4GWED5500YW3 Whirlpool Dryer - Instructions

First I unplugged the dryer, then removed the back panel, this exposed most all of the wiring and I could see the heater coils.
Not knowing what the problem was I started looking at the coils and could not see any broken parts.
So then checked the thermal fuse for continuity I removed the two wires from it with a small pair of needle nose pliers, it was held in place by two screws, once they were removed the fuse came out easily, I checked continuity with a volt meter placing the meter on X1 Ohms and could not get a reading.
I replaced with a new one and put it all back together the way I took it apart.
Then I plugged it in and it worked first time, I now have warm dry clothes.

Cleaning the lint out of the whole machine took quite a bit of time--it was everywhere. Underneath the lint trap was a collection that ultimately ruined the thermal fuse where it restricted the air flow considerably.

Ascertaining the problem was the most time consuming part.

The actual repair was quite simple and didn't take but 15-20 minutes.

Remove the kick plate from the bottom of the dryer by sliding a putty knife along the top edge to release the plastic clamps, one on each side about 4" in from the edges. The kick plate folds out and down. You will see the heat shield on the right, held in by one hex head screw. Remove screw and heat shield. The element is positioned in an open-front housing and is fastened to the left side of the housing by two hex head screws, located on the "rail" of the element and right near the two wires. Remove the hex-head screws that hold the element in place and disconnected the two wires by pulling them out by hand or with needle nose pliers. The only difficulty here is the cramped working area...I recommend a stubby socket driver for these two screws. Most of this I had to do by feel because I could not see the screw heads. Once the screws are out and the wires have been disconnected, slide the old element straight out toward you. You may need to disconnect a small plastic hose located to the left front of the element, but this hose just pulls right off. Vacume the dust & lint build-up out of the whole area, wipe out the element housing and clean up the whole underside of the dryer prior to installing the new element. Installation is reverse of removal. It also might be a good opportunity to clean out your exhaust duct and the vent to the outside. (Never use the aluminum foil-accordian-type duct.) If the exterior dryer vent has any kind of screen over it, remove it and get rid of it. Screens collect lint, lint builds up and burns out elements.

I started to repair this and got busy and ended up calling a repair service -- that was the first time. They repaired it for over $200 and said the cause was bad venting. I fixed the vent before using the fixed dryer but it blew again. So I ordered these parts and replaced them myself for a lot of savings. However, the dryer still overheated. Through lots of testing I found the root cause the repairman missed: The heating element had gotten so hot that the assembly holding it warped, hitting the element and shorting it. So a new element is on order. I still needed the parts I ordered here but the overall repair ended up more complicated and expensive. I was disappointed a paid repair person left without further diagnosis. If he had unplugged the vent and checked the heat on the exhaust vent (as I ended up doing) it would have been obvious more than a new thermal fuse/thermistor was necessary. Instead I wasted over $200 on his visit. So my advice is if you're at all handy, repair this yourself. The dryer has a service manual inside the front toe board that walks you through most diagnostics and tests. However, it took a little more than that for me to discover the heating element problem. This was a very dangerous situation that could have easily led to a fire, yet not found by a trained technician!

ordered new lint screen, removed old screen, inserted new screen.

I simply removed the back of the dryer to gain access to the heating element. Once I removed the heating element I figured I would also replace the thermostat and thermal fuse as preventive maintenance.

The issue was the idler pulley. First I began opening up the front panel based on a youtube video but soon realized the model was slightly different and required a lot more items to remove. I saw the pulley in the back with nothing in the way so I put the front panel crap back on and removed the rear panel. There it was, very simple to remove and replace. I'm not looking forward to drum rollers though. Hopefully they're aren't as difficult as they appear.

I removed the top cover and then the back cover, released the belt tensioner and removed the drive belt. Then slid the tub out of the unit and onto the back dack. Sanded the remnents of the old seal off. Wiped the tub lip with laquer thinner and applied the "fast" drying glue supplied with the kit. Installed the seal and re-assembled the unit...works fine

Found this site by googling, and it works! I searched lint filters and just ordered based on how it looked...LOL! Husband wasn't home, it looked pretty much like the one I had in my hand, so.... I ordered it. It is the perfect fit and seems to have a tighter gasket glued in all around the screen. Let's hope this one lasts longer than 6 months! Thank you Parts Select for being so fast!! Filter got here in less than 48 hrs.!

1) Disconnected power cord from wall. 2) Disconnected vent hose from back of dryer. 3)Removed dryer rear panel. 4)Disengaged tension spring on idle wheel arm. 5) Removed worn idle wheel. 6)Installed new Idler wheel assembly. 7) Vacuumed dust from rear of dryer (optional, recommended). 8) Reinstalled rear cover, vent hose and power cord. Easy repair 15-30

I purchased the dryer repair kit with the drum belt, wheels and idler pulley. I watched the instructional videos online and it seemed fairly straight forward. Breaking down the dryer and replacing the pulleys was easy enough. My problem began when I tried to feed the drum belt around the idler pulley. After finishing the job, the dryer would not turn and the sensor light stayed on. I thought something else was broken with the dryer and spent hours trouble shooting other problems that I was having. Finally I figured out that the drum belt was not installed correctly around the idler pulley. However, I could not get it properly installed from the front of the machine so I tried from the rear still with no avail. I finally had to fish the old belt out of the garbage can that I had thrown away earlier. I lined up the old belt with the new one in the kit and discovered that the new belt was much smaller, so I put the old one back on the drum. Here's the lesson I learned...make sure the belts are the same size before attempting to install. The old idler was responsible for the squeaking and that stopped but I am still using the same old drum belt. Hope it lasts.

I found that the dryer would not start turning by itself. Could manually help it start and it would run fine. Anyway, after a new set of rollers, belt, etc. found that the motor still would not start by itself. Ordered new motor and it was taken care of. You have to take the back off, remove the belt and remove the tumbler. After that, it is fairly easy. Two screws hold the motor down and then you can take the whole motor assembly out. Be careful removing the fan as it takes a 3/8 socket drive and it is plastic. Two clips hold the motor to the assembly. Needle nose pliers takes care of it. Replace and all should be good.

actually i found your site before i even looked at the dryer,thats how i knew to check for the thermal fuse.
I ordered the part and it was on my door in 36
hours,pulled the two wires off the old fuse and installed the new,put the back cover on and it has been working ever since,thanks ( your in my bookmarks)

After looking at the schematic to see what was in line with the motor, I found the fuse as the first item. I pulled the fuse out and used a multimeter to ohm out the fuse. Upon using the meter I found that the fuse was bad. I typed into Google my part number that was on the fuse and the PartSelect Website came up as one of the choices to pick from. When the part arrived approx. two days later I installed the fuse by first unplugging the dryer and then removing the bottom panel and removing the fuse from the exhaust by using a small 1/4 inch wrench and pulling out the old fuse. I installed the wires on the new fuse and re-installed and put the 1/4 inch screw back in. I started the dryer after plugging it back in and it worked like it should have. Thank you for the part and I have recommended your website to other people already.

My 14 year old son did it as I supervised! Pulled the dryer out on a dolly, unpluged the dyer, removed 9 hex head screws to remove the back cover, removed and replaced the thermal fuse, located next to the exhust outlet, set the cover back on, moved the dryer back in with the dolly. I had the thermal fuse over nighted to me for a total price of $35, figured I saved at least $150 on a service call by Whirpool.