Dryer works; making noise/shaking more than usual

My dryer is making more noise and vibrating/shaking harder than usual. Everything works; it still produces heat, the drum rotates to tumble clothes & it’s not drying them any slower, it’s just making more noise & shaking harder. The noise is not a metal-on-metal or bump-bump :wink: , it’s just a very magnified version of the sound it usually makes. I went online to the Maytag website, and took it apart (removed the door, front panel and bulkhead, flipped up the top). The noise seems to be coming from behind the blower assembly, around the motor area (as opposed to the heating element side). I could remove the blower assembly to detach the belt & remove the drum, but don’t know that doing so for increased visibility of the motor would tell me anything. I don’t know if the increased noise & shaking are from a bent drive rod or a bad motor… And if the motor needs replacing, I think I could figure out how to do so, but don’t know how to diagnose whether that is the problem, or whether it would even be worth it to replace the motor. It’s a fairly new (about 7 years old as opposed to 40 :wink: )Maytag, with the “newer L-shaped door”, Model MDG6200AWW. I don’t know if it’s worth having someone replace a motor at $120 plus crazy labor charges, or better to just buy a good-quality used one for cheap. (–I haven’t priced used dryers) Help! :slight_smile:
Thank you,
Heather

Here are your parts
Model MDG6200AWW

Here is a service manual
http://www.servicematters.com/maytag_library/docs/16023110.pdf

Things I would put at the top of the list are the rear support rollers.
The drum itself where the rollers run.
Also check that the paddles in the drum are tight
Also the blower wheel. They had updated the motor so the blower wheel threads on. Usually means that they had a lot of trouble with the old design which was a push on and a clamp.

You may as well also check the belt, the front glides, the idler wheel and the drum’s felt seals.
It is always a good idea to clean/check your vent system when ever you have to pull a dryer apart.