My dryer stopped running, and emitted a burning smell.
I'm a cheapskate and do enjoy DIY stuff, so I thought I'd try this. The dryer is 15 yo so I figured it would not be a good idea to pay someone else to fix it, I'd rather buy a new dryer.
I did some Googling and was hoping it was simply a burned out fuse. Luckily, I had a multi-meter and was able to determine it was not the fuse. (By no means am I an electrical whiz.)
Sure enough, looking into the unit I saw the belt had broken. I watched numerous videos and took the dryer apart. While in there I saw the idler wheel had basically seized and half melted off.
While I was there, I tested the thermistor which appeared to be dead.
I bought the kit, which was the belt, wheels and idler wheel. Although the wheels were fine, I felt it would be worth the extra bucks to avoid future issues.
After cleaning the machine, I installed the parts. That took all of ten minutes, with just popping the wheels on and stringing the belt. Swapping the thermistor took a minute.I worked very carefully when dissembling and then reassembling the unit.
With great hesitation, I reassembled the dryer and pressed the start button. It actually worked- what a miracle.
FYI, my dryer hose was massively clogged, be sure to clean this before starting the machine. I stuck my hand in there to pull out the big stuff, and ran a vacuum through it .
The lint build up was akin to what happens when people's arteries get clogged. It had narrowed like crazy. There was a half inch of lint around the entire dryer diameter.
I also cut about 6 feet of extra dryer hose off- thus making the unit more efficient, and giving lint less places to hide.
I will run my first full load tonight and report back if there any issues. Thanks to all of the kind souls how share their 'how tos' on the Internet!