because I started the next load of clothes).

Pull dryer out from wall about 6 to 8 inches step 1 - romove front/bottom access panel. Step 2 - remove lint trap and remove 2 screws (philips type) that is under lint trap door. Step 3 - push in 2 wood shime in front edge between lid and front panel (angled shims like door shims - a putty knife will work to, just be carful not to scratch finish) step 4 - fold lid upward and back (like on a hinge) step 5 - looking from where the bottom/front acces panel was losten 2 screws - one left one right about 3 turns - 9you can remove them it just makes it easier to reinstall the front panel. Step 6 - find appropriate pot or stacked 2 x 4 pieces - something to hold up the drum when you remove th front cover, and from underneeth support the drum. Step 7 - look thru bottm front access hole - there are 2 springs that come down from the door - and clip onto the frame of the fryer - unclip them and place on the side. Step 8 - remove 2 upper screws that hold front panel on, and remove front panel, if you left the bottom screws attached but loosened you have to lift up on the front panel a bit. Step 9 - looking from the bottom thru where access panel was - you will see motor on right with a additional roller (tensioner) - push upwards on tensioner to relieve pressure on motor and pop off belt (remember where tensioner is and how it clips in to base. Step 10 - work belt off of drum towars front - to remove it all the way you will have to lift up the drum slightly off of the pot or whatever you used for support so the belt can clear. Stem 11 - new belt goes on the same way you took to old one off - plat side away from drum with ribs against drum. Step 12 - again lift up on drum and work belt back on. Step 13 - tricky part is how to get the belt back on the motor - prentend you are threading a needle wht a folded over piece of thread - hold the belt with about a 4" loop with your left hand - hold up on tensioner and feed it back thru and work belt back over end of motor pulley, after front panel is back on with the 4 screws tightened spin the drum and make sure belt is between the 2 lines marked on the drum and remove the pot or whatever u used to prop up the drum. Dont forget to attach the springs for the door assemble all other components in reverse order. And dont forget to take the pot back out

First, I unplugged the dryer. I pulled up the lint filter, then unscrewed the two screws there. Then pulled up the top panel. I had a helper hold it up since it couldn't lean against the wall. Then I had to take the front panel off the dryer. The idiots at Kenmore used screws, not pins, so I needed to use a socket wrench to get those two out of the top corners. Then I lifted it up and off. I removed the broken belt. I put in the new one. I replaced the pulley, which had fallen without the tension of the belt holding it in place. It was pretty easy to figure out how it went, but I consulted the online community for a diagram. I threaded the belt in place, replaced the panels, and viola! It worked. Easy.

It was easy to remove the lint trap first, then the front dryer panel. The drum easily was removed and installing the new belt was a little tricky because the belt had to be mounted onto pulley while holding the drum in place. I had a little help from a friend to help me stabilize the drum as I placed the new belt. Once on, it was easy to re-install parts in reverse and have dryer working again.

Tested the thermostat (s), all were good used self diagnostic on dryer to see actual temps over 190. Used schematics to see the low temp relay might be the problem, tested the relays and found 1of 3 was open circuit. Ordered part, then plug and play. The relay was energizing the heater regardless of cycle whenever dryer was rotating.

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!!

I googled 'replace dryer belt' and found instructions on the 'Virtual Repair Man' web site. After reading the instructions through twice I began.

First I removed lent filter and removed the two screws that hold the lent body in place. I rotated the top panel up and back and leaned it on the wall; proped up the dryer drum with some scrap wood pieces; rotated the front panel of the machine out enough to slip the new belt, groves down, around the drum; reinstalled the idler pulley under the drum; raised the drum slightly and reattached the front panel. Reattached the top panel and replaced the filter. Did a test run and worked good.

I got a price from Sears for the part and they were asking $45 just for the belt. I saved enough in parts and labor to take my wife out for a real nice dinner. thanks

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).