GDG27CD Maytag Dryer - Instructions

After much coercement from my wife, I listened to the squealing noise she kept telling me about. Then it quit working completely and I had no choice. Probably the motor. Not being one to want to do this more than once and figuring after 16 years all of it could be bad, I ordered all moving parts, as well as new front and rears felt seals for the drum and the blower seal. Everything in taking the dryer apart was straight forward and obvious. The tricky part was getting the belt back on the tensioner. Working from the front of the dryer, I did this one-handed via the lower left side around the motor while my wife held the drum in place.

The repair itself was pretty easy. Though I had figured out what needed to be done on my own while I waited for the belt to arrive via Fed Ex, the belt arrived with instructions that described the plan I had already figured and if I hadn't known what I was doing, the instructions would have been a great help.

STEP ONE, UNPLUG THE UNIT (and/or shut off the gas supply), CAREFULLY. Then, I took the front of the unit off by removing the 2 screws on the front panel near the bottom of the unit and disconnected the wiring that shuts the unit off when the door is opened. Set the front door panel aside. Then I removed the front of the tumbler retainer along with the exhaust duct and lint screen assembly by removing 4 screws that affixed the reatiner frame to the rest of the outer cabinet. Set this aside as well. Remove the entire tumbler unit. Set aside. Remove 4 screws on the back of the unit that hold the tensioner and motor access panel and remove it. Set it aside. At this point, I vacuumed every bit of lint and debris from the snapped belt out of the enitre unit, lubricated/greased all moving parts, cleaned off the friction bearing surfaces, and collected loose change ($1.35).

When the belt arrived, I unwrapped it, and placed the smooth side to the tumbler and rubber banded the slack off to the bottom right side (sort of the 4:30 position as you put the tumbler back into the unit). I carefully jimmied the tumbler back into the unit BEING CAREFUL not to pinch the groved belt between the tumbler and any other parts inside the cabinet. I replaced the tumbler retainer and screwed the 4 bolts back into place. I spun the tumbler over near the tensioner assembly (so I could see the slack through the access panel hole in the back) and removed the rubber band. I threaded the belt through the tensioner and over the drive pulley and rotated the tumbler clockwise to align the drive train of the belt. I plugged the 2 wires back into the switch on the inside of the door panel and then I replaced it on the front of the unit and screwed the 2 screws back in at the bottom front of the panel. I plugged the unit back in and tested opperation. It worked great! I unplugged the unit again (I'm not finished yet). I then replaced the access panel on the back of the unit and screwed the 4 screws back in. I moved the unit back against the wall and plugged it back in. Done! The dryer is less noisey now and more efficient most likely b/c I cleaned all the lint out of the thing! Thanks for the prompt shipment of the belt!! I'll get a few more years out of this dryer before spending $700 on a new one!!! Thanks again!

Remove top two front cover screws. Disconnect wiring. Set aside front cover - door assembly.

Remove two screws at top of the vertical riser cover to expose entire dryer interior. Remove filter. Remove screws to blower cover plate. Remove 4 screws that fasten front drum guide assembly. Remove drum. remove and replace 2 drum support rollers . Replace one rusted drum roller shaft. Replace both drum rollers and non-metalic washers.

Drill out 4 rivets holding two front drum glides. Replace and rerivet new drum glides.

Pry back slighty the many retention points around the front drum assembly which hold the front drum felt seal. Refit the new front drum felt, pressing the retaining clips back in place with a screwdriver.

Replace tumbler motor belt.

Install Drum. Install front drum retention assembly. Install new blower seal with reassembly of blower cover.

Total time - about 1 hour

I unplugged the dryer,removed the two small screws on the front of the dryer and pulled the bottom forward. The two wires connected to the door do not have to be removed. With an electrical tester using the Ohm setting I tested the Radiant sensor and the Gas Valve coils. The two terminal coil was DOA. The dryer can be operated with the front open as long as the door wires are connected. Symptons: The igniter would heat up and not release gas. My repair was successfull due to this awesome website and the super fast shipping service. AAAA++++

I found that I replaced more parts than I needed to fix fhis problem. The source of the rumble was the blower wheel connection to the motor, allowing the wheel to wobble (plastic wheel flat spot worn off over time, no firm lock to the motor shaft). But the dryer should be good for another 10 years!

Disconnect dryer from electrical outlet and exhaust.

