The belt for the dryer is not in place and the dryer is not longer spinning. how would i fix that? There is also a piece with a wheel on it that i cannot figure out where it goes but looks as though it is supposed to help belt movement or tension.

May I suggest you do a little detective work?
I see different models of dryer have different rollers.
Could you look to see if your rollers are supposed to be rounded or flat?
It depends on where they support the drum.
I have both for use to fix dryers.
Then, look to see the surface of the drum.
Is the round roller supposed to fit in a rounded slot?
If so, is the drum falling out of the place it is supposed to ride?
I have had that happen when I was moving the dryer, and I tipped it over, and the drum fell out of its place inside the machine.
Sounds like a roller fix will make the belt go longer.
Oh yes, be absolutely sure the rollers are free wheeling and move on their shafts freely back and forth, as well as spinning.
Be blessed.

For me, the idler pulley hadn’t been turning for some time. This created a great deal of friction, consequently causing the belt to melt clean through the plastic pulley wheel groove. I’m assuming the belt was caught in the missing portion of the groove and snapped.

To fix the issue, I opened the vent panel in the back, unscrewed the single screw holding the idler pulley in place, removed it, and greased both sides of the axel/spindle. The wheel spins easily now. All that’s needed is a new idler pulley belt.

Very easy on all tumble dryers.

UNPLUG FROM POWER FIRST!

This is simply a case of:
Take the top off the machine (Usually a couple of screws holding the lid on at the back).
Or - Rempove the inspection panel from the back
Drop the new belt over the drive motor spindle
On some machines you may need to thread the belt around a tensioning wheel
Now take the belt and place it on the side main wheel that drives the drum and simply spin the drum wheel with your hand, guiding the new belt into place as you spin the wheel.
It should simply stretch a little and work its way onto the wheel as it is hand turned.

Note, once it is on, take a look at the drive motor and make sure that the belt is sitting in the same place as the old one. Most of these motors have a slotted spindle and you can see from the clean and shiny surface where on the spindle the belt used to sit. If it is a little out of place, once again just take hold of the belt and pull it toward you or push it away as you spin the main drum wheel in order to move it into the correct slot.

If you are referring to the tension pulley that keeps the belt tight on the drum, it is common for it to come loose when the belt breaks because there is no longer any tension holding it in place. Just follow these steps to reinstall:

1. Make sure the drive belt is looped around the dryer drum with the groove side facing the drum. (Try to line the belt up with the wear marks already on the drum).

2. With the tensioner in your left hand, insert the clip end of the idler pulley into the grooves on the dryer bottom casing with the idler wheel pointing to your left. (The grooves are directly in front of the drive motor.)

3. While holding the tensioner in place with your left hand, insert the belt UNDER the wheel with your right hand and pull it up and over the drive motor pulley.

If this does not explain it well enough, you can verify by going to repairclinic.com. Click on the Repair Help link and look for the "Dryer Belt Diagrams" link under the Special Features section on the next page. Look for Whirlpool and refer to diagram H.


If you have any questions, please post back with your MODEL NUMBER (located on a nameplate around the dryer door opening) so that I may be able to confirm your dryer configuration. I hope this helps you.

Hello, in all likelyhood your problem is going to be with the idler wheel, this as a wheel that takes up the slack from the belt and motor. It is located next to the motor and is normally just a wheel held in place with a piece of metal. You should replace it...the part normally costs around $15-$20. Hope this helps...Mike

This could be the front drum support wheels. They are made of rubber and I just replace one that had broken up, causing the machine not to spin at all. (I replaced both while I had the machine apart as I'm sure the other one is at the end of its life too).

To get at it, I had to take the top and the back off of the machine (removing all screws) and then unhook the belt so I could pull the drum out enough to see the wheels. The wheels are bolted to the front plastic with a nut situated inside of it, so you will have to loosen that to hold the nut in place.

You'll need some torx bits of various sizes to do this job and reassembly takes some jiggling to line everything up. Took me about 2 hours all together.

BTW - if it is the belt , it is virtually the same procedure, but if your drum is rotating at all, I doubt it is the belt.

1. unplug dryer
2. popoff the top off
3. take front off (unscrew)
now you can get access to the belt look in bottom of dryer there is a giude wheel for the belt
4. place belt around drum and pulley make sure you add tenstion
5. replace front and top

Thank you for useing Fixya

1. unplug dryer
2. popoff the top off
3. take front off (unscrew)
now you can get access to the belt look in bottom of dryer there is a giude wheel for the belt
4. place belt around drum and pulley make sure you add tenstion
5. replace front and top

Thank you for useing Fixya

there are two possibilities for this question. 1) there is an idler roller that give the belt the correct tension . unplug dryer and remove idler roller see if it spins freely if not replace it @0 there are two drum rollers in back of machine thatdrum rides on remove drum it's self explanitory how to remove drum and very easy also. you can roll these wheels and check for free movement visually check them ,one or both should be worn out or the bearing in the wheel has failed before putting old or new wheels back sand the wheel shafts to get any gunk off them and that's about the only thing that can make a dryer squeek

You should have a "tension pulley" that the belt goes around somewhere in the belt track. Usually a "wheel or pulley mounted on a spring" which looks like a flat piece if metal. Check to see if it has come out of its positon or the flat spring has broken. You can buy replacements if it has. Simply reposition the belt and push the tension pulley in such a way as to engage the belt correctly. That should fix it.