WDG436RBW1 Frigidaire Dryer - Instructions

I unplugged the dryer. Undid the top by taking out 2 screws and mounts on each side of the back. There were two screws in the front panel that had to be removed. One on each side. Then I took the two wires off the killer switch on the door. Marking which was top and which was bottom. Then I removed the front panel. Then I undid the drum which had 3 screws in. I took out the drum to find the problem. I replaced the drum putting the belt on. Then I took off the back panel at the bottom of the dryer to get at the idler arm. Took off the spring and unhooked the arm. I put the new arm on and replaced the spring. I then put the belt on to the pulley and closed up the back panel. I put back the front panel. I put the top back on. I plugged it back in and turned it on and it worked!

First i used pliers to remove old knob from the selecting mount. New knob slid right into place on the selecting mount. Whole job took less then a minute.

I've replaced the rear plastic bearing on this dryer twice, so I am familiar with taking the unit apart. After replacing the bearing in December, the machine still made noise (which had been masked by how loud the bearing was). The belt didn't look so great and it's 13 years old, so I ordered one and a new idler pulley assembly.

First, I disconnected the power and pulled it out for access. Using a large blade screwdriver, popped the cover open from the two clips in front. Be sure to support the top cover when you open it on the tabs or they will bend - I propped it against the wall. I disconnected the two wires that go to the door switch, and then removed the two screws that hold the front panel and door in place and lifted/opened that and removed the front panel and set it aside.

Next, I removed the back access grill (2 screws) and popped the belt off the idler by relieving the tension on the belt. Using a 10mm socket, I removed the idler pivot bolt and idler arm assembly. I installed the new idler arm assembly in its place and reattached the spring.

Moving to the front of the dryer, I lifted the drum off the blower housing on which it was resting and took off the belt through the front of the dryer. I then replaced the belt in reverse. Back through the access panel on the rear, I put the new belt on the motor and idler.

Be sure to check that there are no flips in the belt. I rotate the drum by hand a couple of revolutions to be certain.

I then reinstalled the front cover and door, reconnected the door switch, replaced the access panel and put the cover back down, popping the clips into place.

Put the dryer back in place, reconnected the exhaust and plugged it in. Voila - quiet dryer.

As an aside, I also took the time to clean the lint out of the blower and exhaust with a vacuum cleaner hose.

All I did was push the new part into the machine! So easy!

Removed rear inspection plate, removed pulley spring and one hex bolt, replaced in reverse order. Very simple removal and install for this. Glad to see that Part Select still had parts for this 22 year old drier.

Determined that the coil on the gas valve wasn't pulling in to ignite. Using an ohmmeter, I determined the coil was open. The coil was removed by pulling off the wire connecter and removing the two phillips screws holding the bracket over the two coils. The coil then slides out. I slid the new coil into place, replaced the bracket and two screws and reconnected the wire connector. It worked immediately. The actual repair only took 15 minutes. The bulk of the time was spent tracking down which part had failed.

1. Slid putty knife under each side of front of dryer to release lid.
2. Removed 2 screws from front of drum to release door assembly.
3. Removed wires from door switch.
3. Cleaned lint out of inside of dryer.
4. Removed old felt seals, upper & lower.
5. Removed old glue with goof off type remover.
6. Glued new seals on & held then in place with clothes pins. (there was enough glue in the tube that came with the upper glide for both seals)
7. Put dryer back together.
**Ensure you verify the correct felt seal pieces with the model number of your dryer, usually on inside of door.

Checked PartSelect online for people with a. similar problem. Found most common problem was the coils.
I opened the top, removed the two screws holding the front panel, unclipped the wiring harness from the machine to the door and removed/cut the plastic wire tie and front came off easily. I put the front piece to the side after changing the light bulb. I cleaned out a large amount of lint and found the coils on the left hand side without trouble. Carefully disconnected the wiring clips, unscrewed the holding screw and removed the old coils. Installed the new colis, 1 has three prongs and the other has 2 so you ca'nt mix them up. Replaced the hold screw, re-connected the witing harness, installed a new wire tie, and re-stalled the two holding screws. Closed the cover and turned it on.
At first it did not heat up which was dissappointing; but then I left it alone and 15 minutes later it worked like new! And heated up just fine ever since.

Total cost about $35.00 with shipping. I took a chance that I would not need the sensor or the ignitor based on the comments of others and I just bought the coils. If I had to do it over I would have bought all three and saved on the shipping.

The part number was easy to find, thanks to the schematics provided on your site. When the package arrived (faster than expected!) I simply had to replace the one which had broken off. It fit perfectly!

First I unpluged the machine, then opened the top with a flat head screw driver. Then I removed the two screws inside, unpluged the door sensor. (makes it stop when opened) Removed old gasket, cleaned with emery cloth, cleaned the residue and applied the glue provided. Waited about 1 min. and applied the new gasket leaving about 1/8'' of it hanging over the door facing the drum.

Just removed the knob by hand and replaced. I couldn't find the part number on internet but your site showed the knobs for this dryer. The picture was the exact same as mine, eventhough it had a different part number so I ordered it. IT came in one day and was exactly the same. Thanks for the good pictures so I could compare the part.

