4GWED4900YQ3 Whirlpool Dryer - Instructions

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

It was so easy... Pop out the old with flatblade screw driver and insert new piece... Works perfectly and looks better than the velcro strip I was using to hold the door shut...! Thanks for fast delivery and having the part available...

Regards,
JBL

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.

First I pulled out lint catcher, you will see two screws ,removed two the screws on top ,( philips head screw driver) I than took a putty knife and pushed in the front of the dryer under the lid and lifted the top up, I than removed a self tapping screw on each side with a 5/16 wrench and lifted the front panel out. I than pulled out the drum and this exposed the two rollers, I than pulled of the nut locks with athe pliers , took off the plastic triangle snaps and pullled off the old rollers , replaceing them with the new ones,put the triangle locks on and that the lock nuts on , I than put the drum back in, than the front panel, replaceing the two self tapping screws , snapped down the top,replaced the other two screws again on top and replaced the lint catcher, I was done.

After researching and finding correct replacement unit placed order and waited to receive. Screen is located top of dryer so replacement simple and fit was perfect.

one socket wrench very easy and I am a 78 year old women.

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 looked at the parts breakdown to see how it cam apart.

I tore the dryer down,
1. removed the door
2. openned the top
3. removed front panel
4. removed fron bulkhead
5. removed belt and drum
6. removed back cover
7. removed the ductwork
8. removed the fan (this is the hardest part, it is very tight on the motor with left hand threads, there are flats on the (inside of the dryer)fan where the motor shaft goes into the fan for a wrench and you can put a socket on the front pulley on the motor. I ended up just knocking the center out of the fan and replacing it.
9. removed the motor and cleaned the entire unit
10. reinstalled everything in reverse order. Note:I went ahead and replaced the idler pulley and the rear wheels that support the drum, and put a new belt in (just about
everything that could fail) I spent about $200 to keep a $1200 dryer in service at least another 7 years.

Unplug dryer, remove two screws in lint screen door, using a pry bar or stiff putty knife, gently pry up on both front corners to release the clips holding the top down. Use a 5/16" nut driveer two remove the two screws inside at the top of the front of the dryer, remove the two wires on the door switch. Open door enough to get your hand in to support the drum, now lean the front out at the top and let the drum rest. Grasping the front at the top on both sides gently lift up to release the clips securing the bottom front. Release the door springs,open door and replace the hinges. Reverse to reassemble.

I needed to remove the front lower cover, very easy as it is held on with clips only so I used a flat head screw driver to pop it off. I had to remove the lint filter and then there are two screws attaching the top cover of the dryer to the internal lint filter tray. The top of the dryer can then be opened front to back I again used the flat head screw driver to pop the top open as it has two clips at the front corners. It helps to have someone to hold it open or a rod of some type to keep it open. You can now lay the belt on the top of the drum and work it down the back side by pulling forward on the drum itself to seperate the drum from the seal that presses aginst the back side of the drum. I then went from the lower front to retrieve the belt now draped over the drum and pinched the belt to pass it through the tensioner and over the drive pulley. looking at it from the front the belt will come down the right side of the drum under the tensioner pulley around the drive pulley across the bottom of the drum and up the left side. The belt sits almost in the middle of the drum not against the back lip where there is a groove that might be confused as a place for the belt to ride that is where the seal sits then reverse the process to reattach the top to lint tunnel and reattach front cover and you are good to go . i would suggest vaccuming any old dust/ lint whlie everything is open as this reduces the chance for catching on fire I was supprised as to how much lint was loose inside the dryer cavity itself and our dryer is gas and the flame is an open flame.

My 80 series Kenmore dryer wouldn't start so I looked online for a solution to the problem. One of the sites I found stated that the problem could be as simple as a thermal fuse if other potential issues could be ruled out. I ordered the part on a Monday from PartSelect with standard FedEx ground shipping - stated it could be 3-5 business days. To my amazement, the part arrived the next day! Awesome!!! I watched the video on the PartSelect site to make sure I knew how to fix it, then followed the easy instructions. All I needed to do was use the nutdriver to remove the back cover from the dryer, unplug the two wires going into the thermal fuse, remove the old fuse, and pop the new one in. Then I just plugged the wires into the new fuse, replaced the cover and voila, the dryer worked like a champ! Thank you PartSelect for saving me a needlessly high repair bill!!

just slide the new filter in.

I identified the correct catch of the three that were included in the package by matching its number to that on the old catch that I had pried out of the door using a flat screwdriver. I centered the new catch over the square hole in the door and pressed it into place. Then I used some needle-nose pliers to twist and remove the metal pin that fits into the catch from the main dryer housing. I replaced that with the new piece included in the kit, gently tapping it into place with a hammer. The repair complete, the door worked perfectly. Thanks for your help and for the speedy delivery of the kit.

Boyfriend stated it was simple, he removed the back and replaced the part using a few everyday tools.

I watched all the videos with Steve. He was very helpful in his presentation of the repairs. Due to the age of the dryer every thing was replaced and was very easy to do. Thank you Steve and PartSelect for making these repairs possible and easy