How to Replace Your Maytag Dryer’s Support Roller If Your Dryer Starts Squeaking

If your GE dryer is starting to squeak, the support rollers that help hold the drum in place are probably to blame. The roller or the surrounding washers can get damaged over time. But you can replace these parts yourself once you notice the squeaking. Order replacement part #12001541 and follow these steps:

1. Unplug the dryer.

 During this repair, you will need to dismantle the dryer in order to reach the support rollers at the back of the appliance. This involves unplugging and manipulating wires. So unplug the dryer before you get started to keep yourself and the appliance safe.

2. Remove the interior front dryer panel.

Start by removing the dryer door. Remove two screws holding the hinges (one on each hinge). Then grip the top of the door firmly and lift the hinge tabs that slide into the panel’s slots up and free. Set the door aside.

Loosen the two screws and retaining brackets on the right side where the door closes.

The remainder of the front panel forms a sort of “U” shape. Grip the top portions and pull the top of the front panel free from the body of the machine. Tilt it towards yourself, down past a forty-five-degree angle. This will free the bottom edge from the hooks at the bottom of the machine. Then you can pick up the whole front panel and set it aside.

Next, remove the brackets at the top of the front panel’s “U.” Loosen the bolts that hold them in place and then rotate the bottom of each clip toward the exterior edge to unhook the tops. Set the brackets and the bolts to the side.

After that, lift the front edge of the top panel and rotate it up so it can lean against the back wall out of the way.

3. Remove the remaining front panel and bulkhead.

Now you can reach all of the edges of the front panel around the dryer drum. Unscrew the four screws that secure the edge of the panel to the body of the machine. Don’t unscrew the nearby screws that don’t actually touch the panel; those hold the bulkhead in place and you will remove them later.

Lift up the panel and rotate it around the right side. If you can, just set it to the side there. If not, unplug the wires in the bottom right corner. Take a picture before you do so you can reattach them in the right spots during reassembly. Then set the panel aside wherever there’s room.

Find the wires attached to the light bulb in the top right corner. Unplug the wires and slide the lengths of the wires out of the retaining clip. Then carefully stuff them in the bottom cavity of the machine so they won’t get pinched during the next steps.

The front bulkhead is the piece of metal that encircles the dryer drum and connects to the side panels. If you’re looking at the dryer from the front view, this part is attached to the dryer through two screws: on at the top right corner and one at the bottom left corner. Loosen these two screws. Then pull the bulkhead out and set it aside.

4. Remove the drum. 

The black belt around the dryer drum also runs around the idler pulley in the back of the dryer. In order to remove the belt, first reach under the dryer drum and pull the idler pulley counterclockwise towards the left wall of the dryer. This loosens the tension enough so you can pull the belt away from the pulleys and let the belt hang loosely around the drum. Release the pulley.

Grab the belt and the edge of the drum to carefully lift the drum up and out of the front of the machine. Set it aside.

5. Remove the broken support roller

The two support rollers are located at the back of the machine at 5 o’clock and 7 o’clock. Determine which support roller is broken. In order to remove it, use a flathead screwdriver to twist the snap ring off the central shaft. Then remove the washer, the support roller, and the washer behind it. These parts should be easy to pull off the shaft. Set them aside.

6. Install the new support roller.

Slide a washer, the support roller, and the second washer over the support roller shaft. Make sure you use the new washers that came in the support kit instead of reusing the old washers (no matter how intact they may look). Then put the snap ring in place. Make sure the support roller can spin freely without coming off the shaft.

7. Reassemble the interior of the machine.

First, reinsert the dryer drum. Lift it up by the belt and hold the front edge as you guide it into place on top of the support rollers.

Next, retighten the tension on the belt. Reach under the drum to pull the top of the idler pulley counterclockwise to the left. Then slide the belt around the right side of the top white pulley and around the left side of the lower black pulley. Carefully release the idler pulley so the belt stays in position.

Reattach the front bulkhead (the metal piece that encircles the drum and attaches to the front of the side panels). To do so, orient the bulkhead so the extending tabs face the front. Slide the bulkhead around the drum. You may have to lift up the drum slightly so everything locks together. Then hold it in place as you reattach the screws in the bottom left and top right corners.

After that, connect the wires. Run the blue and gray wires back up through the retaining clip on the side of the bulkhead. Then plug them back into the light. Each wire has a differently sized plug, so you don’t have to worry about sticking them in the wrong spots.

8. Reattach the exterior panels.

First, reattach the front interior frame. Align the panel with the nearly circular cutout around to the top of the machine’s front. Line up the four screw holes in the panel with the holes in the front edges of the side panels. Hold it in place as you retighten the screws in each of the four corners.

If you unplugged the wires earlier, plug them back in before you reattach the door. Refer to the picture you took to insert the wires in the right ports. Alternatively, plug the wires in with the order of yellow, gray, white from the terminal closest to the middle of the panel working towards the exterior edge. Then reattach the panel.

Rotate the top panel to set it back down on top of the machine. Press down the front two corners until they click into place.

Next, reattach the two brackets. Hook the tops back into place and secure them with the screws.

Then align the cutouts at the top of the remaining front panel with the hooks at the bottom of the dryer. Then tilt the panel up until it’s flush with the front of the dryer. Make sure each of the top corners snaps fully into place.

After that, reattach the two-door brackets on the righthand interior side of the panel.

Reattach the door. To do so, make sure the two tabs on each of the two hinges, slide into the small slots on the left interior edge of the front panel. Hold the door in place as you screw the hinges securely into place.

Shut the door and plug the dryer back in.

If you want to make more appliance repairs, contact our team at Authorized Service. Our trained technicians can troubleshoot malfunctioning appliances, make repairs, or give them an annual tuneup.