How to Install a Belt Tightener on a Dryer

Unplug the dryer power cord from the electrical receptacle. Grasp the lint screen and pull it straight out of its cavity. Remove the retaining screws located in the lint screen opening with a Phillips screwdriver.

Push the edge of a putty knife into the seam between the dryer's top panel and the front panel approximately 4 inches from either edge. Push the handle of the putty knife downward to disengage the hidden spring clip that holds the front edge of the top panel in place. Repeat to disengage the clip on the opposite side of the front of the top panel. Lift the front edge of the top panel up, then rotate it back to open up the top of the dryer.

Reach into the open top of the dryer near the front and pull apart the wiring connector for the door switch. Remove the retaining screws that hold each side of the top of the front panel in place, using a socket or ratchet wrench.

Grasp the top edge of the front panel and rotate it away from the dryer chassis slightly. Lift the panel straight up to disengage the tabs in the bottom of the panel from the slots in the bottom of the chassis. Place the panel aside.

Reach into the front of the dryer chassis in the space under the drum and rotate the belt tensioner -- located at the rear of the chassis -- upward to release the belt tension. Slide the belt off the pulleys on the tensioner and the motor shaft. Rotate the tensioner downward. Slide the tab on the tensioner out of the slot in the bottom of the dryer chassis and remove it.

Insert the tab of a replacement tensioner into the slot in the dryer chassis. Rotate the tensioner upward. Slide the belt back over the tensioner and motor pulleys in a zigzag fashion. Release the tensioner slowly. Rotate the drum, by hand, one revolution, to align the belt.

Grasp the front panel and lower the tabs on its underside into the slots at the front of the dryer chassis. Rotate the top of the panel inward. Replace the retaining screws and plug the door switch connector back in.

Rotate the top panel downward. Push down on the front edge of the panel to engage the retaining clips. Replace the screws and the lint screen. Plug in the power cord.