MDE12CSAGW Maytag Dryer - Instructions

First I unplugged the machine; an essential to avoiding getting shocked during this repair. This is a must and should not be overlooked it could cost you your life.

Removed two screws from lower area of front panel, pulled bottom of front panel toward yourself so as to swing out and up, continue to swing panel up to your self until it comes free from top clips.

Once free set gently on floor and remove door switch wires, noting which wire goes to which contact is not essential but could be more convenient when putting it all back together.

Remove door switch wire from clasp at top inside from panel, set front panel aside in safe place.

Now look under the two top front corners on the inside and you will see a screw in each corner; these screws must be removed in order to raise top panel.

This is kind of tedious because sometimes these screws are long and difficult to turn and space is limited and tight in getting rachet or nut driver on the head of these screws.

Be patient , because they will come out with a little work. To make this process a little easier you might do the following step first but you cannot do this little trick when putting it back together.

Once these screws are out raise top panel and lean back against wall; be careful because the two enamel surfaces are slick and if leaned too far back the top will want to slide out at the bottom from being on a lean.

Remove four screws from tumbler front, lift slightly so as to come off side clips then pull straight out. Remove door wire from clasp and drop wire gently back inside so as to let it fall to the bottom of the machine and away from the tumbler, which is to be removed next.

Once this is done the tumbler will go down in the front due to pressure from belt. The belt could have been removed from pulley right from the start to relieve this tension but I just do it this way.

Once tumbler sags or leans down in the front gently work the belt off of the back of the tumbler; there will still be a little pressure on the belt and gentle force may be required in sliding it toward the back and then off; once belt is off gently lift tumbler up and out and put in a safe place.

Once this is done you will be able to easily see everything in the bottom of the dryer; motor, gas valves, thermal switches, vent pipe and pulley, pulley bracket and belt which by this time has fallen to the bottom of dryer; gently remove belt from pulley and set aside in safe place.

Make sure it is out of reach of children or it will be played with or used as a hangmans noose; it is long an flexible and children just seem to love playing with it.

At this point you can either continue to work from the front of the machine or the back; I f you choose to work from the back then lower the top panel so as to allow it to just sit back down on the sides of the machine, pull the machine away from the wall and work from the back; because I am experienced at this I continue to work from the front.

If you choose to work from the back then while standing in the back of the machine look to lower right corner and you will see an access panel with four screws in it; remove these screws and the panel will come free giving you a clear view of the belt pulley.

From either back or front view you will see a spring attached to pulley bracket which can easily be removed when pulley bracket is in relaxed position; remove this spring and put in a safe place if you have plans of reusing it. I installed a new spring on this repair.

Once this spring has been removed then look directly beneath bracket at what is easily seen to be its pivot point and you will see a mounting screw. Remove this screw with a nut driver and the bracket will then come completely free; slide through access hole and come out with it.

Once it is out the white spacer is easily seen on bracket; look at the bracket side of the spacer and you will see a mounting screw; remove this screw and spacer will come off.

When installing new space

Frist I removed the front cover panel via removing 2 screws. Second I disconnected the door switch wires. Third I removed the 4 screws that hold the drum onto the rollers and guides that allows access to the blower wheel assembly cover. Fourth I remover the blower wheel assembly cover to gain access to the blower wheel. Fifth using the retaining removal tool removed the retaining ring from the shaft then removed the blower wheel using plyers. Then reassembled all of the parts and enjoy a quiet dryer again.

Thank you parts select!!!

I troubleshot the repair using the repair help section from Parts Select. It made finding the problem a snap. I then removed the four wires and two screws that held the heating element in place. Removed two screws that held thermal fuse in place and replaced. By accomplishing the repair myself I saved well over a hundred dollars.

Took off the lower front panel, removed duct piece from filter to blower fan, removed two screws and two wires to thermostat in exhaust ducting, then replaced thermostat with new one. Very easy job and everything worked like new when I reassembled it.

How to disassemble the dryer has been covered in past repair stories. I will add a make shift repair that will get you up and running until you get your replacement blower wheel. We repair gas dryers for a living and this repair works and some machines are still running for two years. Remove the blower wheel. Cut a piece of plumber strap of similar sized metal to about 3/16" x 1/2". Hold it with vise grips and then heat it with a torch. When it is hot melt it into the hole in the blower wheel. This will give you a flat spot in the shaft hole that will keep the blower from spinning on the motor shaft. Some trial and error fitting is involved. If you do it carefully the blower wheel will fit very nicely and will not vibrate or make noise.

