Shoutout to the tech who told me to replace a whole dryer motor instead of just the belt

I had a 5 year old dryer making a grinding noise last month. The belt looked fine, but a guy I trust said the motor bearings were going and to swap the whole assembly for about $180. I thought he was nuts and just put on a new $25 belt. It ran for exactly three days before the motor seized and took the new belt with it. Ended up costing me more in a second service call and the motor anyway. Has anyone else had a simple part fail and take out something bigger right after?

3 comments

3 Comments

elliotburns17d ago

Man I felt this one. Had almost the exact same thing happen with my washing machine a couple years back. Swapped a drain pump for like 40 bucks thinking that was the whole problem and it ran fine for maybe a week before the motor controller board fried itself. Ended up just buying a whole new machine after that. It's frustrating as hell when you're trying to save a few bucks and it just blows up in your face like that.

taylor_moore1mo ago

That's how it always goes with cheap fixes. You patch the small thing and the big problem is still there waiting. Now you're out more time and money than if you'd just listened.

green.jenny1mo ago

Disagree with the idea that cheap fixes always backfire. Sometimes the simple part really is the only problem and you save a ton. Plenty of motors outlast a worn belt by years.