How to Replace a Faulty Belt Switch in Your Maytag Dryer

Some Maytag dryers are equipped with a safety device called a belt switch. The switch senses whether the drive belt is intact or broken. If the belt breaks mid-cycle, the switch turns off your dryer and keeps it off until the damaged belt is replaced. Like any other component in your appliance, the belt switch can malfunction causing your dryer to stop working even though the drive belt is fully functional. If you believe a bad belt switch is preventing your appliance from turning on, please follow the replacement guide provided below.

Before you start taking your dryer apart, unplug the appliance or shut it off at your home’s circuit breaker. To ensure you don’t get hurt during the repair, it’s highly recommended you wear work gloves and safety goggles. If, at any point, you feel as though you are unable to safely finish replacing the belt switch, please stop what you’re doing and contact an appliance repair specialist.

Tools Needed

• 1/4″ Nut Driver
• Flathead Screwdriver
• Phillips Screwdriver
• 3/8″ Socket with Wrench

How to Disassemble the Front of Your Maytag Dryer

Start the repair processes by using your 1/4″ nut driver to unthread the screws securing the top panel to the dryer. Then, pull the panel back and lift it off your appliance. With the top panel removed, you now have access to the support panel that houses the dryer control board. Before you can detach the support panel, you’ll need to disconnect the control panel wire harness from the control board. In order to release the wire harness from the control board, use your flathead screwdriver to depress the small tab locking it in place. Now detach the support panel by unthreading the screws holding it to the dryer frame, and then carefully lift the panel up and allow it to hang off the side of your dryer.

Head to the front of your appliance to take off the control panel. To do so, disengage the locking tabs at the top of the panel and on the back of the panel. Once the tabs are released, simply remove the control and place it somewhere safe and out of the way. At this point, you need to unthread the screws securing the control panel frame to the front of your dryer. Once you’ve taken the frame off, move to the bottom of your appliance to detach the dryer’s lower access panel. Behind the access panel, locate the wire harness for the door switch, and then disconnect it by using your Flathead screwdriver to disengage the locking tab holding the two ends of the harness together.

Stand up and open your dryer door, and unthread the screws holding the main front panel to the lint screen housing. Then, close the dryer door and take out the screws at the top and bottom of the front panel. Once all four screws are removed, lift the panel up and off your dryer.

Before you can access the belt switch, you must remove the bulkhead from the front of your dryer, but first, the moisture sensor wire harness needs to be disconnected. Once you’ve taken the harness apart, use your 1/4″ nut driver to take out the screws at the bottom and top of the bulkhead. Then, lift the bulkhead off the dryer frame.

How to Uninstall the Belt Switch in Your Maytag Dryer

Reach underneath the dryer drum to release the drive belt from the idler pulley and the motor pulley. Then, use the belt to carefully guide the drum out of the dryer cabinet.

With the drum removed, you now have access to the drive motor. At the front of the motor disconnect the motor wire harness. After the harness is detached, you can see the faulty belt switch. Before you can uninstall the switch, disconnect the switch wires that run directly to the drive motor. At this point, you need to take out the idler pulley to reach the belt switch. To do so, use your 3/8″ socket with a wrench to unthread the shoulder bolt holding the pulley in place. Once the pulley is out of the way, retrieve your Flathead screwdriver to disengage the locking tabs on the back of the belt switch, and then pull the switch off the motor mounting bracket.

How to Install a New Belt Switch in Your Maytag Dryer

Grab the new belt switch and snap it into the motor mounting bracket. Next, reattach the idler pulley by replacing its shoulder bolt. Then, connect the belt switch wires to the drive motor.

Now that the new belt switch is installed, you can reconnect the motor wire harness to the front of the drive motor, and replace the dryer drum by slowly guiding it back into the dryer cabinet. Once the back of the drum is sitting on the rear rollers, you can reach underneath it to thread the belt around the idler pulley and the motor pulley in a zig-zag formation.

How to Reassemble the Front of Your Maytag Dryer

Retrieve the dryer bulkhead and align it with the blower housing at the bottom of the appliance. Next, lift up the dryer drum so it sits on the lip of the bulkhead. Then, secure the bulkhead by replacing its top and bottom screws. With the bulkhead in place, reconnect the motor sensor wire harness.

Now reattach the front panel and secure it to the dryer frame with the screws you removed earlier. Once the panel is in place, reconnect the wire harness for the door switch. Next, open the dryer door and replace the screws that hold the lint screen housing to the front panel.

Reinstall the bottom access panel and the control panel frame. Then, snap the control panel back onto the frame. With the front of your appliance reassembled, grab the support panel that houses the dryer control board and situate it on the top of your dryer. Once you’ve secured the support panel, reconnect the control panel wire harness to the control board. Finally, to finish up your repair, replace the dryer’s top panel.

Now, all that is left to do is plug your dryer in and start it up to ensure the new belt switch resolved the issue.

If your dryer won’t start and the belt switch isn’t the problem, please contact us today, and we’ll be happy to diagnose and repair the malfunction.