How to Troubleshoot & Replace Lg AP4438218 / 4681EL1008A Drum Motor Assembly

I found an online video that walked me through the dis-assembly of the dryer and the replacement of the motor. It was very easy and straight forward. The only tools required were a Philips head screw, 1/2 socket wrench and a pair of pliers. The entire job took about 45 minutes from start to finish (15 minutes of that was spent vacuuming the inside of the dryer). The dryer runs like new again. 

Replaced dryer motor and idled pulley. The motor went south on us. I pulled the dryer apart. They are pretty easy to work on. I didn't look up any instructions. I paid $180 for the motor, a new idler pulley and a sensor bar plus the $25 for the 1 day shipping. Overall the repair was pretty straight forward. The longest part was giving everything I good cleaning inside the dryer. I would do this again and I plan to use this company in the near future to replace the bearings on my washing machine. This dryer is 10 years old. If I can get another 4 or 5 years out of it I will be really happy. 

We replaced the motor unit within an hour. I was able to find a quick (7minute) video on YouTube that we watched before proceeding with the repair. It was very helpful to see the step by step process, so the repair was very quick. This was not the first time we repaired an appliance using YouTube with the same great results. We saved over $400, by doing it ourselves! 

I replaced the dryer motor. I followed the repair video on the Appliance Parts Pro site, with a few modifications to the procedure. I loosened the control panel and flipped it forward to improve access to the wiring connectors. I also loosened the front panel and tipped it forward before disconnecting the door switch as there wasn't enough space to disconnect the switch otherwise. Removal of the blower assembly required the use of penetrating lubricant as the assembly was stuck on the motor shaft. While I had the drum out, I took the opportunity to vacuum the lint out of the chassis. 

I followed the excellent step-by-step video to replace the belt. To remove the motor, you have to remove the cover to the squirrel cage. Then use a socket (1/2") and pliers to remove the squirrel cage from the motor. The pliers hold the shaft while the socket removes the nut (remove by turning clockwise). There are two metal fasteners holding the motor in place that need to be removed - one on each end - and removed it. I then seated the new motor and did everything in reverse. If you search YouTube, you can find a video demonstrating how to remove the motor. The actual tear down, repair, and rebuild were pretty easy thanks to the video. The location of my dryer made this a much longer process. 

I followed the video and had no problems. I had just replaced the belt a week earlier thinking that may have been the problem so I had a little experience and had already removed all the dust, lint and hair from around moving parts and from inside the unit cabinet. So, after turning off the dryer breaker and making sure there was no power to the unit, I watched the vid on my laptop sitting on top of the washer and paused it after each step all the way through. These folks with their videos are very helpful and I will continue to get my parts here as long as they have these videos. As I go through these repairs, I put the fasteners in an old muffin pan and fill them in a Left to Right / Top->Bottom pattern with each step's fasteners, then reverse as I put the fasteners back in during reassembly to be sure I get the same fasteners into the same places. Works real slick for me. More tips, do not over tighten the fasteners and don't strip out the fasteners. 

I replaced the drive motor after researching most likely reasons for this type of issue. Only difficult step was removing nut from drive shaft. Had to use breaker bar and cresent wrench. I could not hold the shaft with recommended channel locks. Took two hours because I throughly cleaned the interior of the dryer cabinet. 

Replaced the motor. It takes pretty much a complete disassembly of the dryer. If it is as old as mine (16 years) I would also recommend replacing the roller wheels and belt as well. It now runs just like new; unbelievably smooth and quiet. 

As a result of one too many irregular size loads, my dryer drum was rubbing against the pulley wheels. Which caused them to become worn out, which tore my driver belt and broke the springs in the motor. As bad as all of this sounds the repair was real easy. The video tutorials were extremely helpful and easy to follow. Was able to replace the motor, all four pulley wheels, and the dryer belt. 

There was no error codes to give a indication of the failure. A few months ago it did this and after taking the dyer apart to make sure the duct in the dryer and duct to the outside was clear it worked OK. There was no blockage, and none this time. Found out the flow sense indicator would not stop the dyer to run only not let the heater to come on. So after taking the dryer apart and measuring the various sensors and thermostat all was good. Looking on the internet I found other had experienced this and the blower motor was going bad. I couldn't measure the current draw to see if it was shorting out but assumed the motor was the problem. To note I order a motor from another web site that was cheaper price but higher shipping and they didn't show it wasn't in stock so I called appliancepartspros and they had one close to me and I had it in one day standard shipping so the price was close because of the different shipping. Bottom line is I didn't have to wait until the other site had one in stock and got the dryer running again pretty quick. Sometimes cost isn't everything but customer service sure is, Thanks appliancepartspros!