The repair was very simple. I took off the two screws on the fron of the dryer to remove the front panel which gained me access to the drum. I used a nut driver to remove the two screws that held the orignal short baffle and screwed in the new short baffle. Very simple very quick. The amazing thing with this problem is that I ordered the part on Thursday and recieved it on the very next day!!!!!!

This was pretty much as easy as most other folks had described on this site.
1. Removed the two screws at the front bottom that are holding on the fromt panel, and then lift up and remove the panel.
2. Disconnect the door-open-safety-switch, remembering which color of wire goes on which connection.
3. Remove the four screws (two on each side) on the front bracket that supports the drum and tthat contains the front glides.
4. Remove support bracket and lint trap, letting the drum rest gently on the stuff underneath.
5. Remove the screws holding the lint trap to the support bracket. (My model had five screws.) Remove lint trap from support bracket.
6. Drill out the two pop rivets on each of the two glides, noting the orientation of the teflon pad and mounting strip.
7. Secure - and here is where I had a little problem - new glides in place with pop rivets. (I hadn't use a rivet gun in a while, so I messed up the first pop rivet and had to go to the hardware store to get a replacement. I didn't hold the pop rivet in all the way while I was accuating the gun!)
8. Reverse the process for assembly, and you are all done.

It's simple.

I set the dryer on its back to make alignment of the front drum guide cover easy to reinstall in the seal after completion. I removed the 2 screws at the bottom front then removed the white and yellow wires to the interlock switch and set the front cover aside. I then removed the 4 nut screws holding the front drum cover and removed. On the back side there are two teflon and cork "bearings". I had ordered two even though only one was worn down to metal. On each one I then removed the two rivets by drilling them out. Then I placed the corks into the bearing slots with a little glue then inserted the teflon into the slots and riveted them into place with the rivets that came with the kit. I replaced the drum cover, connected the switch and screwed the dryer front cover back on. I set the dryer back up. Connected the vent hose and turned the dryer on. Beautiful sweet smooth and quiet operation. I had replaced the front and back drum seals a few months ago and saw the teflon was missing but did not have the kits at that time. With a complete job I would recommend replacing the front and rear drum seals and the two teflon/cork bearing kits at the same time.

ordered new filter,,,,

I inserted the clip

Took off door, then removed front of dryer to access the internal controls. Project went pretty darn well

I observed that the top of the dryer was affixed by two screws at each front corner. With these removed the top of the dryer could be easily lifted and with the front support panel removed the drum, drive motor and idler pulley could be accessed. This allowed the installation of a new drum belt in a short period of time. Installing the belt from the front lower left hand side proved very difficult for me but with the top raised and coming in from the top it was accomplished in short order. Thank you, Wesley Harmon

I pulled the face of the dry off by removing the two screws on the lower face below the door. I pulled the drum out by removing the two bolts holding the drum mounts to the frame. I put the new belt around the drum and remounted it. The access hole on the lower right corner on the back of the appliance allowed me to turn the drum to align the belt (and turn it right side up) with the pulley. It took a moment to figure out how to re-thread the pulley but was able to do it after only a couple of tries. All in all it was quite easy!

I watched the video

Removed the front panel by removing two front screws. Removed screws from front panel holding tumbler drum. Cleaned interior with a vacuum cleaner. (dryer is at least 16 years old). Removed what was left of rivets on damaged glides with a drill, and cleaned area well. Attached new glides with rivet gun, and also applied glue to make glide and cork more secure. Replaced belts, and decided to reverse drum due to damage to drum from allowing glides to deteriorate to the point of putting scratches on the drum itself, allowing the new glides to rest on drum where there was no damage at all. This process was easy, and fast. We did make one error however, in not noticing that with our model, that there were TWO glides to be replaced. Luckily a local repair shop had one more glide so the job could be done the same day. The dryer sounds like it did when it was brand new. Very quiet! The comments from other home repairs helped very much in clairifying any possible errors. Fast delivery of parts, and the extra help was great. Thanks!