I have a Frigidaire FLEB43RGS0 and have had this same problem a number of times and had it fixed while under warranty, of course it’s doing it again now that its out of warranty. There is a loud squeaking noise that will sometimes stop after awhile, or get lower as it runs, but sometimes it just keeps doing it. How do I get to the bearing? it looks like from the inside of the dryer, it’s a stacked unit. Also, could it just need some lube, these bearings were replaced a couple of years ago, maybe they burnt out this fast because my son keeps overloading it? How do I know it’s the rear bearings, which seem to be the main cause of squeaking when I did a search, but could it also be the idler pulley? is there a way to tell which one it may be? thanks for all the help
If the sound is coming from the rear it is likely the bearing, and if you have teenage sons they are likely the problem. (In fact, having raised three I can say they are likely the problem in most things) The rear bearings on these Frigidaire machines fail regularly, although yours does seem to be more than normal, but you may have a lot of use.
I would change out the rear bearing (buy the kit) and the belt and the idler pulley, and make sure you thoroughly clean it out when you do it.
It is not too difficult, just takes some time, and here is a service manual which will show you how.
Thanks for the reply! you know I think the rear bearing went out once and another time it was the belt. The problem may have gotten worse, I hope not. I warned my girlfriend about using the dryer with it making so much noise, but told her to go ahead and dry a small load..mistake! next thing I know is I hear her yelling FIRE!!! when I looked in the dryer, there was something burning behind the back of the drum, behind all the little holes. It looked like it was only lint though, it was small enough that I could blow it out, and there was no electric smell to it at all. I know when I turn the drum by hand it makes a bad grinding or squeaking sound from the back. I bought a rear bearing kit and the flet that goes around the front rim of the drum, I’m disabled and haven’t been able to repair it yet though, but I need to fast because we are all wearing dirty clothes! I just hope that this is the problem, and I haven’t caused more. Any thoughts? and thanks again
I have another question, maybe I missed it but I didn’t see anything in the service manual on how to replace the rear bearing, I thought all I had to do was remove the rear shield inside the dryer, to get to the rear bearing, I thought I saw directions somewhere on how to do this..thanks again for all the help, and Merry Christmas!
You need to get to this by removing the drum, see pages 103 - 104 in the manual.
You also need to clean it out very thoroughly. Hopefully your lint fire did not do any damage, so check it out completely. Make sure your lint filter is working ok and that you clean it out after every use.
Thanks so much! Happy New Year
I still couldn’t tell how to get the drum out, I guess I have to take the top off? or the front panel, it’s electric and stacked? I don’t think I can lift that drum with my back the way it is, so I may have to call a repair person, but just in case I noticed something behind the drum drop when I took out the screws, it is round and has a few springs, which two are broke..any ideas…thanks again
Yes, the drum cannot come out without taking off the front panel. It lifts up and out.
I am not sure what you found, but it may be broken parts of the heating element. I think a service tech is a good idea, he or she should be able to fix you up and the parts are not unreasonably expensive. The stacked machines are pretty expensive, so if you can get this repaired by a quality service tech company that will warranty their work it is a good investment.
It is part of the heating element, I called a tech and they want 200 and I buy the parts. I took out the three screws that held the shield to the rear of the drum and something seemed to slide down behind the drum and I can see the heating elements on it and one is broke. I don’t understand the price difference for the part on appliancepartspros.com they show a heater assy for 48.00 but when I called Tribles they say 150!!! I can’t help but think we are talking about two different parts, I guess I can call Frigidaire and try and figure it out. I hate to pay 200 bucks when I can do this myself, but I don’t want to mess something up, but if I pay 150 for this part, after the other parts I’m 450 into thi dryer..that I want to replace but can’t afford to! LOL
Unless you can get comfortable using the service manual to take it apart and replace the parts then as much as it pains me to say so I think you will need to have a repair tech do the work for you.
I am not surprised they charge that much for the heating assembly, they make a lot of money marking up parts and APP in particularly has great parts prices.
