How to Troubleshoot & Replace Whirlpool AP6010627 / WP697772 Dryer Blower Wheel

The blower wheel had separated from the threaded insert. This poses two problems in the beginning. How much of the dryer I have to disassemble to get the wheel off, and will the wheel be able to be removed with it in place? 1) Take as much of the dryer as you can apart. Remove up to the drum so that you can access the housing that encloses the blower wheel. For the model MEDX700XL0 Maytag that requires removing the top, the front lower and front upper covers. Most of this can be taken care of with a quarter inch drive socket and a phillips head screwdriver. You will need a star bit for the top two screws of the front cover that are covered by the top. I would have videoed this but there was far to much cursing involved. Once you are to the drum removal get it out of the way and then you will be able to access the motor shaft that mounts the blower wheel. In my case since the wheel had separated from the insert you will need to cut the wheel out of the way so that you can access the insert. I used a dremel tool with a cutting ball mill to work my way around the wheel spines so as too remove the wheel. Also the same procedure will need to employed to get the remainder of the wheel off of the insert. Once you have accessed the insert you will be able to use an adjustable wrench to hold the shaft in place while you utilize pliers or vise grips to remove the insert from the shaft. Once the insert is removed you are are home free except to reassemble what you took apart. This is not a difficult task, just time consuming and requires patience. I place it as difficult as if you watch any of the videos available they do not address this model of dryer, nor the challenges entailed with getting this blower wheel off. This is irritating as not all dryers are assembled nor disassembled the same, so lets not assume that they are in our videos. In the end $50 for the wheel and a few hours of work was well worth not having to purchase a replacement dryer. Be methodical in your disassembly and reassembly and have everything on hand at the start and this will go fairly smoothly. 

Checked thermal fuse, belt pulley switch, door switch, and motor windings (primary 2.3 ohms start 2,2 ohms). Called Appliance Pros, told them my problem. They said that it appears to be the motor even though the ohm readings seam Ok and that I could return the motor if it was not the problem. I ordred the motor and blower wheel. Installed the new motor and everything worked! The only difficult part was that the motor blower had to be chiseled out. Their motor repair video was a great help. 

Replaced the motor and blower wheel. I couldn't get the motor out without disconnecting the blower wheel so I had to break it off using a chisel because it wouldn't loosen. 10 yr old dryer. Cleaned out a ton of lint inside the dryer and old motor. Too much lint build up in the motor likely damaged it. 

The video was great and I changed the four rollers, pulley and belt in about an hour. I think it took longer to give the dryer a good cleaning than the repair took. After I replaced the rollers I still had some noise from the dryer and discovered the blower wheel was worn out and wobbled on the shaft. Another video and another repair. It was a little difficult since the blower wheel would not unscrew with the 1/2 inch ratchet since it spun freely on the shaft. The advice about breaking the wheel off worked great and now the dryer works like it did when it was new 12 years ago. 

Removed front of dryer panel, removed top, and removed drum. Replaced motor and wheel, because the old wheel was rusted on the motor shaft, and could not be removed, so I had to break it off. Replaced motor, and reassembled. Everything works now. I also replace the switch-Pb, because the start button was getting stuck. 

I replaced the motor and blower wheel. 

I replaced the drive motor, new blower fan (because the old one cracked when removing) and new rollers and belt (4 year old unit). 

I didn't know if the problem was the blower wheel or a stodgy roller so I bought both kits from AppliancePartsPros.com. The video for the blower fan removal was more detailed, so used that as my guide, both for disassembly and rebuilding. Took me about 3 hours to do the work. The blower wheel was covered in lint but structurally fine, so took that off and fully cleaned it. Two rollers were kind of sluggish so replaced all 4, the idler pulley, and a new belt. Gave the dryer body full vacuuming and reassembled it. The dryer now seems better, fingers crossed. Planning to return the blower wheel to APP. The only issue -- and tip for those coming next -- is that the videos don't identify which length of screws go back into which parts during reassembly. Almost all of the screws require a 1/4" nut driver, but they are different lengths. So details when reassembling like "use the shortest 1/4" screws for this panel" or "use the longest 1/4" screws to reattach the bulkhead" would be appreciated. Screws are back in my dryer rather haphazardly, probably wont make a difference, but we'll see. Onto the next project . . 

Removed and replaced start switch then motor, no joy. removed the timer for disassembly, found bad contact. soldered contact to the spring tab and assembled and installed the timer. All good now. 

Took the whole dryer apart to access the wheels (4) of them, belt and fan wheel, also had to clean all the lint out that somehow builds up inside the dryer. Plus cleaned out dryer duct vent, added to the time involved. If you are planning on fixing the dryer because of a noise which was in my case, I highly recommend buy all the parts for complete maintenance mentioned above. What helped save me time? I watch a dryer fan wheel replacement training video first, highly recommend this! AppliancePartsPros.com was very helpful! Plus the price and fast shipping was also nice!