Maytag dryer LDE7314ACE screeching

[rokosz]

Once again, I'm attempting to preserve the life of an appliance from the 20th century.  I presume this and a maytag washer were bought at the same time.  The washer finally gave up the ghost (too many perfs in the outer tub after replacing the spindlebearing  and no longer available).  Apparently 24-28 years old.  not bad.

In the last couple of weeks the dryer has started screeching.  Don't know why the trouble and strife didn't tell me then, and I had to hear it for myself...

Start the cycle and its screechy, loud and hard on the ears, fluctuates a bit sometimes goes away as the cycle progresses, but it is getting worse.

I took the cover off. belt seems fine and the noise seems concentrated coming from the area of the pulley.    Reasonable to assume that's the culprit?

Looking at the parts diag. There's 4 or 5 parts that seem to make up the assembly.  I'm no expert can anyone please tell me if there's something here I Don't Need or Something Missing?

thanks  much

[citizenX]

Sounds like the idler. I'd replace the pulley and the linkage arm (with the shaft). You probably won't need the washers and sleeves but you never know until you get in there. Usually just the idler and arm will do the trick. If the dryer is as old as the washer was I'd replace the belt too while you're in there. Check the drum roller supports/shafts as well to make sure they are turning freely. Those can squeal as well. 

[rokosz]

thank CX!  I got this (pair) in 2002.  I've done the belt 3(?) times,  the blower fan about 10 years, the rollers about 5 years.  I took the idler off last night. yup the wheel doesn't spin freely and at one point as I spun it I heard it squeak, much more quietly than when under load/power but it was the identical frequency.  

I presume a new dryer (this elec.) would be more efficient and  maybe I could get a dual power (LP/elec). They even make those?  But its real nice to preserve this workhorse.

[Budget Appliance Repair]

12 minutes ago, rokosz said:

I presume a new dryer (this elec.) would be more efficient and  maybe I could get a dual power (LP/elec).

No, all standard electric heat powered dryers use airflow and around a 5000 Watt heating element - nothing really more energy efficient with the newer ones and they are not built as sturdy as this one.

All gas dryers on LP or Natural gas use electric to run the dryer (120Vac) you won't find anything with gas and 220 Vac heating combined - they don't make such a thing.

[citizenX]

1 hour ago, rokosz said:

thank CX!  I got this (pair) in 2002.  I've done the belt 3(?) times,  the blower fan about 10 years, the rollers about 5 years.  I took the idler off last night. yup the wheel doesn't spin freely and at one point as I spun it I heard it squeak, much more quietly than when under load/power but it was the identical frequency.  

 

Ok, well you probably only need the idler and shaft then. Sometimes there's just some crud built up on the shaft and idler bearing that you can clean off with a rag, but if it's never been replaced it's probably time and the parts aren't expensive. 

 

As was said, no real benefit energy-wise to replace the dryer so I'd definitely stick with what you've got! 

[rokosz]

BAR, I wondered about dual... kind of like the dual freon air handlers from 15 years ago

i saw alll the gunk&dust, wondered if a regular cleaning maint might've made a difference, but the wheel defintely seems more plain worn.

[rokosz]

per the long tail of wisdom, yup the solution was the idler pully assembly. I replaced everything except the retaining clip. In hindsight I should have -- it is rustier than I'd noticed initially, but it came off and went back on happily.

as i said earlier the old wheel had resistance turning by hand , indicating something not right.  As I dis-assembled it to match the aseembly of the new parts -- that wheel did not want to come off the spindle.    Lubrication isn't mentioned very often in the links I read.  But it seems like a good idea, if only to keep resistance down and more efficient drying.  I'd recommend justa drop it as a maintenance item  every 5? 10 years?  I used the same teflon lube I use on my bike chain

 

[rokosz]

oh btw,  the orig washers did show some compression impressions

[citizenX]

Glad you got it fixed but no, you don't want to lube an idler or the support rollers. The grease will attract lint and dust and can lead to a gummy build up, noise, and premature failure. Plus, grease/oil can get on the belt and lead to slipping issues. If you want to for general maintenance, you can disassemble and wipe clean the shafts and sleeve bearing surfaces to remove any gunk build up but as a rule, no do not lube these surfaces.