MDE13PDBEW Maytag Dryer - Instructions

I found that I replaced more parts than I needed to fix fhis problem. The source of the rumble was the blower wheel connection to the motor, allowing the wheel to wobble (plastic wheel flat spot worn off over time, no firm lock to the motor shaft). But the dryer should be good for another 10 years!

Disconnect dryer from electrical outlet and exhaust.

Remove the back access plate to release the belt from the pulley. Remove the two screws at the bottom front of the dryer, rotate the front to release it at the top. Remove the wires from the door status switch. Remove the 4 nuts holding the drum support frame and pull straight out. Remove the drum. Remove the two bolts holding the thermostat cover (silver odd shaped metal plate at the front of the dryer). Remove the dryer blower cover plate by removing the 6 bolts holding it to the blower housing. Remember to remove the bolt holding the plate to the bottom of the dryer. Release the door status wire from the clips on the left side of the dryer and set the blower housing plate to the right, out of your way without removing the wires. Remove the blower wheel by removing the Circlip at the front of the shaft and then removing the shaft compression clip. Pull out the blower wheel and then remove the rear Circlip from the motor shaft. The back of the blower housing can be removed by removing the 4 bolts holding it to the motor support frame to make access easier but this may not be necessary. Release the 5 wires attached to the motor. Release the front and back motor clips. I used a large straightblade scerwdriver to press down and out on the end of the clips. Lift out the motor. Remove the rear pulley from the motor using an allen wrench and transfer it to the new motor. Set the new motor in the support frame, ensuring the lips of the vibration isolation rings are pointed down to slip over the frame and are not facing up towards the clips ( makes clip instalaltion much easier). Hook up the wires, following the color coding on the motor controller you are attaching to. Reinstall the blower back housing if removed, rear circlip, blower wheel, front circlip, shaft compression clip, blower housing front cover (Including the bolt to the dryer bottom) , reroute the door switch wire up the left side, reinstall the thermostat cover, reinstall the drum and belt, reinstall the drum front support frame (ensure the felt seals for the drum and the blower cover are properly aligned and seated correctly), hook up the door status wire when your set the front cover and install the 2 screws, reinstall the belt through the pulley and idler wheel (make sure the belt smooth side is against the drum) through the back access panel and reinstall the panel.

This is hardly a "repair". You toss out the old lint screen and put the new one in. The hardest part was getting the lint screen out of the plastic bag it came in...

ta da it is done...

From previous experience I suspected the thermal fuse. Turned off the power and removed the front of the dryer by removing the two philips head screws in the door hinge and the two screws on the opposite side of the opening. The front came off easily since all that holds it in place besides the 4 screws are two spring clips. The thermal fuse is located on the side of the chamber enclosing the heating element. I removed the wires connected to the thermal fuse and temporarily joined them together with a spade type connector in order to determine if the thermal fuse was the problem. Turned the power back on and tried the dryer......it ran normally. Turned the power back off and removed the thermal fuse by taking out th two screws with a 1/4" nutdriver.
Ordered a replacement thermal fuse, installed it (with power turned off) and put everything back together. Dryer functioned normally after the thermal fuse had been replaced.
The thermal fuse can be removed and reinstalled using a 1/4" nutdriver. The wires are connected with push on spade type terminals.
Note: The swing damper on the dryer vent (the hooded cover where it exhausts to the outdoors) was jammed in the closed position with an accumulation of lint, which caused the dryer to overheat and blow the thermal fuse. If you experience a blown thermal fuse, always look for the cause or you'll blow the replacement within minutes of running the fryer again.

Turned off circuit breaker. Removed two screws at base of front panel with stubby Phillips-head screwdriver. Swung panel up about 30-degrees, and removed panel, disconnecting red and yellow wire to door switch. Removed four sheet metal screws and took off large drum support bracket. Checked drum support rollers and shafts. They were fine. Reset circuit breaker and turned on dryer. Rattling noise still present.
Removed six small screws holding blower fan assembly. Shaft receiver on squirrel cage fan was worn completely round (it should fit onto a half-round shaft). Ordered new blower fan from PartSelect.com. Replaced tonight, and it works beautifully. This dryer is 29-years old. All it's ever needed in the 10-years I've owned it is a belt replacement and this repair. Long live the 1970s Maytags, and good parts suppliers like this one.

Removed the screws and took the door off then took the front panel off and popped up the top. Then pulled the drum out. Took snap ring pliers and removed rollers and replaced with new rollers then vacuumed all lint from machine and reversed operation to put everything back together. Operation was a total success!

First I removed the two screws from the dryer front cover (located just under door)I Then swung font cover up and off it's latches. Exposing drum asy and heating element. Using a nut driver to remove two hold down screws and disconnect electrical wires from heating element. Really simple! took me approxmatly 20 minutes and this included vacuuming inside motor area with a shop vac.

