How to Fix a Noisy Whirlpool Dryer - Idler Pulley Replacement 

Thanks for the kind comment! I’m so very very glad to hear it helped you out! This is why I make my videos. God bless!

Great! Thanks for the comment!

Glad it helped

You’re welcome! Thanks for the comment!

Thanks for the comment!

You’re welcome, my friend! I can relate. There were times when I felt like I needed hearing protection to be in the laundry room! God bless!

Hi Jordan- thanks for commenting! Yeah, it’s not a very hard job. Good luck!

Thanks for the comment! I’m so glad to hear it helped you out!

Glad it helped!

Yeah, the back panel removal is definitely the way for this model. Unfortunately I’ve had mine off way to many times😅

Glad it helped!

Glad it helped!

Good luck! Must be pretty common as my friend just had to replace his idler last month.

@Nashwauk Steve I changed it and yep it was bad 👍

Yeah, those pulleys seem to be a huge failure point on these dryers. Repairmen should take note of these models and this problem. It’s not a hard fix at all. Thanks for watching! God bless!

Awesome to hear that! Thanks for letting me know!

Happy to help!

Sweet! Good luck!

Glad it helped! Nice work!

Oh sorry to hear that! This machine is a frustrating one for sure!

Did you ever figure it out mine is the same way i replaced it and it still makes noise

You are welcome! Thanks for the comment!

Hello- I would bet your pulley is messed up and sometimes locks up, making the belt slide across it, rather than roll. That would make the plastic pulley wheel pretty hot. It is a really easy fix, so don’t be afraid of it. I recommend taking a picture of how the belt winds through the pulley, so you can easily restring it. Good luck!

Thank you so much for the reply! This may be a silly question, but when you say "pulley" you mean the same "idler pulley" you replaced in this video, correct? We opened up it this past weekend, and unhooked the idler pulley and checked the belt to see if it was shredding anywhere, but the belt looked fine. Makes sense now that it is probably the idler pulley that needs to be replaced. Took us a few minutes to figure out the belt re-winding, but thanks to your video, we were able to put it back together. Thanks! @@NashwaukSteve

Oh yes, I mean idler pulley. Sorry I didn’t specify. I think you’re on the right track now! I’m curious to hear how it goes from here! Can you keep me posted?

@@NashwaukSteve Thanks for the clarifying! Yes, I will update you as soon as we install the new pulley this weekend. We opened up the back and checked the belt, looked fine. We released the belt, and attempted to start the dryer to confirm the sound was the idler pulley, but the dryer didn't want to start. It was powered on and the lights were on, but it wouldn't start like it did in your video, not sure why. But that was why we couldn't confirm it was the pulley like in the video. Once we put the belt back together it worked normally, but the sound is still there. We did initially notice though, that there was one of those metal circles that had popped out and was semi-leaning on the pulley. So we placed that back in the open hole and tried the dryer again. There's no more plasticy burning smell, but the loud noise is still there. We stopped using the dryer when the noise and smell started, even though the dryer was still working fine. But after checking the parts, we resumed using it normally for the past few weeks.

Glad it was helpful!

Hi Josh LoBosco- oh sorry! It’s just 10-12 little sheet metal screws. I just zip them out with a drill. There is one pesky one right above the exhaust pipe. Once those are out, the top tips back and the bottom can be gently lifted out of its groove. Good luck!

It might get better on and off, but ultimately it will only degrade over time. Eventually ours had a hard time even starting a big load (motor kept stalling out) so we did smaller loads until I could get the pulley replaced. Good luck with yours!

Would replacing the pully asap prevent other issues with the dryer or the only down side of waiting is the dryer not moving eventually? Thank you so much for helping. My washer and dryer are in a very small space and both would need to move to get to the back of the dryer…

Hello! That is strange. If the door is closed and the unit is plugged in, the motor should spin, with or without the belt attached… sorry I don’t have any other pointers.

Make sure the pulley arm is up and not resting on the red switch it can lay on. I had this issue until I moved the arm up to take pressure off that switch

Glad it was helpful!

Glad it was helpful!

Hello Joan- thanks for the comment! I haven’t had that problem with ours yet. Which is surprising being that I’ve worked on this thing many times in it’s short life so far! I wish you luck in fixing yours!

You can make the fix and be back to drying in no time! No time, once the part arrives, I guess! Good luck!

@NashwaukSteve I fixed it yesterday! It took me about 4-5 hours because I was caring for my 8 month old and picking up my school age kid from the bus... but I did it! Amazon has a great kit for 25 bucks that was available for overnight delivery, so I had my husband order it for me. 😆

That’s so great to hear! I’m proud of you for tackling it with everything else going on!

@@NashwaukSteve thank you!

No- fortunately that’s one thing I haven’t had to touch yet. I do have a video that shows the internals of this dryer with the drum removed. If you have to dig into the element, it may help to see that first. Good luck!

Hello- I did not replace my belt, just the idle pulley. You should be able to use your model number from in the door jamb to Google your belt size. Good luck!

It’s about 10 little hex head sheet metal screws on the back panel. Remove those and the whole back side comes off. Unplug first!

It’s about 10 little sheet metal screws holding it on. There’s one in the lower middle of the unit also. That one’s easy to miss. Pull those out and the back lifts right out.

Hello! I have not done any actual work on my heating element, but here’s my thoughts: you can access the wires and plugs, but I don’t think you can get the element out from the back. Here is a link to a video I made while I had things torn apart. You can see the heating element well and could maybe determine your answer. Good luck! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-zJ2PbBVNkZg.html

I just replaced mine. You have to approach it from the front.

Haha! I so feel the same way!

I love mine

Hello- yeah, it was the little 3” or 4” diameter black rubber wheel that the drum rolls on. I’m not sure of the technical name. Does that help?

It does thank you! I ordered the Idler Pulley the other day and it literally just got delivered by Amazon 20 minutes ago. I’m gonna pull the Dryer out and go through the rear as this seems like the easier way to go. 👍🏼