WED4815EW1 Whirlpool Dryer - Instructions

1) Removed top of dryer
2) removed belt and drum
3) removed front of dryer
4) popped clips holding down motor
5) unscrewed rear fan from motor (by exposing and holding fan)
6) changed motor
7) changed support rollers and idler pully
8) reassemled dryer

First, I watched a utube video of replacing the dryer belt. Then I went to Sears Hardware and couldn't find a part. Then I ordered the parts for my favorite online repair parts source - partselect.com. I had the part in one day! We did exactly what the video showed and also replaced the two wheels that looked like roller blade wheels. Piece of cake. Saved a $75 repair call plus whatever the parts would have been and spent about 20 minutes doing it. Back in business. Great for a 12 year old dryer! Buy the dryer kit!

I looked for squeaky dryer within parts select and went with the 80%. I received the Maintenance Kit, replaced two rollers and it works like new. Amazing since this is the first time I have ever opened a dryer. The instruction sheet and parts were all I needed.

Purchased thermal cut off kit but only replaced the top most thermostat. There were some extra wires wired into the bottom thermostat, that were not described on the video or any other repair user posts. It checked fine on my multimeter anyway.

I watched the installation video on both parts before I purchased them and it was a piece-of-cake after that.

Put high temperature glue on first, then put door gasket over the high temperature glue and then let it set for 24 hours. It worked fine....

With the dryer taken apart to replace the broken belt it was obvious that the lint seals had not been working properly due to the excessive amount of lint covering all of the inside surfaces of the dryer. The belt idler pully had also moved from its normal mounting position and was laying at the bottom of the dryer. Because the lint had covered the bottom before the belt broke it was obvious to determine where the idler pully attached to the bottom.

Before cleaning I marked the exact location where the idler pully mounted to the bottom of the dryer.

While waiting for the replacement parts to be delivered a vacuum cleaner was used to remove lint from the inside surfaces of the dryer as well as the old fragments of the lint trap housing seals were removed and surfaces where the new seals would attach were cleaned.

Assembling the dryer with the new belt was a challenge due to the lack of support for the drum while getting the new belt in place, lined up properly, threaded through the idler pully and attached to the motor drive shaft. This is how I installed the new belt:

I used a piece of wood wider than the sides of the dryer, drilled holes that allowed for a piece of cloths line rope to be looped through and used to support the door opening end of the drum.

The drum was set on the seal and rollers at the back of the dryer.

The temporary wood /rope hanger was placed at the front end of the dryer resting on the sides with the top of the dryer raised.

The rope was adjusted until the drum rested on the back rollers and the rope like it would be positioned normally.

The new belt was then gently installed under the temporary support rope and around the drum.

The new belt had many kinks from shipping and was difficult to align with the location on the drum where it needs to ride so small strips of tape were temporarily used to hold the new belt in position until it could be fed through the idler pully and on to the drive shaft.

Several small pieces of a cardboard box were used to shim under the idler pully to hold it in its proper location as well as to make the belt attachment to the drive shaft easier.

With the belt attached, the temporary cardboard shims were removed from under the idler pully.

The front of the dryer was attached .

The temporary board and rope hanger was removed.

The tape that had been placed over the new belt to hold it in proper alignment was removed as the drum was rotated slowly by hand to ensure that all tape was removed prior to closing the top of the dryer.

The seals as well as the remainder of the dryer assembly was completed without any problems.

The dryer ran well for its initial trial spin and has dried several loads of laundry since.

Great parts and support Thankyou

1. Shut off gas and disconnected dryer.
2. Opened cabinet. Easy sheet metal screws and fairly obvious how everything goes together. NB: You'll need a block (or a helper to hold things while you run to look for one) to hold the drum while removing the front.
3. The motor is connected with a single harness, so wiring is a snap.
4. Removing the blower wheel from the back was hard. I braced the motor shaft and turned with all the leverage I could muster, but it was stuck. Plan B: Recip saw to cut the shaft. Motor comes out one side and the fan comes out the other.
5. The fan, of course, was unusable because there was still a piece of motor shaft stuck in the thread. This is why I had to spring for a new wheel.
6. Put everything back together and receive wife's adoring praise...

Found one of the two drum support rollers was badly worn. Found Partselect.com, found my parts in less then 2 mins. Figured that I was in there so I should just replace the belt so I got one of those also. Parts arrived in 3 days dryer as good as new in 20 mins.

I opened up the dryer as per the instructions I had received from PartSelect tech support. It was very easy to do. The only unexpected thing was that the original belt had snapped and in doing so the idler pulley was actually laying on the floor of the dryer's bottom. I had to figure out how it went, but that only took a minute and I popped it back into place. I held the drum by hand while pulling the dryer face away so it wouldn't fall and then I slipped the belt over the drum and quickly closed the front up again. I aligned the belt on the spot where the old one had been, pulled it through the idler pulley and over the motor and voila. Done. I closed up the dryer and was on to another "Honey Do" project within 20 minutes.

Unplugged dryer. Removed dial. Removed old timer (3 screws) and left wires attached. Installed new timer. Disconnected wires from old timer to connect on new timer. Plugged in dryer......everything worked again.

First I raised the top of the dryer(after unplugging the power cord) disconnected two wires to the front door switch and then removed two screws using a nutdriver. The front cover lifts up and while supporting the drum set the cover aside. Slide the belt off the drum and remove it. I then removed the two support roller tri rings and replaced the rollers and tri rings and reassymbled the dryer.
It was a very simple repair.

Thanks Mike

I lifted the top of the dryer cabinet, like the hood of a car using a screwdriver to pry it open. I removed the two screws in the upper right corner of the cabinet front. I disconnected the safty switch on the front door. The front of the cabinet can then be removed by lifting up the front off the pins in the base. With the drum exposed you can place the belt on and thread it through the two pulleys on the motor. Consult the diagrams provided on the PartsSelect website for the proper positioning of the belt on the pulleys. After the belt is installed spin the drum by hand one turn to make sure that it is seated properly on the drum and pulleys. Reassemble the dryer in the reverve order.

Removed the two screws under the lint trap
Opened the top (had to use flathead screwdriver to release latches)
Disconnected door switch harness from front panel
Removed 2 screws holding front panel on dryer
Lifted out dryer drum (previous belt had broken)
Vacuumed inside of dryer (found $3 in quarters!)
Put new belt around drum
Put drum back in dryer, using empty laundry soap bottle to support its weight
Looped belt around pulley and motor; secured pulley to dryer bottom
Made sure rear gasket thingy was aligned properly and drum turned freely
Put front panel back on
Re-attached door switch
Closed top and put screws back in under lint trap
Fired it up - WOOHOO!

Once I unpluged the dryer and then removed the back cover, I located the heating unit and then removed the thermostat. Once that was done, I installed the new thermostat and connected the wires. I tested the dryer to make sure that it would heat. Then I replaced the back cover.