1. After checking the Parts Select website for some useful information I unplugged the dryer.
2. I popped the two clips holding the top down and lifted the top up and out of the way.
3. I used the 8mm socket and screwdiver combo to remove the two screws holding the front of the dryer on. These screws are so close to the sides of the dryer that you need something very thin to seat the socket, it is so thin a small rachet would not fit.
4. Once the to screws are free to forget to unhook the two wires that lead to the automatic cutoff switch on the right. Label them and move them out of the way.
5. The front of the dryer should pivot forward and come right off. Don't forget about the two clips at the bottom, they are not really attached to anything and can be easy to lose.
6. Get your screwdriver and dive into the drum, on the back should be three screws, take those out.
7. Spin the dryer around and take off the vent cover in the lower left corner of the back of the dryer, watch out the socket is a smaller size.
8. Once inside there is an idler pulley like on the back of a ten speed bike, pull the tension out of it and take the drive belt off the pulleys.
9. The drum should be able to be pulled out the front of the dryer, set aside with the door. The screws on my dryer were so tight I had to use a hammer drill to remove them.
10. This is were I got stuck, no one mentioned how to get the bearing plate off, as if everyone would just know. You must lift up on the bearing plate and once it moves up then you can pull it out.
11. Use the 8mm socket to unscrew the old plastic bearing guide. The small metal clip on the back of the dryer will fall off with the grounding ball bearing.
12. With brum bearing kit in hand start off by putting as much high temp lubricant as you can into the bottom of the new bearing guide. I also use a little lubricant like glue to hold the new grounding ball bearing in the little hole on the back of the bearing guide.
13. Here is the tricky part you have to screw the bearing guide into the the dryer while simulaneously holding the little metal clip in place on the back of the dryer. I used duct tape to hold the metal clip and once the screws got started I just took the tape off.
14. Now you have to do the impossible, the bearing must be screwed to the drum. So unless you have 7 foot long arms you can't hold the bearing and drive the screws. Another problem is the bearing itself, the holes are not the same size as the original and they are not threaded. I stripped every screw that came with the kit trying to get them through the metal of the bearing.
15. With an unwilling victim holding the bearing steady I finally got a replacement screw to seat through the bearing. Once you get one the rest are easier.
16. You are ready to reassemble, after vacuuming everything ou, pick up the drum making sure the belt is around the drum about where it was when you took it off. Push the drum through the front of the dryer all the way to the back, aim a little high so the bearing can move down and seat in the bearing guide.
17. Tuck the clips on the front panel of the dryer into the bottom front edge of the dryer and the whole front should pivot up, when you get it almost closed you will have to lift the drum and set it on the front bearing in the door.
18. While holding the front of the dryer on you have to reach inside and get the 8mm screw started on the left or right, if you let go the front of the dryer will pop off and you have to start over with the pivot. Now is a good time to have a magnet on a stick so when you drop the screw or screw driver you don't have to take the front off to retrieve your tools.
19. Once the front is on reconnect the two wires to the switch in the front of the dryer. Remember the ones you were supposed to have labeled earlier.
20. Close the top of the dryer and spin the dryer around so you can reach inside the vent door and pull the tension pulley over and reseat the drive belt. Rem

Followed your website repair guides and the great belt replacement video.

Other parts used were; front lower basket seal, dryer seal, and dryer drum belt.

Had no problems except for keeping the drum belt idler pulley tension spring in place. Used the rear access panel to solve this issue.

John H.
Palm Desert, CA

Watched on-line video, then applied those steps.
1. Pop the front of the deck loose using putty knife to depress clips;
2. Disconnect wires from light and door switch;
(Before I disconnected wires from door switch and light, I made wiring sketches to make sure I reconnected in original manner.)
3. Remove lint filter mount screws and mount from bottom of door opening;
4. Cut drum belt with wire-cutters and removed it;
5. Remove drum support clip from top center of front panel;
6. Remove (1) screw from each side of dryer body that hold front to sidewalls, removed front panel;
7. Remove drum by lifting the rear out of the bearing, then moving it forward through the machine front;
[While I had the dryer disassembled, I thoroughly cleaned it of lint, dirt & metal filings. The metal filings were from the worn ball hitch and drum support bearing cup. I spent as much time cleaning it out as I did working on it.]
8. Stand drum on gallon paint bucket while removing ball hitch (Use a #2 drywall phillips apex to obtain sufficient seating & torque to remove and reinstall ball hitch screws at rear of drum.);
9. Have a second person hold the new ball hitch in position while starting screws, if necessary;
10. Use nut driver w/5/16" socket to remove bearing retainer & ground ball clip;
11. Install new bearing into retainer clip, insert attachment screws through the holes in both, stick grounding ball in depression on back of bearing as screws are fed through back panel;
12. Hold ground ball clip in place to start one screw, then the other & tighten with nut driver;
13. Start drum belt on motor shaft and position against tensioner pulley;
14. Feed drum through front of machine and loop belt over rear of drum;
15. Slide belt forward on drum as drum moves to rear to keep it aligned with position of tension pulley;
16. Lift rear of drum to place ball hitch on top of bearing, then press down to seat it into bearing;
17. Turn drum to ensure belt alignment, then re-accomplish steps 6 thru 1.

1. unpluged the dryer and turned off the gas.
2. pulled dryer out so i'd have ample room to work on it.
3. used large flat blade screwdriver in the front between the top lid and dryer face to gently pop-up the lid.
4. removed 4 screws from inside, that hold the face to the main box leaving the wires all intact.
Found the coils on the lower left, held in place by two screws and plate.
5. took a good look at thier orientation before unpluging old and installing new, I recommend one at a time.
6. Vacuumm any exceess lint and check foam seal between lint trap and exhuast duc, the glue came undone on mine causing extra lint dust that is potentially flamable.
6. screw dryer front back on to main box, make sure to check wiring harness and that all electrical blade connectors are still pluged in to their componants.
7. At this point plug in, turn on gas and do a test run.
8.if everything checks out good then lower top make sure flexable exhuast hose is still connected on hte back of the dryer.
9. Tell your wife or girlfriend or husband or boy friend they can now finish your laundry :)