Put blocks under the washer where the leveling leg was needed and screwed the part into the washer. Then it was just a matter of moving the washer into place and leveling. Pretty easy.

First I unplugged the machine. I removed the two screws in the front panel and tilted the bottom of the panel out unclipping it at the top. I removed the lint duct whichis held in place with several 1/4" hex head screws. Then I removed the blower cover, also held on wth 1/4" hex head screws, exposing the blower wheel. Using snap ring pliers I removed the snap ring at the end of the motor shaft. Using needle nose liers I removed the spring clamp around the center hub of the old blower wheel and pull the blower wheel off the motor shaft. After cleaning as much lint out as I could I put the new blower wheel on the motor, secured with spring clamp and snap ring. Then I put the blower cover and lint duct back on and put front panel back on.

Followed the instructions on the video, and saved 500 hundred dollars. I was already shopping for a new dryer. Thanks so much!

Replacing the blower fan took way too long, like 4 hrs, because I didn't know how to disassemble the dryer and get to the problem. Replacing the idler bracket and assorted retaining rings and washers was fast, something like 1 hour. Disconnect the power cord, exhaust hose, and gas line. Remove two screws at the bottom of the face of the machine, unplug the electrical harness to the door light, switch and ground and remove the front of the machine. Remove the access panel at the back of the machine and remove the belt from the idler pulley. Remove the four screws holding the front drum support assembly and remove the drum. Replace some old retaining rings and the spring washers on the drum support rollers. Around back assemble the idler pulley assembly with some new washers and the old roller which seemed in good condition. Put it all back together. About one hour.

Unplugged the dryer!!!! Removed two screws from lower front panel. Pulled bottom of front panel forward which allowed clips holding top of panel to release. Unlcipped wires attached to door switch on front panel. Set aside front panel. Removed 4 screws(2 on left & 2 on right) from the drum retainer ring. Set aside retainer ring. Removed thin metal cover protecting blower wires. Removed several screws holding blower cover. Note blower is located on lower left below the lint screen. Used snap ring pliers to remove snap ring securing old blower wheel(an external snap ring). Removed old blower wheel from motor shaft. Inserted new blower wheel on motor shaft. Replaced snap ring. Replaced blower cover. Replaced thin metal wiring cover. Replaced drum retainer ring. Reconnected door switch wiring. Replaced front panel. Done. A hint on the maytag dryer. If your drum wiggles out too far the belt on the drum might not stay aligned. There is a groove on the drum...the belt should NOT sit in this groove...it should ride on the drum about an inch in front of the groove!!!

I just inserted the door catch, which by the way fit in perfectly. Thanks. Took 5 seconds to repair.

Using the instructions accompanying the belt I bought from you,I removed the casing an front support for the drum. I then tried to follow the instructions to install the new belt from the front and found it to be absolutely impossible.I saw that there is a removeable plate on the lower right corner of the back that,if removed, would expose the motor and idler pulleys that are the object of the installation so I removed it and,without much difficulty, installed the belt. One problem in doing so involved the belt's tendency to slide into the groove in the drum when manipulating it onto the pulley set so I enlisted the aid of my wife to hold it in place from the front while I successfully and rather easily did so.

Sans manual, I turned to the web to find out how to open up the dryer. Maytag uses two Phillips screws on the bottom front panel. Once removed, the front pulls out at the bottom and slides free from the top. Caution, wires on the left side of the front panel prevent total detachment from the dryer. A 1/4 hex screwdriver was used to remove the cover to the blower housing. Once the cover is unbolted attached wires prevent its complete removal and can be set clear of the blower housing. Pliers were used to remove a pinch clamp from the squirrel cage fan (blower assembly) and snap ring pliers were needed to remove the retaining snap ring. The fan was easily removed from the motor's rotor. The loose fan caused damage to the blower housing which I believe was the source of the original rattle. Once the fan had been removed, the housing was removed by using a 5/16 socket on the end of an extension. The replace parts were installed in reverse order and fit perfectly. Other work included the replacement of the drive belt for the drum. PartSelect was chosen because it had the parts in stock and could be shipped overnight.

Well, I had to find out just how the dryer came apart. Most of the time, the back comes off but with this particular Maytag, it is the front that has to be removed. Once the four screws from either side are removed, the front pops off and the canister that holds the heating element is right there on the bottom. Cleaning away years of lint was fun but the heating canister was removed quickly using two screws and removing four wires that attached to the unit. Once the screws were removed (top back and bottom front) and the wires removed, the replacement unit slid right in without any problems. The regulator on the old unit had to be transferred to the new unit before installation. I closed up the front, put the four screws back in and snapped the front closed and the dryer worked perfectly.