How to Troubleshoot & Replace Ge AP2043227 / WE12X83 Idler Pulley

Installed new heater restring kit, WE11X10007. Took maybe 1.5 hours to get the new coils fed through the insulators and get the dryer back together (with help of youtube videos). The heater assembly has 11 insulator brackets, but the kit only includes six replacements. This was disappointing as: -the reason I ordered the kit was that I had a bracket that was brittle and broken and, -this kit is the only way to get the brackets and, -I wanted to replace all of the brackets as some more looked brittle. So, I had to settle for replacing the brackets that looked the most dark and brittle. I hope I picked the right ones. Also, the belt tensioner pulley sides fell off when I took the dryer apart, so I had to replace that as well. It's working well now. 

Replaced the Idler Pulley and the Rear Drum Bearing Kit. Certainly not as easy as the on-line video shows. This is easily a two man job to make sure everything lines back up correctly (reinstalling the drum). This is a gas dryer and the motor is mounted at the lower left side front so reaching in to loosen the belt was not possible. We had to take the left side off to be able to get to the pulley. Realigning the drum was also not the easiest thing to do as you cannot see the sleeve inserting into the bearing assembly. Not sure I would try this again. 

I wasn't sure it was the idler pulley before placing order so I order all the parts I thought would be bad and used your site to comprise those items. It was obvious it was the idler pulley once we took the dryer apart so we went ahead and replaced all the parts that we ordered. This will hopefully prevent taking the dryer completely apart again any time soon. 

Unplugged dryer, opened rear panel containing schematic diagram, located part numbers for serviceable parts. Searched interwebs. Found how-to video by appliancepartspros.com showing how to fix, very good video instructions. Ordered parts (rear drum bearing kit, idler pully, belt) from their site because the vid was helpful. Parts arrived promptly. Probably didn't need pully or belt but figure as long as I'm in there replace them. Put it back together. Happy. Don't forget rule #1: unplug the dryer before working on it. 

Wrote down model number and went online. Found appliancepartspros.com and watched a few videos. Took dryer apart after realizing how simple repair was and determined which parts I needed. Ordered parts and received them in 2 days. Repaired dryer in less than 1 hour. Been perfect since. 

Replaced bearing support, glides and belt and idler pulley. 

New pulley, belt and retain,g nut note: believe adding just a small amount of grease on rod holding the pulley will avoid squeaking. 

Changed bearings, slides, and idler 

Simple fix replaced the rear bearing and did a little preventive maintenance and replaced the drum belt, bearing slides and the idler pulley. In all the project took about 1 1/2- 2 hours and dryer runs like new. 

Replaced wheel,by going through back of dryer.