3LG5701XPW0 Whirlpool Dryer - Instructions

We noticed the drum wasn't spinning, but the heat was turning on. About 3 years ago the heat was broken and it turned out that there was a little thermal fuse in there that needed swapped out, that was easy too fix too. Anyway, I looked up on youtube how to change out dryer belts on maytag units and it looked pretty straight forward. The model they showed was easier to access than my model, but I was able to still figure it out. Just pop off the top panel (they used a putty knife at the two clip points on the front, but I just yanked it up with a little force and it popped right up). Then unscrew the two little screws holding the front panel on, then pull off the front panel completely. This exposes the drum. The example on youtube showed easy front access to the belt assembly, but in my model, there was a stand for the drum as well as the drum motor in the way. So I just pulled the whole drum out the front most of the way, then I went behind the drum where I had exposed the pully/motor shaft assembly and then fed in the new belt into belt tension assembly that connects to the motor. While keeping it taught so the ribs of the belt would stay on the motor head (I had my wife hold it taught) I pushed the drum back toward the hanging belt and then worked the edges of the belt around the drum until it once again was completely around the drum. Then I slowly pushed the drum all the way back into place while continually working the belt back into place as I went. I then manually rolled the drum around a few times to ensure it was rolling correctly and that the belt was indeed in the right place. After a few good spins without it changing position, I reassembled the unit. It was very painless and took about 15-20 minutes in all. Works just fine again.

I replaced belt by myself. Took dryer apart,laid dryer on its back, put belt and pulley on. Rotated drum to make sure seal was in place. Cleaned out machine while I had it apart.