MCE8000AZQ Maytag Dryer - Instructions

Needed a belt. Only snag was for me was re-installing front panel (door)

I replaced it

I unscrewed the door catch and pried out with some resistance the strike part. Screwed in the catch and pushed in the strike. Closed door. Voila!! Back in business with assurance.

DISCONNECT THE POWER. Double check the dryer is unplugged. Use a putty knife to free the latches holding the top of the dryer in place. Lift up the top of the dryer and secure it in place (be sure it's safely held open and won't come crashing down onto yourself as you work). Remove the two screws on the inside and near the top of the dryer, which hold the front and side panels. Gently lift up on the front panel (it may help to open the dryer door to get a better grip). Once free from the bottom clips, carefully rotate the front panel so that the door sensor wires are not strained. Once the front panel is out of the way, grab the drum and firmly lift it up and away from the back. (The drum has rollers and ridges at the rear and you'll need to pull the drum out of its "track"). Slide the new belt around the drum and position the drum about halfway inside the dryer. Loop the belt around the motor, but not the tensioner, (it will be easier to install the drum if you wait to tension the belt). With the belt around the motor, gently slide the drum back keeping the belt around the motor pulley. Press and guide the drum back onto the rollers at the rear. Check the belt is positioned correctly around the drum and motor. Reach back from the front and loop the belt around the tensioner. Rotate the drum by hand and make sure the belt is aligned and the drum spins smoothly. Position the front panel and slide it onto the lower clips. Install the screws being very careful not to drop them into the abyss... Close the lid and plug in the power.

Removed the two screws at the back that hold the top of the dryer. Then I pried off the top at the front by inserting a screwdriver into the front to remove the top from the clips. Then I tilted up the top like a car hood.

I removed the two screws inside that held the front on and lifted the front off. Because of the wires attached to the front, I made sure to turn the front aside without pulling on the wires. After removing the broken belt, I put the replacement belt over the front of the drum, lifting the drum a little. Then I threaded the belt over the drive and around the tension wheel per a diagram I found on the web.

While I had the front off, I removed the lint trap and cleaned out probably decades worth of lint.

Then I replaced all the parts in reverse order, plugged it in and had a working dryer!

Watched a video and went to town taking it apart. I stuck a pop can under the barrel to hold it up while I worked on pulleys. My dryer does not have a plastic pulley but a metal tension bar with a hole in the middle. Ran upstairs and watched a different video with my set up and all was good. 5 min of work 5 min watching Youtube and 5 min cleaning all the lint out of the machine. I am actually glad the old belt broke because some of the lint was in a clump and had scorch marks on it. I took the shop vac to every part of the cabinet and shoved it down the lint trap sleeve also.

Opening the dryer to discover the problem was easy. We put the belt up on a workmate bench - I think this made access better at the bottom. Getting the new belt on past the rear drum seal was ok, the instructions could benefit by including wording describing how to roll the belt flat under the 2 rear drum support pulleys to bring it to the drive motor shaft pulley. The instructions included with the belt had a diagram showing the position of the belt take up idler (the idler was found loose inside the bottom of the dryer), our dryer had a hole in the metal spring clip of the idler arm, so we thought at first that a screw to the chassis had broken - this is not the case the idler pulley is held in place by belt tension, so pulling the spring clip open while feeding the belt would have been useful in the instructions too. Other than those 2 head scratchers the repair was easy and saved us the cost of calling a repairman. Thanks PartSelect.

First, I printed one of these responses which were excellent and very detailed. The screws connecting the lint slot to the top of the dryer was frozen. Taking the front panel off was difficult because I did not read the instructions I printed out very well. After I took the top off I had a hard time finding the 2 screws located inside on the top of the front panel. They are located to the far right and left at the top. To take off the front panel you have to push it up to release the clips on the bottom, then it comes right off. Taking the drum out was easy. What was difficult was putting the belt on. There wasn't any slack and to put it around the pulley and the drum for me was difficult. After that is was a piece of cake. It works great.

i pop the top of the dryer lose and removed the 2 screws that held the front on and installed the new belt and put it back to gethere

I watch the video and played it again while I was working.
I am a 54 year young woman and I did it.

