Ge WE03X37318 Dryer Front Bearing Drum Slide White 2-Pack OEM Part

We cleaned out all ducts carefully and did other basic troubleshooting but it did not help. Began to research the problem on-line and discovered that this dryer has two heating elements. One can fail while the other continues to provide heat - but with a large impact on drying time. Watched youtube videos and how to take apart the dryer to reach the heating coils. Tested the heating elements for continuity with tester and the outer loop had no continuity indicating it was broken somewhere. Did not take long to find the charred and broken section within one of the conductors. It costs quite a bit to purchase the entire element but the heating element kit is only around $28 so it was the obvious choice. Watched another excellent youtube video on how to install the new heating elements. In the video I watched the repair man elected to leave the reflective housing connected within the dryer and worked to restring it within the dryer housing. I simply disconnected the few sensors to it and removed the entire piece. Much easier to restring it out in the open and does not take long to connect back into place. Repair was totally successful. Dryer works like new again. While I had it apart I also noticed our glide strips were beginning to fail again on the top side of the door assembly. So I ordered new ones and replaced those as well. This will ensure a smooth and quiet spinning of the dryer drum. Overall, these are not difficult repairs. The youtube videos were key to really understanding the task and have many very helpful pointers.

First, I had to take off the front of the dryer. This wasn't as bad as it first sounds. Only tool need was a phillips screwdriver. 1) Turn off breaker to dryer. 2) Remove back of control panel cover (3 phillips) 3) Remove Top cover of dryer (2 phillips) 4) Remove control panel (2 philips) - Disconnect one ribbon cable (easy) 5) Remove front of dryer (4 philips (2 top, 2 bottom) - Disconnect two connectors (easy) After investigating, of the 4 bearing slides, only one was left in place, and the drum support itself was heavily worn thru on one side. All needed to be replaced. Removing the drum support bearing... 1) Free up the wires for the light and moisture sensor. Easy to do, they just ran thru a few clips. 2) Remove the drum support bearing. Probably the 'hardest part', but not really. Just needed to pull up on the sheet metal while pushing down on the plastic some. Pretty easy. Install new drum support. 1) I fit the new bearing slide before inserting into the front of the dryer. 2) Transferred the light assembly (a single philips screw) 3) Started by aligning the drum support a the bottom and working up the arch. This wasn't hard, but you need to make sure that the edge of the sheet metal is correctly aligned in the drum support. To seat the drum support, pull up on the sheet metal, and each plastic clip (2 total) fits into place. Reassemble dryer. 1) Only tricky part was getting the drum back in place. Basically a 1 or two person job. Lift the drum with one hand (thru the door) and put the front back in place. It may help to put the lower two screws in first. 2) Finish putting dryer back together, reverse of the disassembly. All told, this took maybe 25-30m to resemble. Probably the same to disassemble, give that I was going slow an methodically. Easy fix to breathe new life into my 9 year old dryer.

Initially I replaced the rear drum bearing assembly. I searched all over for a good how-to video and came across the Appliance Pros tutorial on YouTube. It was by far the easiest to understand with the added bonus that AP had the parts I needed. I had never done this before, but using the video as my guide I was able to replace the rear bearing assembly in about an hour and a half. It would've taken a little less time if I hadn't had to run to the hardware store for a T25 bit. I also could have used a shorter Phillips head driver for getting to the thermal coupling on the back of the dryer. So, take a quick tool inventory before you start taking things apart. The video will show you what you need. With the new assembly in place, the screeching ceased but a quieter squeak that had apparently been drowned out by the racket of the old rear bearing remained. All indicators pointed to the front support bearing. During the rear bearing replacement I noticed the front was missing three of the four bearing slides and was really worn out. Back to the AP site I went and ordered a new front bearing support and four new slides. A few days later I had the parts and was able to replace everything in about 15 minutes. The video tutorial for this job recommends disconnecting several wires when you remove the front dryer panel. I didn't find that to be necessary. I was able to swing the panel away from the dryer like a door and lean it against a wall without removing the wires. Your situation may vary. The only tool I needed was a Phillips head screwdriver. The bearing support and slides all snap into place. After months of squeaking and screeching, our dryer now goes about its business in the same quiet manner it did when we bought it seven years ago. Thanks AP for helping making it happen.

Found the entire top bearing support plastic piece was completely worn through, the bearing slides had all disappeared some time ago. So it was obviously the problem. The felt trap duct (which is actually a drum seal along bottom front of drum so I don't know why they call it felt trap duct) had also disappeared, so a lot of lint was getting inside the front panel too. It's a very easy repair to change the bearing support; everything just pops out just like the video shows. Make sure you buy 2 of the gray slides (part #316) and 2 of the white slides (also part #316). These flat plastic pieces carry the actual weight of the drum and provide a hard plastic surface that can stand up to the heat and pressure as the drum turns with a load of wet clothes in it. The gray ones go on top of the bearing support and the white ones go along the lower sides of the support. There is a slight difference between the 2 types as the gray slides have a little notch on the end and will fit the 2 top positions when you replace them. The white slides won't fit those positions. For some reason the parts diagram shows part #316 as a single slide and then you have to figure out why the Appliance Parts Pros website tells you to buy 4 slides, but sells 2 types of part #316. The manufacturer (General Electric) should have labeled them as part 316a and part 316b to make it clear in the parts diagram but they did not. The dryer is now very quiet when it runs so I solved my problem for $48 total which is way cheaper than paying a repairman to come to the house!

I replaced the heater coil. When we moved into this house 10 yrs ago, the movers, setting up the dryer, did not properly connect the vent hose. Lint build up was significant and I was lucky there was no fire, but the inadequate air flow caused overheating on the coil resulting in failure of both coils. Disassembly went well following the video. During disassembly I noted the need for new bearing slides and the felt trap duct. I also replaced the dryer drum belt, as a precaution that probably was not needed. Reassembly was painful. My dryer is either older with far less clearance around the thermostats or the tech in the video is tiny with tiny hands. I eventually took photos of how the wires were connected to the video, disconnected the wires from the thermostats, reinstalled the thermostats and reconnected the wires. The only clarity I would have liked was when ordering the heater coil, the order came up with the "also ordered" components and I ordered the bearing slide. I wasn't clear that that meant only one slide, 4 are needed. That "also ordered" should be for 4 slides. In my youth, I was a test engineer and when one wearable part, like the bearing slide is needed, all should be replaced. I now must get around to order 3 more and take the dryer apart again. The heater coil came with 6 additional replacement insulators. 11 or so are needed for complete changeout. I really could have used 11 and would have ordered extra if I had found out how. My coil had failed due to overheat, which also oxidized the insulator metal holders and they were very brittle. Enough broke just taking out the old coil that I needed all six and as an ex test engineer would have preferred to replace all insulators due to the heat damage. It all works now though, thanks, the videos were a great help.