Da Groj

So, my 25-year-old Maytag dryer started intermittently squealing last weekend.

It was a high-pitched squeal, so I was thinking idler pulley on the belt. I could take it apart and grease it, maybe that would fix it. But, to get to it, I have to Tetris the washer out of the laundry room to get the dryer out... and if I'm going through all that, it's going to be a permanent fix!

Ordered a new belt, idler pulley, and drum rollers. Everything was ready for me on Friday, my day off.

Well, as soon as I took the front panel off and got the drum out, I could see the problem. The belt had separated and part of it had broken off and wrapped all around the idler pulley. That was the squeal. The belt wasn't broken, but surely would have been very soon!

After replacing the pulley and the rollers and putting it all back together, I was fitting the belt. Noticed that it wasn't lining up properly.

That's when I saw that the rubber bushing that supports the end of the motor was all mashed to one side. I guess 25 years of spring tension will do that. Anyway, that was putting the motor drive pulley at a slight angle, and skewing the belt on the idler pulley. I'm sure that's why the belt failed.
Started digging into the parts catalogs only to find that those bushings are not listed as a separate part. They are considered part of the motor! I'm sure if I looked hard enough, I could find a way to replace them. But, in the interest of time and not wanting to reinvent the wheel, I went ahead and ordered a new motor for $90. If it lasts 25 years like the first one did, that's not so bad, right?

Should be here sometime between Wednesday and Friday. Oh, and the replacement motor isn't an exact match for the old one. The wiring is different. So, I have to change some connectors and figure that out. Yay.

But, the last time I had the thing apart in 2006, I replaced all the same parts, plus the plastic blower fan. Prior to that, it hadn't been apart at all since we bought it around 1997. There's not much to a dryer. All that's left is the heating element and some simple electronics and switches!

Well, the new motor that was due in between Wed & Fri actually showed up on Monday! Gotta love living in the Internet age.

Didn't feel like messing with it Monday night, but I hopped to it this evening. It really wasn't that difficult. Or... shouldn't have been. Buckle up!

Having spent my share of time working on cars, I know it's usually easier to loosen a smaller part from a larger part BEFORE removing the larger part. (like when you forget to break the hydraulic line loose before removing the caliper mounting bolts when you're replacing a caliper and have to put the bolts back in so that you can loosen the fitting) So, I figured I'd remove the setscrew on the motor pulley before removing the motor.

Some video I looked at the other day said that was a 5mm Allen screw. It wasn't. I fished around in one of my sets and found a 4.5mm that seemed to fit. Wrenched on it... stripped the bit. Dammit. Clearly, it's not a metric screw. 25 year old Maytag, no big surprise.

Most of what I work on is metric, so I don't have a complete set of standard Allen wrenches or bits any more. I should rectify that problem before the next time a need arises. But, that doesn't help me NOW!

So, I picked a cheap 5mm Allen bit from a set and took it to the grinder to custom-fit the screw. Several trips back and forth to the grinder with a little touch-up from a file got it to fit. I set it up as a sort of taper so that it would "friction fit". But, I couldn't get enough leverage on my 1/4" ratchet inside the dryer to break it loose. Ended up pulling the motor with the pulley still attached.

That was relatively painless. Then I was able to clamp the pulley in a vise (still attached to the motor), wail on the now custom Allen bit with a hammer (tappy-tap-tap) to be sure it's not going to strip the screw head, and make quick work of loosening the screw. I left the bit in the screw for later installation.

Then I had to figure out the wiring, which I cross-checked from 3 different sources. Switched some connectors as-required (and they actually came WITH the motor, but the instructions did not), and got the motor installed and plugged in.

Of course, I should have installed the pulley on the new motor before installing it. But, I didn't. No problem, I'll do that now. Good and tight. Cool. But, now the bit is stuck. Eh, I'll pop it out in a bit.

Reinstall the fan, put the covers back on, check the wire routing. Put the drum back in and hang the belt. Put the front drum support frame back in.

Crawl around the back side and fidget with the belt through the little access panel back there. Got the belt untwisted and routed around the idler and the drive pulley. Spin it around to check it... clunk! The fuck? Let's try that again... Clunk! Oh, yeah, that stupid bit is still stuck in the pulley!

Fought with that for another 10 minutes trying to get it out with vice grips and various other tools and a lot of cursing. It wasn't budging! I managed to loosen and remove the setscrew... padded it with some cardboard and secured it in the vise. Then went after the bit with various tools and got it out fairly quickly.

Reinstalled the setscrew and CAREFULLY torqued it without getting the bit stuck again (no hammer usage this time).

Okay! Reinstall the rear access panel. Reinstall the front panel. (Broke one of the spade connectors on the moisture sensor in the process, dammit!) Tetris it back into its hole so that I can plug it in and test it and...

Nothing. Get some weird lights when I turn the dial (the dampness indicator partially lit up... weird), but pushing the start button does nothing. WTF! I'm tired and a little pissed at this point, so I retired to the couch to research whether the moisture sensor would cause it to not start (it won't). Rechecked wiring info... all seemed correct.

Weasel the dryer away from the wall, crawl behind it, open the access panel... check to be sure that I didn't fuck up the wiring, or maybe knock something loose in futzing with the pulley. Yeah. Looks like I knocked the red wire loose. It almost looked like it was plugged into the wrong pin, but it was just disconnected. Plugged it back in and all is well!

Well, except the moisture sensor. And my wife says she actually uses that mode on the dryer. (I'm old school, I just use time-based drying!)

Aaaaand... of course, that sensor is no longer available! So, I'll pull the front panel off, remove that sensor and see if I can find a way to fix the broken spade connector. Can probably solder or weld another spade connector or a wire to it. It's a VERY simple device, just a couple strips of metal. Maybe Thursday or Friday?

Meanwhile... at least the dryer is functional.

Poor Maytag repairman... you're keeping him lonely.

I'll hire an AC repair man every now and then, but I do most of my own appliance repairs. If I can't fix it, it must be knackered and in need of replacement!

Dryer is good to go now. Removed the moisture sensor and found that the two metal strips each have connector tabs on BOTH ends. So, I was able to pull out the broken one, spin it 180 degrees and put it back in. No fabrication required! All back together and "should" work. I'm sure I'll hear if it doesn't.

The next failure of this washer and dryer set may be the last, though. None of the electronic parts are available. I expect I'll be replacing a washer belt at some point, maybe some associated consumable parts. Beyond that... it may be time to replace the ol' washer & dryer if anything major fails.

Meanwhile... I spent about $130 on parts to fix the dryer, should be good for another 5-10 years or more.

My mother had to finally replace her dryer last fall...a Kenmore she'd had it since the mid-'70s. Harvest Gold, no less. Single electro-mechanical rotary switch, electric motor driving the drum via a belt, electric heating element. The latter finally did it in...her repair guy couldn't find a replacement heater.