MDE14PDACL Maytag Dryer - Instructions

From the first time the motor buzzed (but dryer tumbler then started to turn), 2 weeks elapsed for the dryer drum to stop turning altogether. If this occurs, DO NOT continue to push the start button because the motor armature wiring will heat up and the insulation will begin to melt and smell - a SAFETY HAZARD. Unplug dryer and lockout/tagout as appropriate.

Through basic troubleshooting, discovered the motor had seized up. Since the unit was about 10 years old and it had to be disassembled for replacement, the decision was made to replace "likely to fail mechanical components including motor, belt, both rear drum rollers/shafts, idler arm pulley/assembly/wheel, associated washers, snap rings and both front glides. Reviewed the PartSelect website and drawings, ordered the parts and they delivered on time. Buy the correct sized snap rings at a local hardware, they're much less expensive. Also once inside your dryer, you'll likely find alot of lint to vacuum out...have fun.

I went online and Googled several resources that showed how to remove the front dryer panels, as well as PartSelect repair stories. From that point on, I took photos as I was disassembling so I would know how to put it back together. Utilize pictures or whatever system you prefer to keep track of taking something apart and putting it back together.

Remove the dryer door, then the front panel Disconnect wires to the light, dryness sensor and door switch. Note belt and pulley configuration that is near the motor-this will help you later when reinstalling the belt. Also note if the ribbed side or the flat side of the belt is against the outer drum wall. Remove the door shroud.

Slip the belt off the idler pulley wheel. Remove front drum support, then dryer drum Note which end of the dryer drum is the front and the orientation of the glides on the drum support. Discard old belt. Drill out and remove the old front glide supports, then install/rivet the new glides.

Remove both old rear drum rollers/shafts, washers, etc. The rear drum roller shafts are secured to a back bracket by a hex nut....feel around you'll figure it out. Replace new roller shafts. Lightly grease using a high quality silicon grease, then replace new washers, roller, snap ring, etc

Carefully unplug wiring harness on motor, there are fragile clips on each end. Don't forget a separate ground wire from the harness is attached to the motor mount bracket. Carefully release tension on the idler arm spring. Using the correct size nut driver, remove three screws (on this model) then take out the motor/idler arm assembly. Remove the old idler arm/pulley assembly. Remove the motor mount clips on each end of the mount (I used a wide blade screwdriver). Remove and replace the motor. Motor configurations changed after Whirlpool bought Maytag, so orient it correctly insuring mounting gasket "nubs" on each end of the motor correspond to the cutouts on the motor mount. Reinstall the motor mount clips. Replace the new idler arm assembly/pulley wheel; grease moving parts with high quality wheel bearing grease. Replace motor/mount bracket assembly back into the dryer. Replace ground wire to motor mount bracket and plug wiring harness back in. Reinstall idler arm spring.

Place belt back on the dryer drum and move into place on rear rollers. Reinstall front drum support. Dryer drum should turn relatively easy. Insure belt is oriented on the drum correctly before connecting belt to motor shaft end and idler arm wheel pulley (the picture you took comes in handy here).

Reinstall the rest of the parts in reverse.

removed door, removed screws to lift top panel, removed screws that held old baffles, replaced with new baffles, took off front panel and cleaned out excess lint while I was in there.

FIRST unplug dryer from electrical source, CAUTION, the top of this dryer does not open with clips, do not pry on top to open! On the front of the dryer look under the lower panel, and find two screws, one on the left side, and one on the right, remove these screws, and pull slightly down on panel to remove. Behind this panel find two screws holding the door panel, one on the left, and one on the right, remove the left, and support the door panel while removing the right side. Gently pull the bottom of door panel outward, and the clips on top of door panel will unhinge from top, carefully rotate left side of door panel to floor, and note the wire connections on switch, and orientation of switch, then unplug wires, and move door panel to a comfortable working positon. Door must be open to remove switch, then depress the two plastic retaining keepers on each side of switch, and push switch through toward door. Replace with new switch, reconnect the wires, and reassymble in reverse order. Remember, door assymbly must be inserted in dryer top at an angle, and then bottom rotated downward, and bottom panel nylon guildes inserted into door panel bottom.

The door had always opened with the wrong swing and it wasn't til I needed to repair this that I noticed you could change the swing. I changed the swing of the door and then noticed that the clip was included on both sides so i did not need to repair the catch. I still have the part so when it breaks again, I can just pop it in.

I've never even opened this dryer before so I looked at one of the installation videos PartSelect has. I found one using my model, which made it really easy. I removed the front panel and door, then lifted the top of the dryer up on it's hinges: that's a great feature because you need the top out of the way to remove the drum. I took the belt off the drum, lifted it up and pulled it straight out. I did buy a pair of snap ring pliers to remove the snap ring off the drum support shaft. I think you really must have those to remove and replace the rings. Be careful when removing the snap rings. I shot the first one across the room like it was a rubber band. We had a good laugh. I used a wrench to hold the nut on the backside of the roller shaft and unscrewed it. I screwed the new roller shafts on, slipped the drum rollers on them, then carefully used the snap ring pliers to place the rings on the front of the shaft to hold the rollers on. While I had the unit opened up, I figured I should go ahead and replace the multi rib belt. I put the ribbed side on the drum and sat the drum on the rollers . The tricky part is now getting down on the ground, reaching under the drum for the belt. Make sure the belt isn't twisted anywhere on the drum or in your hands while you pull the belt under the idler pulley. Hold the belt ribbed sides together while feeding the belt under the pulley. It takes a good deal of strength to move the pulley over so you can hook the end of the belt on the shaft. Once you've gotten that attached, put your hand inside the drum and rotate it a few times to make sure you connected it properly and that you placed the belt in the right spot on the drum. It was easy to see the black stripe around the drum where I'd taken off the old one.

