A very cold and brittle switch in a 17 year old fridge. Used screwdrivers to pry out with some resistance Had to cut the molded plug in half and split wires, because replacement contacts were farther apart than the original. End result, works great.
My Refrigerator got warm, stopped making ice and I could see the coils were frozen over
This is the easiest repair to perform, figuring out what was wrong took a little longer. I have the bottom freezer Amana refrigerator and the defrost timer is just behind the bottom front grill, removing four screws and plugging in the new timer took maybe 15 minutes. To find out what was not working correctly I removed the panel covering the coils in the freezer and it was totally frozen up, this is why it stopped making ice and wasn't keeping things cold. I defrosted the coils and checked the resistance of the heater to make sure it was working, it was fine so it was the defrost timer.
Looked up the part and found it on PartSelect. I was exactly like the same as the part I had to replace, there for I didn't have to make any new adjustments to the part to fit. I also read the story by others that had the same problem on the website. I had anticipated the part was bad, because no water was getting to the tray. I ordered the part and did the repair pretty quick.
The repair was relatively simple. The hard part was diagnosing the problem. Two of the sheet metal screws were hard to get at. The online support helped in isolating and fixing the problem. The frig works fine again.
removed the 2 screws that held the panel in place, had to reach up and push on locking tabs to lower trhe front of the panel. was able to then push on the locking tab of the switch to release it. removed the wires, replaced them onto the new switch, and snapped the switch into place. the rest was reverse of the uninstall process.
The fridge started leaking water and stop cooling!
I used the process of elimination. The freezer was cold but the fridge side was warm. The motor was runing but the fan was not working. I unplugged the power cord and pulled everything out of the freezer. Then I took the coil cover out. The unit was frozen solid. I used my wifes hair dryer to melt the ice on the coil and spray water with a bottle to speed up the process. It took about 15 minutes to melt the ice and plug the power cord again. The motor kicked on and the fan started blowing right away so I know it's not the fan. The following morning it was frozen again. I repeated the process of taking everything out and tested the heater element with a multimeter. It wasn't working allowing the ice to build over the coil so I replaced it. It took about 30 minutes to replace but two days later it froze again. I read a little to learn about the timer and the thermostat function in a refrigerator. The timer rotates to turn off the motor and turn on the heater element to melt the ice on the coil. I tried to rotate it but it felt too hard to turn and it smelled burnt out so I replaced it at once. It took me less than 10 minutes to replace. I also learn that the thermostat reaches certain temperature and activates the fan which blows the cold air out of the coil and throughout the fridge compartments. Because the coil and the thermostat were getting covered in ice, it was not activating the fan to blow the air out keeping the freezer side cold and the fridge side warm. By replacing them both, the thermostat and the timer I solved the problem. It took about 30 minutes to replace the thermostat but now it's working like a brand new one again.
Checked the manuals and found the needed part. Having worked with solenoids before gave me an idea that it was the defective part. The valve would open when water was needed and you would hear this gushing sound. Water supplt was okay and the ice making unit was also working. Bought the part from this website, switched the unit and now the ice maker is working perfectly. This could not have been any easier. Make sure to keep your manuals handy!
I noticed that the refrigerator was having trouble maintaining temperature. Thought it might be time for new one until I found out that a new frig was $5k to $7K. Just happened to notice that the light switch didn't look quite right (was not sitting sqaure to the door). Once I pressed it it came loose. I then realized the the lights were staying on (50 watts of heating). Replaced the switch and the frig started working like new.
Part was easy to order, delivered quickly, installation very easy. Just unplug the unit, pop out the old swich using a screwdriver, disconnect and reconnect leads and pop switch back in. Definitely recommend that you can do it too.
Unplug appliance. Socket wrench to unscrew two screws. Module drops down. disconnected two press-on wires by prying off with screwdriver. Removed old switch. Press-fit new switch. Reconnected two wires (color coded). Screwed module back in place. Plug in appliance.
Pry old switch and pull out. Disconect two wires. Put two wires on new switch, must be inserted right and connections not loose. Put switch in, making shure wies do not come off and snap in place