I think I’ll give it a shot and if I get stuck I’ll call in the troops! LOL. If I
m looking at the manual right I should have taken the top of the dryer off first, which I didn’t I took out the screws on the inside of the drum. Thanks for all the help!
I’m sorry if I’m driving you crazy with this dryer repair! LOL The heater assy should be here today, so I was going to start the tear down to replace that, the rear bearing kit and the felt seals, I guess I should also check the belt. My question concerns just were to start. I hope I didn’t mess up by not taking off the top of the dryer and removing the vanes, I should be able to get the drum out with the vanes attached right? I have been going over the manual and it seems what I need to do is take off the access panel in order to remove the dryer belt, I’ll have to also remove the front panel, but I was thinking I could leave the door attached (the less I take apart the better) this should allow me to take out the dryer drum, from what it looks like I should be able to get to everything I need to do once I do this, is this correct? thanks for any more help, I’ll get this done yet!
No problem, these are good questions.
Yes, you can leave the vanes attached
Yes, you release the belt from the rear access panel. You need to release the belt to take out the drum. Note: you will use this access panel to put the belt back on after you put the drum back in.
Yes, you can leave the door attached when you take off the front, but be careful to unhook the door switch and mark how the wires go.
Just follow the manual, take your time, get someone to help if you can and you should do ok. Remember, the drum will lift up to release it from the bearing.
I just looked up how to disconnect the switch, but I’m a bit confused, you say to release the belt from the rear access panel, are you talking about the rear of the dryer where the grounding ball and tinnerman are located? I thought I could get to it from the front by removing the front panel, this is where I have problems, sometimes it is hard to tell the area you are looking at in the photos. The other photo I have a hard time telling just which side I’m looking at is removing the hitch on page 104, where it tells you not to lose the grounding ball, I’m guessing this is the inside of the dryer after the drum has been removed?
There is a rear access service panel on the back of the dryer. Taking it off gives you access to the idler, which is a spring loaded tensioner for the belt. Pushing on the idler releases the tension and you can take the belt off the motor pulley. If you do not do this you cannot remove the drum.
The little bearing will be visible when you remove the drum.
As I said, take your time, study the manual, get someone to help if you can and you should be fine.
Thanks so much for the help here, I think I can, I think I can, I think I can…LOL
So far so good, the dryer is tore down and the drum is out, I have to clean it out, then start replacing the parts, looks all downhill from here, just hope getting the belt back on won’t be to hard..any tips?
Actually, getting the belt on this model is one of the easier tasks, and probably the easiest of any belt replacement. Just loop it over the drum after you have the drum in, then use the back service panel to put it over the tensioner and the motor pulley.
Look at the diagrams in the Stickey at the top of this page to see a diagram of how it goes.
A few questions before I run out and get a few screws that are stripped and or missing LOL once I pt the drum in is there enough room to put the belt on the drop itself from the front of the dryer? I thought it looked a bit tight. I still have the rear panel off so getting it over the pulley isn’t a problem. Second I ran into a problem at first trying to get the ball hitch off the rear of the dryer, then I saw what I did. I guess the three screws nearest the center of the drum should have not been taken out until after I removed the drum? because what I had once the drum was out was the ball hitch (the largest part off the bearing assy) was still attached to the rear of the dryer, and the inside of the dryer looked nothing like what it showed in the manual at that point. I finally noticed by looking at the manual closer that it was supposed to come out with the drum. So the question is this, when replacing the drum and ball hitch, should I have someone hold the mounting clip to the rear of the dryer, while I attach the tinnerman with the static bearing to the inside wall, then attach the ball hitch to the rear of the drum and pop it into the tinnerman as I put the drum back in place? I guess I also need to grease the static bearing as well a the ball hitch? thanks for all the help, you have saved me 200 bucks!!! hope I can the process in my mind right..thanks again!
That sounds good. With the ball hitch attached to the drum you will find it drops rather easily into place. You should have a small tube of high temp lubricant to grease everything up with.
You should be able to fit the belt over the drum once it is in place. Before you put anything else on turn the drum by hand in each direction to make certain everything is on correctly.
Keep at it, sounds like you are almost there.