took the front off by removing two screws took two screws out of element housing undon the wire and romeve element housing then romove the remaing parts that was needed on the new element then reinstall the element housing whith the new element in ti reinstall front of dryer and starting drying clothes project was complete

I removed front cover of dryer and found heating unit. I needed the detailed drawings from the PartSelect web site to help me find how to get the front cover off. It was easy after that changing out the sensors and reinstalling the heating unit.

If your dryer is squeaking it is most likely either the idler pulley or drum rollers. First I took apart the dryer to see which parts I would need. I checked the drum rollers by spinning them with my hand to see if they spun freely and also checked them to see if they were loose, they were okay. Then I checked the idler pulley and found my problem, it was hard to spin it so I figured the bearing was shot. I sprayed some lubricant on the bearing to help with the squeaking while I waited for my parts. It took about 30 minutes to diagnose my problem and put the dryer back together.
I took some advise from another story saying to get the whole idler arm, shaft and pulley assembly. It might have cost me a few bucks more, but I did not want to run into the same problem he did (the pulley bearing was fused to the shaft). It took me about 20 minutes to take apart the dryer, install the part, and put it back together. If you are pretty good with fixing things, you should have no problem doing this repair.

After taking the dryer apart, I found that one of the drum support rollers was barely hanging on the pin and was the main cause of the metal on metal squealing noise that became increasingly worse over a month's time.

I replaced both rollers, the idler pulley, and put on a new belt after giving the dryer a thorough cleaning.

It was a 100% success and fixed the problem making the dryer work and sound like brand new again.

take 2 phillips screws out where door meets drier. remove door, set aside. take 2 phillips screws out on other side, set screws aside. remove front of drier by pulling on top left and right sides, front of drier will fall twards front of drier. when it touches the floor lift up on bottom. set aside for later. put new baffels in (you can see where the old ones went) put screws in from bottom 5/16nutdriver. tighten. put drier front back on . start at bottom , snap top back in on both sides. put two screws back on left side, put door back on and replace 2 screws ( door will not go on wrong) test and your done...

The repair was easy, based on the comments from this website. I used a 6-in-1 screwdriver, and that was the only tool. I removed the two screws holding the hinges, removed the door, then the two screws on the opposite side of the opening. This allowed the front panel to come off. I spun the dryer tumbler until the baffle that was loose was at approximately 5 o'clock. I unscrewed the remaining screw and found the missing screw in the bottom of the dryer. I put those two screws into the new baffle, and popped the front back in place. I reinstalled the four screws (two opposite the hinge, then the two that hold the hinges)...all done in about 20 minutes (including vacuuming the lint out from that lower area).

First I unplugged the dryer! Then unscrewed the two screws at the bottom of the front door. To remove the front door, swing the bottom up about 30 degrees until the two triangular hooks at the top of the door release. Then release the two wires going to the door switch from their harness so as to gain more slack to move the door out of the way. The switch was secured by 2 hex head sheet metal screws1/4inch in diameter. I used a small right angle socket wrench to get these loose. I only had to remove the front screw completely to be able to take the switch out for exchange purposes. Once this was done, reverse the process and plug it in! (BTW, the electrical schematic for this dryer is up under the top console)

replaced high limit thermostat-303396 and cycling thermostat-306056 approx $48.00. Remove dryer door with 2 screws in hinges and 2 screws on other side.Remove front panel-pull out from top-swing down to unhinge from bottom hooks to expose parts lower front. Small socket for high limit thermostat bolts@heating element housing and same socket for cycling thermostat@blower
exhaust air housing-both easily accessible in front lower area.Unplug power before working inside.

From previous experience I suspected the thermal fuse. Turned off the power and removed the front of the dryer by removing the two philips head screws in the door hinge and the two screws on the opposite side of the opening. The front came off easily since all that holds it in place besides the 4 screws are two spring clips. The thermal fuse is located on the side of the chamber enclosing the heating element. I removed the wires connected to the thermal fuse and temporarily joined them together with a spade type connector in order to determine if the thermal fuse was the problem. Turned the power back on and tried the dryer......it ran normally. Turned the power back off and removed the thermal fuse by taking out th two screws with a 1/4" nutdriver.
Ordered a replacement thermal fuse, installed it (with power turned off) and put everything back together. Dryer functioned normally after the thermal fuse had been replaced.
The thermal fuse can be removed and reinstalled using a 1/4" nutdriver. The wires are connected with push on spade type terminals.
Note: The swing damper on the dryer vent (the hooded cover where it exhausts to the outdoors) was jammed in the closed position with an accumulation of lint, which caused the dryer to overheat and blow the thermal fuse. If you experience a blown thermal fuse, always look for the cause or you'll blow the replacement within minutes of running the fryer again.

we replaced the baffle by removing the broken baffle. There were two screws holding it in place. Door and front panel of dryer had to be removed to accomplish this task. Quite an easy repair/replacement. Thank you for all your help PartSelect.com.