Dryer loudly squeaking in one direction.

[BrendanOD]

My Maytag  LDG490 is producing a distinct loud squeal as it turns, and I’m trying to isolate the cause to hopefully fix it.  Even with the dryer turned off, manually rotating the drum produces the same squeal, but only when I push it in the same direction that the motor turns the drum, manually rotating the drum in the opposite direction does not produce any unusual sounds.

I’ve already replaced the Idler Pulley and the two support rollers, having initially thought it might be the cause of the sound(Plus they were a bit worn).  In addition the belt was swapped out three or four years ago, and seemed in good shape when I examined it during the procedure.  Any thoughts on what the real problem might be, and how to fix it?

[Scottekarate]

If you're sure the problem is not a vibration in the cabinet, you can remove the drum and spin the motor pulley both directions and visually inspect the bearings on the motor (the part of the motor held down by the brackets) looking for a leak. 

Did you clean the shafts when you replace the idler and rollers? 

Both things to consider. Hope it helps.

[Ian B]

Did you check the front glides? If they’re worn or broke there will be metal to metal contact from the front panel and drum 

[Scottekarate]

13 hours ago, Ian B said:

Did you check the front glides? If they’re worn or broke there will be metal to metal contact from the front panel and drum 

You're right,  I had not thought of that. 

[BrendanOD]

19 hours ago, Ian B said:

Did you check the front glides? If they’re worn or broke there will be metal to metal contact from the front panel and drum 

Yes, that actually happened a five or six years ago, and I got the replacement done.  But checking now their both intact, with a bit of wear but the plastic's completely intact..  I did clean and lube all the shafts during the replacement, so I'll be looking into the pully next.

[BrendanOD]

Ok, pulled forward the drum to manually turn the pully, there was a little squeaking, but it was very quiet and didn't seem consistent (also the pully turned smoothly without any serious resistance, not sure if that's right or wrong).  so I tried putting the drum back and working a few variants, there was no odd noise when I let the belt fall into the groove and not turn the motor, but when I pulled the belt forward on the drum and pressed it back while turning it, I got the squeal once more.  And like before, the squeal only sounded when I turned the drum clockwise, but did not sound when it turned counterclockwise.  And in both cases turning the drum caused a matching rotation of the blower wheel under the drum.  Either way I'd say this rules out the bearings because they were off the machine.

So, in summary, the squeal only sounds when the belt's tight enough on the drum that rotating it turns the motor, and it only sounds when the drum turns clockwise not counterclockwise.

I hope that narrows down possible causes.

[16345Ed]

On 11/14/2019 at 6:56 PM, BrendanOD said:

I’ve already replaced the Idler Pulley and the two support rollers, having initially thought it might be the cause of the sound(Plus they were a bit

You bought OEM parts or after market?

When changing idler pulley did you change just the pulley or pulley and shaft?

[evaappliance]

Have you ran the motor without the belt on ?  If not let it run a few minutes without it and see if it does it,  doesn’t happen very often, but if the other stuff has been replaced properly I suspect the motor bushing 

[Budget Appliance Repair]

+1 on the motor bushings

You might want to pull the motor and run some turbine/machine oil, (Zoom Spout Oil), into both end bushings and reinstall.

This might take care of things for quite sometime or just temporary but it should let you know if this is the problem if you can't find anything else that might be making the noise.

Edited November 16, 2019 by Budget Appliance Repair

[Brian B]

The motor pulley may be worn all the things it sounds like were checked