Dryer-ea: or How To Replace the Thermal Fuse in a Maytag Performa Dryer Model PYE2300AYW

So about a week and a half ago we returned home to discover that our clothes dryer would not turn on.  Hoping it was something easy, I checked the only thing I knew to check:  the breaker box.  Visions of money spent on a new appliance were dancing around my head as I found that the breaker was good. 

It was that moment when I decided that I would use my trusty Google fingers and try to discover whether this was a commonly diagnosed issue and easily repaired.  I’m don’t have much “fix-it” experience, I mean, I shave my head so I don’t have to fix my hair, but I really want to learn this kind of stuff!    

It turns out there are a lot of things that can go wrong with a dryer!  Who knew?  I found videos about the timer, the thermal fuse, the thermostat, etc.  I watched a video where a gentleman removed the door of the dryer to check these wires.  He also removed a back panel to check the timer.  The dryer in his videos closely resembled ours, so I borrowed a voltage tester from my amazing mentor and went about my checking. 

It should’ve been the first sign when I discovered that our timer had around five million more wires than the one in the film.  However, this did not deter me.  I attempted to check the timer wilth inconclusive results. 

As I was unscrewing the door, after being told that all I had to do was pop up the top, and after hearing [ANATOMICAL EUPHEMISM AND METAPHOR AHEAD] the pair of nuts drop off inside the machine with no way of removing the front like in the lying video, did I finally stop and research a little more.  And guess what?!  The top of the dryer pops open, giving you access to the wired innards!  No emasculating required!

Once I got inside the appliance, I was quickly able to determine that the thermal fuse was out and needed to be replaced.  I tracked down the parts locally and now had to trust Google to help me install them.  No matter where I looked, I could find no detailed instructions anywhere!!  Only comments like:  “I replaced the thermal fuse and it was SOOO EASY!” or “Thermal fuse?!  More the thermal CRUISE!” or “I let me four month old replace this part because it was so simple.”  I stared at the setup, but had no clue how this infant prodigy accomplished this feat!  Insistant on avoiding another episode similar to the nut dropping, I returned to Google yet again and found these three country fried videos below:

After watching these amazing videos, replacing the fuse was pretty easy!  So, I figured I’d write this up with the model number and all in the title to assist other tentative, new fix-it dudes out there who need practical information.