177 - Overview

Interior surface of ice tray felt rough & flaky (coating deteriorated) so cubes would not release.
Unplug appliance.
Remove timer cover by hand pressure @ edge.
Remove single attachment screw & bracket at lower front of icemaker.
Disconnect wiring harness from socket @ rear of compartment.
Tricky part was determin ... Read more ing what type of connection held the other two attachment points along the long edge of the icemaker. I did not have repair manual or useful drawing but looked @ PartsDirect pic of side brackets & used a small mirror to confirm that mine were also some sort of "snap in" attachment.
Remove icemaker unit by pushing upward and outward on the unit. I takes a good bit of pressure and will pop loose, but be careful not to break attachment bracket from freezer wall.
Scavenge shut off bar and wiring harness from old icemaker once you have it out & attach to new one before installing it back in freezer.
Again, you might find a mirror useful to align those pesky snap-in brackets with the new unit.
Since you probably kept your freezer running while waiting for the part, the plastic snap-ins will be cold and brittle. I warmed them up first by applying a dampened cloth heated in the microwave to make them a little more pliable.
A good push of the new unit towards the snap-ins along with some upward force will get it stable.
Reattach the metal screw in bracket & connect the wiring harness to rear plug... and don't forget to plug the whole thing back in.
It will take awhile for the first batch of cubes dump as the timer may need to cycle completely around to get to the fill cycle... be patient.
Dump the first couple of batches of cubes just to make sure you're free of any residue.

Fridge is a side by side. The freezer is pretty narrow for a guy with wide shoulders.

Pulled plug.

Had to remove bottom drawers then used nut driver to remove screws closest to back wall in drawer runners. Once the back screws were removed the runners could be swung up or down out of way so back cover could be re ... Read more moved.

Once back cover was removed thermostat was located attached to top pipe going into coil using a spring clamp.

Cut the wires just outside the crimp connectors going into thermostat. Released the spring clamp buy squeezing botton together.

Removed old badly corroded thermostat.

I wish I had attached the crimp connectors to the new thermostat wires before mounting it. Reaching way in the back, while turning shoulders verticly and trying to get the wire connectors set from both sides was awkward and uncomfortable...The biggest PIA of the whole task.

Once connected I let the fridge (thermostat) cool for 10 min. Turned the dial defrost timer to get it into defrost mode. Stupidly touched the heating element to see if it was getting warm...it was very hot.

Coils steamed...every looked like it was working. Unplugged, put back cover back on and retattached drawer mounts.

Plugged back in and everying is working great!

My ice maker has been shedding its non-stick coating for over a year. Within the last month of so, it started pouring water into the ice bucket below, turning it into a solid mass of ice. So I purchased a new ice maker assembly. I encountered two problems not mentioned in the 21 or so do-it-yourselfer repair stories that precede this on ... Read more e. First problem: one of the three screws that hold the ice maker to the refrigerator wall is hidden behind the large (black) end of the ice maker and is difficult to access. Before trying to replace the ice maker, make sure you have the physical dexterity to remove that screw. Second problem: it is not apparent how to remove the wire harness that plugs into the ice maker assembly. BEFORE you can remove the wire harness, you MUST remove the large white cap that covers the black end of the ice maker assembly and then push in a retaining tab to release the wire harness. If you don't do this, the wire harness will not release. Other than those two problems, it was relatively easy to remove three screws, unplug the wire harness, transfer three small, metal parts from the old ice maker to the new, plug in the new wire harness, mount the ice maker assembly so that the water tube is in the proper position, and then re-install the three screws. The ice maker works fine now. (P.S. I was told by an expert that the real problem might be a malfunctioning fill valve. I would have replaced the fill valve if replacing the ice maker assembly had not fixed the problem.)