LDE26CS Maytag Dryer - Instructions

Removed front cover.removed 4 screws holding drum in place. Cleaned out lint from everywhere. Placed new belt over drum looping it over idler arm & motor pulley. Pushed drum back ; rotated drum to see that belt was engaged. Put front drum bracket in place. Put front panel in place with 2 screws at the bottom. Tested motor & rotation of drum; then checked heat. All worked fine. Took 1 hr. but most time spent cleaning lint.

Overall, the repair was pretty easy. I'm a 52 year old woman who has never done drier repair. I replaced both front glides, both drum support roller wheels, the idler pulley wheel and the tumbler and motor belt. Including vacuuming out the inside of dryer and washing down the inside and outside of dryer with cleaning wipes, the whole project took me 2 hours. (if done individually, time would have been 20-30 minutes). You must have correct tools, so I did have to purchase two tools that I didn't have. My only suggestion in replacing the idler pulley wheel and the tumbler/motor belt would be to take the small access panel off the back of the dryer for easier access to the parts.

I had replaced other parts on this dryer before (drive belt, interlock switch), so knew how to remove the front. That is easy to do. Didn't even have to pull dryer away from the wall. Removed heater assembly. NOTE: take a picture, or note which wires go where! Took a chance that it was only the heating element after measuring the resistance of the element and noting that it was an open circuit (very high resistance). Could also have been something else in addition, but turned out, not. The hard part was getting the new housing assembly to fit in the circular hole at the back. It comes as a poor fit, not shaped right. I eventually just used pliers to bend in the edges, like crimping, and finally got it to fit in. Some pushing to get all screws back in place and now it runs and heats. A great dryer, over 30 years old, and still going. Well worth the effort to repair.

Looked in one of the back removable panels and saw the broken belt. Took the machines front panel off per a You Tube video and saw the repair was simple but too the time to vacuum out a large amount of Lint Debris that had accumulated over the past 34 years all over the inside of the machine which is dangerous.. After cleaning it all up I simply put the new belt on and put everything back together and it all works nicely again!

The numbers on the metal plates were the JC Penney numbers - that no one recognizes. I eventually found the model number inside the timer case on a printed schematic. I started by disassembling whatever metal covers were removable by finding sheet metal screws and unscrewing them. If you pull on the sheet metal covers, you can find where they are connected to the frame. Eventually, I found that both the heating element was broken and the thermostat was fried. It took a while looking at various websites to find the proper parts. It's all OK now.

This is going to be easy!!!

#1 First removed two screws at the bottom of the front cover Pulled the bottom out first to loosen the top and then gently pulled down to remove front cover.
#2 took a duster to remove the dust and cob webs:)
#3 Looked at the parts and then removed the heater element I used a SHORT nut driver for that.
#4 Once removed I inspected the parts farther to look for more damage (there was no more)
Now the fun part...
#5 The heater assembly. go's into the hole at an angle. You MUST be really tiny or have freakishly long arms to reach the back and screw that screw in.
#6 have wife with small hands that wants to try while you vent your frustration because you cant reach the screw hole and you lost a screw.
#7 Be ready to push hard on the assembly. while you screw the screw back into the hole.
#8 put the front of the heater back on.....check to make sure its all in there and hooked up like it should be.
#9 put front cover back on.
#10 dry clothes, and wonder why it was so hard. knowing is half the battle, Its going to be a 10 min job next time.

I removed the front of the dryer and the drum support plate. I drilled out the old rivets and installed the Glides with the enclose rivets. The Glides came loose in a few days! The holes in the glides are larger than in the old Glides. I disassembled the dryer again and reassembled with my rivets. This time I held the rivet gun inside the perimeter of the dryer so that the head of the rivet is opposite the initial installation. So far, so good, except the dryer still squeaks. The idler pulley is now the culprit. White grease burned up. I reassembled with high temperature grease. If that does not work, I will need another idler pulley. The journal looks very worn. the dryer is 30+ years old.

