34221-4 General Electric Refrigerator - Instructions

turn off ice maker, unplug electoral connection, under bottom of ice maker, remove two screws (hex) under bottom of ice maker, lift up on it to unhook it, take it out. (dump out all ice ). remove back plate on back of ice maker (two screws), the solenoid is held in place with two brass screws, remove them, then remove ground wire from solenoid and two wires, that connect to it,(make a note of how wires go back !). put it all back together and your good to go. . i dont think its really the solenoid that goes out, its the housing that encases it, and you have to buy another solenoid thats encased. good luck

But I have back ground mechanical skills, I did see the video one time, and everything went smooth......

Had to reach right hand to top of ice maker to locate hex head screws by feel, then place nut driver onto hex head by feel and then unloosen screws with lft hand ,a couple of turns, enough to lift ice maker off screws.
Replace new icemaker onto screws and tighten screws. The only problem incountered was the location and availability of having to feel with both hands to fit nut driver onto the screws.(could not see with my eyes because front of ice maker blocked view. )

Real simple repair..just backed off the two 1/4" hex bolts holding the ice maker to the wall of the fridge,(a little tricky since you can't see them),unclipped the electrical doo hickey. I re-clipped the electrical do hickey of the new ice maker, hung the ice maker on the bolts and then re-tightened them. However,still no ice,my problem was the water valve on the back of the fridge behind the cardboard. Although it was still giving H2O thru the door it was not allowing water to flow to the ice maker. I reccommend pouring some water into the ice tray of the ice maker. If it makes ice and dumps it in to the holder, your ice maker is OK. If it turns out to be your water valve, that fix is easy as well. I HIGHLY reccommend watching the "fix it" video associated with that part. That repair also took less than 15 minutes. Good Luck! KC Bridgewater,NJ

Called "local" repair warehouse and ordered part. They shipped the wrong part. Went on-line to Part Select and got the right part.

The part arrived in about 2 days! The right side support that is attached to the inside wall of the refridgerator, that holds the crisper guide, broke apart and would not support the crisper. We took everything off of that shelf and took out the crisper and the glass that is on the shelf. We then carefully pried the support from the interior wall (it was a slow tedious move to be sure we did not damage the wall of the fridge). We made sure all of the pieces were out and snapped the new one into place. For some reason the old one did not want to come out. It broke into many pieces and we carefully pulled all of the little pieces out of the notches

There was no repair needed. I broke the glass shelf that inserts to a plastic frame that holds the fruit/veggie drawer on the fridge.

I found the part very easily on the site and ordered it. The part came exactly as described on the Web site.

First I determined the icemaker was the problem when it was no longer calling for water. You can hear that "whistle" for 6-7 seconds when it calls for water. Anyway, replacement was a piece of cake, but did not entirely fix my problem. I also had to flush the lines to the soloniods that allow water to flow through the filter and into the water storage tank because it was cloggged with a little piece of plastic.

Removed power , unplugged wires and 2 screws then reversed the process 1 hour later first batch of cubes dropped into bin

I removed the two side mount screws with a screwdriver and disconnected the electrical plug to the ice maker to remove it. I reversed the process to install the new one.

It was the thermostat that was the problem, but I chose to replace the entire ice maker for only $25 more.

Followed the video for this repair. Only issue was that the videos showed that when the front panel is removed, there is a wire harness that has to be unplugged from part No. 38c. This was not the case. What I had was a Ribbon Cable Harness that plugged into the front of part No. 38 and the top of part 38C (the two power boards) I tried to disconnect it from part 38C by pulling it out, and apparently damaged the Ribbon Cable Harness. Later found a video showing how to remove this item properly when replacing power boards 38 and 38C. Have ordered a new cable from GRP and hopefully this will solve the problem, as there is no electrical current to the dispenser controls and the ice and water dispenser are not currently working. Would have been nice to know that there are two types of connections between these power boards; a cable harness that unplugs from 38C or a Ribbon Cable Harness that unplugs from from the face of part No. 38. Hopefully I have not damaged either of the boards or anything else. Professional repair man coming on Thursday to test the boards, micro switches, etc. The boards are quite pricey, ($550.00 for both) and since the refrigerator was manufactured in 2004, we will buy a new one before we pump any more into this older unit. Very important to know how to unplug this Ribbon Cable Harness from the boards before proceeding ! Plug in on 38C is very tricky and you will need to review a video showing how it is done.

