Blower Wheel

Turn circuit breaker off, unplug for added safety. Use a medium flat head screwdriver and lift the top up. Use a nut driver to remove two screws holding the front panel to the frame. Remove the front panel and begin to dismantle the blower wheel. Remove the outer clamp from hte motor shaft, then the U-clip (inexpensive plier that has to pins to open the U-clip.... tricky little bugger). Pull the blower wheel off and replace with the new wheel. Reverse the proedure and your ready to go.

My wife noticed a loud racket coming from the dryer. I took a look at it by opening the door and spinning the drum by hand and sure enough, the grinding, clunking noise continued. After a day of drying clothes, the noise got worse and then my wife said the clothes weren't getting dry at all. She could see the heating element glowing but the clothes would not dry. Sure enough, this was the case. While the dryer was turning, the outlet hose was still cold but the heater element was on. I went to the PartSelect site, entered the model number and looked at the common problems associated with noise. It said that the blower wheel was the second most likely issue. It also showed how to open the dryer and look for problem areas. First, unplug the dryer! Then, I took a putty knife (screwdriver would work - flathead) and pryed open the lid at each corner and opened the top. I then tilted the lid back against the wall to support the lid. There are two screws that hold the front panel of the dryer to the sides. They are on the inside of the cabinet up high near the top. I took these screws out and the front comes off by pulling the front panel away then up. There are three wires attached to a sensor on the front panel. I took a picture of these for reference and disconnected these wires to totally remove the panel. With the front panel off, I could see large clumps of lint trapped at the base of the filter screen. Now is a good time to vacuum this clean. Inside the cabinet at the bottom right, you can see the blower wheel. It was totally broken off the shaft that turned it. You can still spin the drum and see the shaft turn but the broken blower wheel would "clunk" around causing the noise. There are a small handfull of screws that hold the faceplate of the blower assembly on. Take these off and you will have full access to the blower wheel. DOn't worry about the wires on the sensor attached to the faceplate. If you want to take these off their clips, take a sharpie and write the color of wire each clip takes on the front of the faceplate for reference. The blower wheel is held on to the shaft by a circlip that is easily pushed off with a screwdriver or pliers and also a spring clip that is taken off with pliers by gripping the tabs with the pliers and squeezing the clip open. Save these two parts because the replacement wheel does not come with these pieces. I ordered the blower wheel, it was here in two days and replaced the wheel. Note: The wheel will take some effort to fully seat it on the shaft. You can take a hair dryer and warm the center of the wheel where the shaft will go thru to make the install easier. Do not use a hammer to beat the wheel onto the shaft or you will be ordering another wheel. I put my left hand behind the blower as support and pushed the wheel onto the shaft with my right hand and using a towel to cover the wheel center as padding. Reinstall the spring clip over the wheel shaft support and then pry the circlip back on the end of the shaft with pliers, reinstall the blower faceplate, reconnect any wires, reinstall the dryer front panel by first leaning the panel out and dropping the front panel onto the cabinet tabs at the bottom and then closing the front panel and screw it back down with the two screws. Reattach the three wires, close the lid, plug it in and your back in business. It took me longer to write this than it did to repair it. Good luck!