How to Troubleshoot & Replace Whirlpool AP5983729 / 661570V Whirlpool Drive Belt

Looked up where to order the part, came across Appliance Parts Pros. Entered in the model number for my dryer. Found the part right away. There was a link to a video posted with the part showing how to replace it. I ordered the part, when it arrived I followed the video and was able to replace it in 20 minutes. 

Changed the belt. 

Replaced the Control board after determine it was the cause of the failure. Since I had the unit out of of it's place in the laundry room (quite a Task), I decided to replace the belt and pulley as the dryer is now 15 years old. Belt was dry.and pulley was worn. Replacement went fine. The washer that came with the pulley was not thick enough so I used the original one on the inside of the shaft and the new one on the outside which minimized the amount of walking on the shaft the pulley did so that worked out fine. I lubed the shaft with a small amount of lithium grease. After re-assembly the dryer runs very well and is somewhat quieter. The parts sent seem to be good quality and fit perfectly, They will hopefully last until the dryer reaches EOL. 

I have had an issue with cheap parts in the past that I have bought from another online company and this time I looked for quality. AppliancePartsPros advertise their parts as OEM and the parts that arrived - in this case an idler pulley assembly (the old idler pulley wheel was frozen to the idler arm) and a new drum belt really have worked great so far. The old belt and pulley lasted six months, and I'm convinced that the previous belt wasn't a correct fit as it would slip from time to time. the new belt has worked great from the day I installed it - no issues and it even looked like a superior belt than the last one I had gotten from the other company. I've learned my lesson: buy good parts from a reputable company, folks. Yes, they were slightly more expensive but I'm pretty sure I won't be replacing them six months from now. 

I replaced the drive belt and the the idler pulley. Both were sized properly and functioned just like the original parts. The repair went smoothly and the dryer now runs quiet again. 

I replaced the thermal fuse and got a new belt because I broke the old one when removing the drum. As it turns out it was worn and would need replacing soon. I'm almost 70 and was able to do repair with the wonderful instruction videos for parts I purchased. They arrived as stated in good shape and bagged. I did a lot of sweating but it was worth every penny I spent. If this had not worked I probably would have been looking at a $500 cost of a new digital dryer, which I knew would not be something I could fix in the future. Thank you for your help and speed in getting my parts to me. 

Replaced the belt and idler pulley assembly. Had to remove the top of the dryer, the front pieces, and the drum. To remove the front door (main) piece had to unplug control wiring to the blower motor and door switch. 

Took machine apart put new roller and belt in. 

YouTube said the number one problem with Whirlpool dryers is the belt is broken. I opened up my dryer and saw that the belt was indeed broken, ordered a part from appliancepartspros.com and used a YouTube video to replace the belt. I had to go slow to make sure I was doing it right, but it was very easy to do and now my dryer works again. Took about 2 hours, my FIRST dryer repair. Yay! 

Ordered new belt from AppliancePartsPros. I trust this company and have ordered from them on prior occasions. The parts are OEM and they always fit perfectly. And the videos are outstanding. My suggestion on this repair is since you have to take a lot of parts off to get to belt, might as well replace the idler arm pulley with it. My 10+ year dryer is working really well now.