PURCHASE:
Buy the terminator from the site because they sell the
terminator (thermostat) separately. Other places have it with the
wiring harness for more money. Changing it with the harness attached
is a very, very involved project. It includes removing the entire inner
liner of the freezer. The one the site sells requires only a simple
crimp splice and shrink tube.

TEST- If you have another freezer, ice or a friend's freezer available,
it is highly recommended that the new part be tested:
You will need an Ohm meter or a continuity tester. You can make one
very easily per instructions found on line.
TEST RESULTS-
a) At room temperature. An Ohm meter should show "Open".
b) After being in a freezer or submerged in ice water for at least an
hour, the Ohm meter should show "Closed".

I have installed hundreds of defrost thermostats. Very occasionally
one is defective. This project is a bit involved, so it is wise to pre-test.

HOW TO INSTALL THE DEFROST TERMINATOR (THERMOSTAT):
A) Prep
Remove Food & Be sure the freezer is warm.
Parts need to be pried upon & cold plastic breaks easily.
Tip: Put the screws in separate cups with labels. This will make
re-installing the many components easier.
Gather tools from the attached list.

B) Unplug Unit (Turning it off is not sufficient protection against shock.)

C) Remove Light Bulb (If it gets broken while working, glass may
get in the eyes.)

D) Remove Drawers (This is a bottom freezer unit with 2 drawers)
1) ) Upper Drawer:
a) Locate the 2 rectangular boxes covering the gears. They are
on each side, toward the rear of the drawer.
b) With a nylon spudger, push in the 2 clips on each box and
lift the boxes 1/4". They will stop at 1/4".
c) At the front of each track, remove 2 hex head screws with a
5/15" nut driver or a 1/4" flat bladed screwdriver.
d) Lift the front of the drawer a small amount while pulling drawer.
Lifting allows the 2 stops on the drawer to clear the track tabs.
e) When near the end of the drawer, lift the gear wheels slightly
to clear the track.
f) Put the drawer out of the way.

2) Lower Drawer With Front Door
*Leaving the door attached makes it easier to align the drawer when
reinstalling it later. It must be straight or the gasket will gap.
a) Put a thick towel on the floor, in front of the unit, so the door
can be laid upon in without scratching the handle or the floor.
b) Pull the drawer out and look at each track about 2/3 of the way
to the back of the freezer. You will see two long, white tabs.
c) Push a tab in while pulling the track slightly forward. Firm pulling
is required. Repeat on the other side.
d) Drag the towel and door out of the way

D) Remove the air grill at the top, rear of the freezer.
1) There is a clip in the center to push with a spudger.
It is easy to see in a photo of a replacement fan bracket.
2) On the right side, in the top row of square holes, is another clip
to press with a spudger while pulling that side of the grill out.
3) On the left, there is an air chute blocking the clip. It can not be
removed. With the right side pulled free, gently wiggle & pull the
left side until the clip clears & the grill is free to leave.

E) Remove the Ice Maker (Water does not have to be turned off)
1) Loosen, but do not remove, 2 screws above the ice mold.
2) Remove the one lower screw & put it aside.
3) Lift the ice maker & store it out of the way.
4) Do Not turn any wheels by hand, nor bend the bail wire.

F) Remove the Thermistor Cover (Upper Right Back Wall)
1) Gently squeeze the sides while pulling. Stop as soon as it's free.
2) Note how the thermistor & wires are installed in the cover &
thread the thermistor free.
3) Set the cover aside.

G) Remove The back Wall
1) Remove all visible hex head screws.
2) The back wall can now be removed.
3) Set it aside where it will not scratch any surfaces, as the edges
are a little sharp

H) De-Ice the evaporator with a heat gun or hair dryer.
Don't hold the heat source in one spot for long or wire insulation
or plastic components will be damaged.

I) Note the permanent ice ball in the upper-right corner.
The defrost thermostat is under this ball. Melt it with heat.

J) Install The New Thermostat
Hint- Take the thermostat to a hardware store to buy the
correct size shrink tube and crimp sleeves (butt connectors)

Open freezer
Pry the switch out (bottom first, then push the tab on top while prying out)
Move wires to
New switch
Push switch in
Test

Remove ice drawer ,Removed front of drawer 4 screws ,Removed broken crusher 3 screws Ordered new parts reassembled replaced fix blade spacer that was broken and blade cover housing reattached front of drawer !

Installed a new Defrost Thermostat.