3HLER5437JQ0 Whirlpool Dryer - Instructions

Following the instructions that came with the parts, I removed the top off of the dryer, which was very easy, two more 5/16" screws and I had the drum out. I confess, this was my second time at this repair. 1st time I neglected to replace the rear drum seal which I strongly recommend you do while you have it open. I only replaced the 2 wheels last time and it failed very soon afterwards.
Lesson Learned: Always replace the rear drum seal when you replace the support wheels!!!

I took a ¼ inch nut driver and removed the rear cover from the unit, and then used a continuity tester to determine which safety device was open. According to the schematic there was one non-resettable safety device in the heating circuit, and that was open. The kit that I ordered came with thermal cutoff and a thermostat. I replaced both parts and the unit now operates normally. While I had the dryer open I thoroughly cleaned the dust and lint from the unit and also the 4 inch vent pipe. I ordered this part on Friday morning and received it early Saturday afternoon.

Disconnected supply. Lifted top (hinges on rear). removed two 1/4 hex head screws retaining front panel. Disconnected door switch wires. Removed front panel, lifting off from bottom tabs. Lifted out drum and discarded broken belt. Spent 30 minutes+ cleaning interior, drum skid area, dryer exit tube, motor pulley, belt tensioner, etc, etc. Checked wiring harness for possible damage (no damage found). Repositioned drum skid pads, which had become dislodged from their intended position. Reinstalled the drum with new belt, ensuring both belt & tensioner were correctly positioned, and drum rollers and felt seals were also correctly positioned. Reinstalled front panel, tightening the two 1/4 hex head retaining screws. Reconnected power. Checked functionality. Closed top cover.

The old catch on my dryer door was gone and I was keeping the door closed using tape. I ordered the part and it arrived with no hassles in about 5 days. The repair was too easy. I just popped the new catch in place. It took all of about 30 seconds to complete using no tools. I wish all home repairs were this easy.

There are a total of six screws that have to be removed to do this job.
Take the lint tray out and remove the first two screws.
Secondly, remove the lower panel in the front of the dryer. You do this by inserting a screwdriver at the top portion and pry it off. Next, loosen the two screws under the top panel in the front of the dryer.
Now take your screwdriver and pry up the top lid of the dryer. The last two screws are in the inside of the front panel. They hold together the front and side panels. Remove them and be sure you have a support for under the dryer drum. (once you remove the front panel, the drum no longer has a way to stay suspended)
(Make sure you disconnect the wires attached to the front door, making note of which wire goes where.)
At this point, You can follow the easy instructions that come with your new belt.
If you have a little mechanical aptitude, this is a very easy project.

simply replace vent filter

replaced motor and drum rear seal as well as idler wheels, the old rear drum seal was completly worn out, since I had it all apart, I replaced lint chute and trap seals and belt and tensioner. I spent less money on parts than if I would have bought a new dryer. The motor was the main problem as the bearings were shot.

Wife said the drier was not heating. I looked on the internet and found Parts Select. Followed the instructions to test the heating element, thermal cut-offs, and thermostat. This is really easy, you just touch the terminals with the voltage meter to see which ones are not transmitting current (with the drier unplugged). One of the thermal cut-offs was not transmitting current so I ordered the part Sunday night and had it by Wednesday morning and put it on it about five minutes. Steps:

1. Unplug drier
2. Unscrew back of drier
3. Unplug wires from terminals of the parts shown in Parts Select instructions (one at a time)
4. Get a basic voltage meter (I bought a cheap one at the big box store)
5. Test terminals (touch the red terminal on the voltage meter to one side, black to the other)
6. If the needle moves to the other side, the part is OK, if not order the part and replace.

Follow the advice given in the partsselect website. However, while removing the blower, my hand slipped into the housing and cut my thumb. Connected the wires to the junction box on the motor but didn't realize that the contacts would hit the drum when reinstalled. The original junction box was at a 90 degree rotation relative to the new box. When trying to test the breaker tripped. Using the multitester I found out that I burned out the thermal fuse, and froze the door switch. I replace both those parts and started the dryer and could hear a grinding sound. Inspection revealed that the housing of the motor was rubbing against the drum. Removing the drum yet again, I rotated the housing and replaced the drum. The dryer was finally working well.

I replaced the thermal cut off kit, and the dryer now had heat. Three days later, no heat; the thermal fuse also did not have continuity. Read on-line that overheating was the most likely cause. So, I checked the exhaust duct for blockage, but it was clear. Then, I removed the exhaust canister at the back of dryer; the entire bottom was filled with lint the size of a softball. The lint was heating up, and when it got too hot, it blew the thermal cut off. Cleaned out the lint, replaced the thermal cut off, and now it's fine. Moral of the story: Remove the lint canister and clean it.

