When I try to start the dryer, it just makes a humming noise like the motor or drum is stuck. The drum was hard to turn by hand. I pulled the drum and the rollers seem to turn freely. I noticed the front felt is a little bunched up. I’m trying to figure out what is causing the binding. It seems to be in the front end bulk head. Do you think it is just the front felt? Is there any way to test other than putting it together and trying to get a feel for what is causing it to bind?
There are a couple of glides up front. The drum runs on them. How do they look?
Whirlpool WP37001298 Dryer Drum Glide - AppliancePartsPros.com
The glides look normal to me. I didn’t realize they had felt under them, so I will check that later.
Pictures of the seal, glides, and outer drum would help. It could be the motor. How hard is it to turn it by hand? Does it spin freely?
It was very difficult to turn. It didn’t turn freely. Here are some pictures:
IMG_5082.JPG (86.3 KB)
Here are a couple more pics.
IMG_5081.JPG (96.8 KB)
IMG_5080.JPG (95.3 KB)
If the motor is hard to turn by itself , then the bearings are going bad.
The glides have some wear, but could be worse. The seal has some odd patterns on it. It should be okay.
The motor turns fine by hand. The drum just seemed to be hard to spin with the bulkhead in place. I’ll have to try to put it back together and see what’s causing it to bind. I’ll leave the belt off.
If you have removed the drum look at and try turning the rear drum support rollers. Occasionally they get bound up and the drum tries to skid on these. The felt seal on either the front of the drum or the rear is more likely the cause because it is tuned over and it is wedged in between the drum and the bulkhead. If the drum is removed you can check the motor to see if the bearings are failing.