I took the access panel off the back, realized that belt was in very bad shape. Ordered a belt when I got that changed I put it back together and it still had a clunking noise. Found out that the blower wheel was rounded off where it goes over the shaft. So to change that I took the two front screws off, then the four hex screws off of the tumbler guide. There were eight or so screws over the blower wheel, took those out and the clamp on the blower wheel then used the snap ring pliers for the snap ring, then changed the wheel. Problem solved. This website is very helpful I would not have attempted to fix my dryer without this website.

Turn off circuit breaker or unplug. Remove two screws 4 inches from bottom front panel of cabinet with stubby phillips head. Pull panel towards you about 30 degrees; then wiggle it down, to free two steel spring clips holding it to cabinet. Pull off red and yellow wire from door switch. Now set front panel aside. Blower assembly is facing you at lower left. Open the housing by removing six small screws from cover and one attached to dryer base. Remove spring clip from end of shaft. (A circlip pliers helps to prevent it from springing off somewhere.). Squeeze spring retainer surrounding blower wheel shaft with regular pliers, and wiggle the blower off. Replace in reverse order. Be sure insulation around blower wheel housing seats properly into front panel. This keeps the hot air flowing up past the lint trap.
Easy job, about half hour. Mine took longer, because I had removed the belt and drum, thinking the noise came from bad drum support rollers. It was just the plastic blower wheel shaft seat, which had worn itself round. Cost $20 (including shipping) and my 29-year old Maytag is as good as new--at least for now.

Unplugged the dryer, Very important, there is voltage on on of the wires to the heater.
I first removed the 2 screws on the lower part of the front cover and rotated this out of the way, no need to disconnect any wires. removed 2 small screws that hold the heater assy. cover plate and the one screw in the front bottom of the heater assy. I then removed the one screw at the top back of the heater. this completely frees the heater assy.
I then removed the push on wire from the thermistor and the other wire from the lug and I transferred the thermistor to the new unit. Now it is time to reverse the process making sure the entire circumference of the heater assy goes into the hole in the back. This can be a little tricky if the new assy is out of round. Just work it in, it will fit. Very easy, only about 20 min from start to finish...

Removed back panel of machine which exposed badly worn idler pulley. Have had problem before on another dryer so I was sure what problem was before I started. Removed snap washer and cloth washer and then bad pulley.(It was very worn and wobbly).Cleaned shaft with small piece of emery paper and put two drops of oil on shaft and replaced old pulley with new one.Put back washer and snap washer.Drive belt had slipped away from its proper position so I had to remove the front panel of the dryer to place the belt back and realign it on the drum and around the new pulley and the motor drive shaft. Not really that difficult.....Machine now runs like it's brand new.....

Removed the two lower screws holding front of dryer assembly in place and "unhinged" it and stood it up on floor. Then I unclipped the two wire leads on inside of dryer door assembly and moved assembly completely out of work area. Next I removed the four screws holding the tumbler frame in place and removed that frame from the work area. Now you can access the blower wheel "frame" and remove 5 or 6 hex screws to get that off and out of your way. You DO NOT have to remove the dryer drum and/or drum belt to complete this repair, so save yourself some work and leave it in place!! Once the blower wheel frame is off, use pliers and a flatheaded screwdriver to get the small outer retaining clip off, and then just pliers to get the wheel retaining ring off the wheel shaft. Put on the new blower wheel, use pliers to replace the aforementioned wheel retaining ring, and then the small outer retaining clip...VIOLA! You're finished! Dryer will run like new with a smooth purr instead of that dreaded rumbling sound.

Followed instruction video

took out old and placed in new

Because of the nature of the noise, and knowing nothing of appliance repair, I assumed that there was a loose belt. I figured that the belt would be accessible from the rear of the machine. After much disassembly, I discovered that the belt was in fine shape and not the problem. But every time I spun the drum, I could still hear the rumbling sound. Eventually, I discovered that the from paned of the dryer is the easiest to remove. Once I removed that, I discovered the blower fan housing. A few screws later and I could see that the plastic fan center was worn out. I had a part number so I simply did a quick internet search and found several sites that stocked it. PartSelect had the best price and the best shipping prices as well. I placed the order on Saturday afternoon. I got the confirmation immediately, and the shipping information on Monday. On Wednesday the part was waiting at my door! It took about 15 minutes to re-assemble the dryer and now, about 18 loads later, it's perfect!
Thank you PartSelect!!!!
Joe G