I wasn't sure if the problem was the belt (probable) or the idler pulley assembly (less likely) but the total for both parts was about $26 plus shipping. So why not replace both to be sure?

As it turns out, my original idler pulley assembly does not turn. Rather, it has a concave semi-circular piece that is fixed in place. The belt ran in a groove in that piece.

The replacement part has a nylon wheel that turns. As a result of replacing the idler pulley assembly (which I don't think was necessary to fix my tumbling problem) the dryer runs much quieter. (We used to get a fair amount of squeaking when the belt rubbed).

As for the actual repair (I would rate myself as above average on tackling household repairs), it was about the simplest repair I've ever done. I followed the video provided on this site (excellent video) and it took less than 20 minutes -- cleaning up all of the lint/odds and ends under the washer and dryer took longer than the actual repair.

My only issue (minor) was disconnecting the electric harness. It did not slide as easily as in the video. I had to coax mine a bit with a small screwdriver (make sure your dryer is unplugged!!). I suspect it was simply a function of the harness never being unplugged -- the dryer is 9 years old.

I also felt great because I'm sure I saved a $125 service call (for only $26 in parts and 20 minutes of my life).

Good luck!

My wife reported that the dryer was not working. I checked it and it seemed to work fine. This went on for about a month or two. Every time I checked it, it started just fine.

Well, she threatened to go buy a new dryer, I took her more seriously. I thought perhaps a thermal protection was the cause. But when I dug into it, I learned that when those trip out, they are permanent (have to be replaced).

I finally noticed loud humming sound the motor made at start-up, when it failed to start turning on one occasion and eventually tripped out the motors thermal protection.

I ordered the new drive motor form PartSelect.com.

Replacing the motor was fairly easy if you like to take stuff apart. One thing that I had not anticipated was that the two foam gaskets on the exhaust duct were dry rotted. I went to my local part supplier to get them. They did not have them in stock. :( While I was there, I asked how much the motor was, they wanted $50 more than PartSelect.com :D

I put it back together without the new gaskets, and it runs like new. I ordered the gaskets from PartSelect and will add them when they arrive.

My wife is happy again, she can bust out the laundry in one day; it had been taking here all weekend.

I learned to take her at her word.

No, if that had of been the problem, it would have worked. However, I called a service man out to look at it. It was a fuse that does not look like a fuse. I had the system already torn apart and cleaned. The service took a meter and checked the fuse ( that did not look like a fuse) and it was bad. It cost 14.00 for the fuse, it took less than 5 minutes for installation and the service fee was $65.00. My advise, get a meter, check everything yourself, and only purchase what you need.

My husband pulled out the old filter and quickly installed the new one. It fit perfectly.

I'm so glad I was able to order the part. The machine looks like new.

**** Remove power cord from the wall****

As said earlier, you will need to lift the top. Drop the two screws holding the lint shoot and pop the top by sliding a screw driver into the corner on the front. Lif tthe top and rest against the wall behid the unit. remove the two (4 total) screws at the top and bottom of the front door assembly.
Place sometin under the front portion of the drum. At this point you'll see the need to clean everything! :) Slide the belt off and around the drum, (take note of the routing it takes.) Remove the drum by gently pulling it towards you. Set it aside. Clean more. :) (It is nice to have a vacuum handy.) At this point you really need to get to the rear of the system. So I tipped the top back down, and spun it around. Removed the rear panel and cleaned some more. (15 years of a lot of lint in there!) Then you'll need to remove the rear cover on the left side, covering the blower impeller. Get read for a whole lot of debris. Vacuum again. So now you have the motor exposed in the front and rear. You need to remove the impeller by turning that clockwise to loosen it. The trick is holding the shaft in place from the front at the same time. I used an old rag and wedged it into the impeller edges and worked it around until it jamed up. Once the rag was wedged pretty good, I went back to the front spun the shaft. Then you can remove the impeller by hand. Vacuum more. You may get by without having to remove the lint shoot completely, but I did just to clean it up more. I did have to remove two screws in the upper corner near the top of the lint shoot. (Basically the hold the back in place.) I took a few notes at this point about the wiring harness. Used a heavier screw driver (standard), You can push down on the clips that hold the old motor in place. Then work it out the front. Clean more. The new motor is not an exact replacement slightly differnt but the instructions with it were ok. Follow them for the correct wiring. You will need to remove one wire and cut and recrimp a spade lug or two. I used ty-wraps to secure the lines back in place. Look closely at the diagrams and make sure you set the motor down in the same direction the instructions say, if you twist it slightly it will sorta lock in place where it needs to be. Re-install the hold down clips to the front and rear of the motor. Clean up your impeller, and reinstall it too. Then basically reassemble the dryer...tracing your steps backwards. This isn't really difficult, it just takes time and as you can see, you will/should clean as you go !