I removed the lint trap then the dryer cover from top and front side. I placed the belt around the dryer drum being sure to put it on the correct side with the grid side against drum. I coiled the belt around the pulley and motor tract. Replaced everything in opposite order in which it was removed.
Video from website was very informative and helpful. I was able to follow along step-by-step to replace the dryer drum belt. I am officially a do-it-your-selfer!!!

My wife noticed a loud racket coming from the dryer. I took a look at it by opening the door and spinning the drum by hand and sure enough, the grinding, clunking noise continued. After a day of drying clothes, the noise got worse and then my wife said the clothes weren't getting dry at all. She could see the heating element glowing but the clothes would not dry. Sure enough, this was the case. While the dryer was turning, the outlet hose was still cold but the heater element was on. I went to the PartSelect site, entered the model number and looked at the common problems associated with noise. It said that the blower wheel was the second most likely issue. It also showed how to open the dryer and look for problem areas. First, unplug the dryer! Then, I took a putty knife (screwdriver would work - flathead) and pryed open the lid at each corner and opened the top. I then tilted the lid back against the wall to support the lid. There are two screws that hold the front panel of the dryer to the sides. They are on the inside of the cabinet up high near the top. I took these screws out and the front comes off by pulling the front panel away then up. There are three wires attached to a sensor on the front panel. I took a picture of these for reference and disconnected these wires to totally remove the panel. With the front panel off, I could see large clumps of lint trapped at the base of the filter screen. Now is a good time to vacuum this clean. Inside the cabinet at the bottom right, you can see the blower wheel. It was totally broken off the shaft that turned it. You can still spin the drum and see the shaft turn but the broken blower wheel would "clunk" around causing the noise. There are a small handfull of screws that hold the faceplate of the blower assembly on. Take these off and you will have full access to the blower wheel. DOn't worry about the wires on the sensor attached to the faceplate. If you want to take these off their clips, take a sharpie and write the color of wire each clip takes on the front of the faceplate for reference. The blower wheel is held on to the shaft by a circlip that is easily pushed off with a screwdriver or pliers and also a spring clip that is taken off with pliers by gripping the tabs with the pliers and squeezing the clip open. Save these two parts because the replacement wheel does not come with these pieces. I ordered the blower wheel, it was here in two days and replaced the wheel. Note: The wheel will take some effort to fully seat it on the shaft. You can take a hair dryer and warm the center of the wheel where the shaft will go thru to make the install easier. Do not use a hammer to beat the wheel onto the shaft or you will be ordering another wheel. I put my left hand behind the blower as support and pushed the wheel onto the shaft with my right hand and using a towel to cover the wheel center as padding. Reinstall the spring clip over the wheel shaft support and then pry the circlip back on the end of the shaft with pliers, reinstall the blower faceplate, reconnect any wires, reinstall the dryer front panel by first leaning the panel out and dropping the front panel onto the cabinet tabs at the bottom and then closing the front panel and screw it back down with the two screws. Reattach the three wires, close the lid, plug it in and your back in business. It took me longer to write this than it did to repair it. Good luck!

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).

Pry up front of top and lay back. Remove two 1/4" srews at top corners. The front of dryer will then swing to the right. The drumb will lift out easily. Remove broken belt. Inspect the drum rollers on the back wall. Replace if loose or not turning. Mine needed replacement. The assembly part is not easy. You need the drum in place and after it is in place you can't get the belt on. After 8 tries I got smart and made a prop to hold the idler pully up, then put the belt in place and let the pully down slowly. It worked! Put the front back on and the 2 screws and pop the top back down. Also it is a good idea to unplug the electric cord and turn off the gas (if app).

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. :)