Remove the back access plate to release the belt from the pulley. Remove the two screws at the bottom front of the dryer, rotate the front to release it at the top. Remove the wires from the door status switch. Remove the 4 nuts holding the drum support frame and pull straight out. Remove the drum. Remove the two bolts holding the thermostat cover (silver odd shaped metal plate at the front of the dryer). Remove the dryer blower cover plate by removing the 6 bolts holding it to the blower housing. Remember to remove the bolt holding the plate to the bottom of the dryer. Release the door status wire from the clips on the left side of the dryer and set the blower housing plate to the right, out of your way without removing the wires. Remove the blower wheel by removing the Circlip at the front of the shaft and then removing the shaft compression clip. Pull out the blower wheel and then remove the rear Circlip from the motor shaft. The back of the blower housing can be removed by removing the 4 bolts holding it to the motor support frame to make access easier but this may not be necessary. Release the 5 wires attached to the motor. Release the front and back motor clips. I used a large straightblade scerwdriver to press down and out on the end of the clips. Lift out the motor. Remove the rear pulley from the motor using an allen wrench and transfer it to the new motor. Set the new motor in the support frame, ensuring the lips of the vibration isolation rings are pointed down to slip over the frame and are not facing up towards the clips ( makes clip instalaltion much easier). Hook up the wires, following the color coding on the motor controller you are attaching to. Reinstall the blower back housing if removed, rear circlip, blower wheel, front circlip, shaft compression clip, blower housing front cover (Including the bolt to the dryer bottom) , reroute the door switch wire up the left side, reinstall the thermostat cover, reinstall the drum and belt, reinstall the drum front support frame (ensure the felt seals for the drum and the blower cover are properly aligned and seated correctly), hook up the door status wire when your set the front cover and install the 2 screws, reinstall the belt through the pulley and idler wheel (make sure the belt smooth side is against the drum) through the back access panel and reinstall the panel.

This is hardly a "repair". You toss out the old lint screen and put the new one in. The hardest part was getting the lint screen out of the plastic bag it came in...

ta da it is done...

I opened the panel, undid the plugs, detached the radiant sensor by undoing one screw and removed and replaced the part. Fairly simply.

Turned off circuit breaker. Removed two screws at base of front panel with stubby Phillips-head screwdriver. Swung panel up about 30-degrees, and removed panel, disconnecting red and yellow wire to door switch. Removed four sheet metal screws and took off large drum support bracket. Checked drum support rollers and shafts. They were fine. Reset circuit breaker and turned on dryer. Rattling noise still present.
Removed six small screws holding blower fan assembly. Shaft receiver on squirrel cage fan was worn completely round (it should fit onto a half-round shaft). Ordered new blower fan from PartSelect.com. Replaced tonight, and it works beautifully. This dryer is 29-years old. All it's ever needed in the 10-years I've owned it is a belt replacement and this repair. Long live the 1970s Maytags, and good parts suppliers like this one.

Removed the screws and took the door off then took the front panel off and popped up the top. Then pulled the drum out. Took snap ring pliers and removed rollers and replaced with new rollers then vacuumed all lint from machine and reversed operation to put everything back together. Operation was a total success!

Unplug the dryer and remove the front panel (two screws at bottom of the panel), being careful of the door switch wires attached to the front panel. Using an ohm meter, I checked the ignitor for continuity and found it was open (should be 50-100 ohms). Make sure to check the solenoids on the gas valve. When the igniter goes bad, it will usually burn out the valve 1 solenoid boost coil (the one with 3 terminals), which was the case with my dryer. The solenoid coils are held in by a bracket with two screws (series 01 dryer) and are easy to remove and replace. Be careful replacing the igniter as the heating element is VERY fragile. Take the time to vacuum out all of the accumulated lint and dust inside the dryer while the front panel is removed, including the lint trap and duct. New igniter and boost/hold solenoid fixed the problem.

Put blocks under the washer where the leveling leg was needed and screwed the part into the washer. Then it was just a matter of moving the washer into place and leveling. Pretty easy.

I removed the front of the dryer by removing the two screws on the bottom of the front panel, disconnected the door switch wires. I removed the connectors from the coils on the gas valve, the heat sensor and the igniter. Loosened the gas line at the valve. I removed the screw holding the gas valve and burner assembly and removed the assembly from the dryer. Remover the screw holding the burner to the valve, and removed the igniter. Replaced the burned and reconnected what I had removed. The reason the burner didn't light was due to the gas deflectors being burned off of the burner, If the igniter, sensor, and coils check out OK , check the front of the burned to besure it is deflecting gas to the igniter

After replacing all the other fuses and sensors I finally replaced the Radiant Flame Sensor and it is working perfectly.

After replacing the other parts and the heat still not coming on I read somewhere that the Radiant Flame Sensor is a normal closed circuit and when I checked with a meter it was open. I would have saved a lot of time and money if I had read that earlier.

Took off back cover, thermostat was easily identified because of photos I've seen on website. Took 2 connectors off, removed 2 screws and removed old thermostat. That was pretty much it!

NOTE: Replacement thermostat 694674 has an adjustable temperature range setting that MUST be manually set prior to installing! You need to use the enclosed chart to find your original part# and make sure the setting is matched. My original part# 341146 had a "D" setting so I had to change but very easy to do.

Followed the instructions on the video, and saved 500 hundred dollars. I was already shopping for a new dryer. Thanks so much!