Mark wrote:


put the belt back on, open the door, hold the door button in, press
the start button and spin the dryer by hand to see if that will start
it.

Mark


On the red side of the power plug, the side that supplies the motor, I
have about 0.8 ohm, and it varies when I move the cord. I guess a tug
years ago, and countless cycles of heating current, and perhaps
oxidation, have damaged it. Maybe when I hit the start button, the cord
resistance was high enough to severely limit starting torque, and the
cord was big enough not to get hot instantly.

Much of the motor friction was coming from the plastic ring that throws
the motor switches when it stops. Without springs pushing that ring,
the motor feels like roller bearings when it turns.