Fresh Food Compartment occasionally going down to 28-30 degrees F
Failure detected as Damper Control at upper rear of compartment would continuously open/close, would never stay open or closed. Sometimes the main board would turn it off (maybe a low thermistor limit?), but it would stick open a bit, and keeping letting freezer air into fridge. Could have potentially been control board, but as it turns out after disassembly of the defective damper, the internal microswitch was stuck in the closed position so it wouldn't shut off the motor. Easy fix by gently pulling the cover off the damper control, pull out Styrofoam encasement, then a phillips to remove the damper assembly. Gently push tabs to release wire connectors. Reverse the process and you're done! If I really wanted to go on the cheap, I could have just changed the microswitch, but that looked like a shaky maneuver at best. This site saved me on this one, so happy to share my experience with this Maytag and its nasty habit of freezing my milk and eggs!! :)
Total time 10 minutes. 9 minutes to clear out the food and 1 minute to install the part. Installation was self evident and could have been done blindfolded. Part just snapped in.
We came home from a long vacation to discover a warm refrigerator with its contents in various stages of decay.
Turning the freezer thermostat to its warmest setting then back to cold generated clicks, and after a few tries the compressor started and cooled the refrigerator to its normal cold temperatures. But… later the compressor again failed to start, and everything warmed back up again. With persistence and turning the thermostat up and down several times a day, we could keep the fridge cold.
It was time to order parts. We needed a new start relay and capacitor for the compressor. For our Amana ARB2214CW a start relay (WP12555902) and capacitor (WP65889-4) were listed on the first page of the Partselect parts list for my refrigerator. I ordered them, received them, removed the old capacitor and start relay (which rattled when shaken). and prepared to install my new parts. The new start relay did not match the old. The old start relay fit my wiring which had a single plug with two small female spade connectors in the plug. The new start relay required wiring with two separate female spade connectors; one the normal size and one larger. Phone calls to Partselect and to Westinghouse shed no light on the discrepancy. On the second page of the Partselect parts list was a combination of a start relay and a capacitor (W10613606) that matched my electrical connector. I could see the connection in the photograph. I ordered it and it fit. Easy peazy. That fixed the compressor start problem. Every time the freezer thermostat clicked on, the compressor started. Success.
But… from our troubleshooting we now had a thermometer the freezer, and it was obvious that the temperature difference between the cold point where the thermostat turned the compressor off and the warm point where the thermostat restarted the compressor was much too wide. In addition, the knob was hard to turn and was sticky as it turned. Oiling it fixed the sticky knob problem but not the wide temperature difference problem. I ordered a new freezer thermostat (WP67003000), received it, installed it, and all is now fine with my refrigerator. The new thermostat was physically a little different from the original, but it fit and worked.
I returned the first compressor start relay and capacitor and received a refund including the shipping charge.
ice maker was over filling and causing water to flow into ice dispenser and freezing it al together
First turned off the water and unplugged the refrigerator and then removed the old ice maker by first removing the side cover plate and then next removed the ice level detector. Remove the screws that hold the ice maker in place and rotating it somewhat soas to gain access to the wires and then unplugged them. Next I had to modify the way the water comes into the new icemaker by adapting a CPVC street ell to fit into the hole on the side and then hook up the water supply. Installation is just the reverse of removal.
After checking the water valves ordered new ice maker. received the part three days after ordering! Clearing out food, removing the old one and installing the new unit took under 15 minutes. Everything went fine.
I removed the old ice maker and during the short disassembly noticed a burned out connection to the heater element that allows the ice to be broken free of the tray and dumped into the bin. Part Select had a new unit to me next day! I had watched their short install video, and read some of the user comments, already. Re-installing the new unit was a snap, and just as the video had described except for the mount bracket. The only thing that concerned me was that the new unit did not immediately do anything. I began to investigate and found that the flexible water "chute" connection had ice in it! I unplugged the refer, unscrewed the water filter and drained it. I disconnected the water feed on the outside back of the unit as well to make sure water could flow easily to the ice maker port. I filled the water filter with boiling hot water and replaced it, I plugged in the refer, and reprogrammed the date and time. Several hours later I checked the ice maker and it was -- making ice!
Part received was what I needed. There was one issue--the 'feed' opening to receive water and direct it into the ice tray was a side feed and what I needed was a back feed. That means I had to do some exchanging of parts to make it work. That exercise took more time that the actual installation.
inserted a knife between the switch and the plastic interior in order to pop the switch out. then took off the 2 wires on the old switch put them on the new switch and reinserted the switch into the plastic interior.
replaced the entire ice make - 3 screws and a squeeze -off connector and it's out. Reverse to re-install... except that the fill tube had iced up. To thaw the fill tube: unload freezer section (leave food in fridge, but keep door closed), remove ice maker. Boil water, dip drill bit (dull end) into hot water, swirl around, insert (dull end) into to fill tube. Depending on how hot you got it, maybe a tablespoon of ice will melt. Repeat many times - fill tube is about 14" long! Do not use anything sharp - you will nick the tube and ice will form causing you to repeat this procedure. Do not try to break the ice - let the heat work. It took me about 30 minutes to thaw the whole thing - it made a nive gasping noise when the final plug opened up. Re-install ice maker.
Ice cubes in bin frozen into big lumps due to water leaking into bin from icemaker. Lining of icemaker cube tray worn and damaged allowing leak.
Pull refrigerator out from wall to shut off water and power. Remove ice bin, pulling front down then out. Remove screw at bottom of icemaker, then pull down to release two clips, Pull out a couple inches to get hand behind icemaker to release wiring harness connector. (squeeze top and bottom to release clips). Remove unit. Remove wiring harness and wire bail from old unit and install on new unit. Reverse steps to install new unit. Make sure ice bin is fully inserted, or unit will not function.
Light switch wasn't working.. As I would close the door I would notice our frig light wasn't going off...
I simply removed the old switch by gently pulling down on the old switch with a screwdriver. When it was about half way out I just gently pulled down on the old switch and it popped out... I removed the two connectors attached to the old switch by pulling on the connectors with a pliers...I tried using my fingers but wasn't able to pull the connectors off so I used pliers. It worked perfectly.. When pulling off the old connectors, make sure you attach the new switch to the same tabs on the new switch... It was very easy to do and took under 5 mins.....The light switch works perfect....P.S. You should unplug the frig while making the connection just in case....Safety first....!!!