Purpose
Troubleshoot and resolve the squeaking / squealing soound
Applicability
Most Whirlpool Duet Gas Dryers
Solution
Although I am not 100% certain, I am fairly confident that either idler pulley and/or one of the drum support rollers have failed. Taking apart the machine is a time-consuming task so I plan on replacing all 4 drum support rollers, 1 idler pulley and the drum belt. The repair kit includes all these parts for less than $30 bucks. It certainly is better and cheaper than buying a new gas dryer or hiring a technician for $300-400.
Required Materials and Tools
As stated in the previous post, you should have the Dryer Repair Kit from Whirlpool.
- Repair kit;
- Nitrile Gloves (not required);
- Paper towel
- 1/4″ socket + socket extender + ratchet;
- Small flat head screwdriver
- 1/2″ foam gasket tape, 10 ft roll
- 2″ spatula (to scrape off the old foam gasket);
- Gas (yellow) teflon tape;
- Pipe dope;
- Two adjustable pliers
ALL-THUMBS-DIY-STEPS
I had a lot of work so I kept on delaying the repair and after putting up with REALLY loud squeaking, blackboard-fingernail-scratching sound for 5 days, my dryer just simply stopped working one day so I knew I had to get it fixed or my wife would kill me:
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- Disconnect the power cord and shut off the gas supply;
- Disconnect the gas line from the dryer;
- Disconnect the vent pipe using 1/4″ socket or long flathead screwdriver;
- Slide out the gas dryer (because my dryer is stacked on top of the washer, I will be re-using my custom-made table). Instead of lowering the dryer to the ground, I will make the repairs directly on this table;
- Remove 3 hex screws from the rear to remove the top panel using 1/4″ socket + ratchet;
-
- Note the belt position relative to the black mark on the drum;
- Before detaching the control board bracket, loosen 2 push in pins holding the wiring;
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- Remove 3 hex screws holding the control bracket;
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- Before touching any electronic components, it is important to ground yourself to remove any static charges by touching any metal objects (i.e. kitchen faucet)
- lift and flip to detach 2 ribbon cables (P3 and P4) from the console electronics;
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- remove 2 hex screws holding down the front console andremove the front computer panel;
- Squeeze and lift to disengage tabs; remove the panel and set it aside;
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- With the top off, I am going to remove the bottom toe panel
- Using the same 1/4″ hex socket, remove two bottom screws
-
- with the bottom panel off, first disconnect the moisture sensor (need a narrow flat head screwdriver to disengage the clip)
- Uninstall 3 (or 4 screws, depending on the exact model) and remove the blower cover
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- With the blower cover off, we can remove the door assembly
- To remove the drum, we first need to disengage the belt. It is done by pushing the idler pulley up then removing the belt off its track
- Right off the bat, I noticed my belt was already disengaged and the pulley itself seemed to be drooping so I knew something was wrong
-
- Remember that the drum is simply resting on 4 rollers so we simply need to lift the door up then pull it out, along with the belt.
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- You can see the roller on the front door are rather dirty, caked with dust and hair
-
- Upon removing the drum, I immediately noticed some type of black soot all over the motor assembly;
- I also notice how the idler pulley is kind of drooping
- At this point, I am fairly confident that the screeching noise was entirely due to this idler pulley failing.
Wrap Up
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Good luck with your repair and let me know how it turns out!
Lori Barlow
Monday 3rd of January 2022
I cannot get the bottom with box thingy apart. it seems like it should be a pretty easy thing to separate. It looks like you should be able to depress the middle locking part and pull apart, but that is not happening, I am at a standstill till I get this step done..... please help!