36358097890 Kenmore Refrigerator - Instructions

1. Turn off water supply, and electrical ( unplug it) to fridge.
2. Remove water line to valve. Watch for water to pour out of the line. Have a towel handy.
3. Remove the cardboard cover on the bottom of the fridge.
4. Remove the screws that hold the valve in place.
5. Remove the valve, be careful the waterlines are still attached.
6. Place a towel under valve to catch any water that leaks out from water lines.
7. Remove electrical lines, make sure to mark which went where. One is for the ice, and one is for the water. Make sure the power is off, there is 120 volts present at those connections.
- now my waterlines attached using a compression type fitting. The new valve I got used just a push in type of attachment. But, easy enough I just removed the pieces for the compression and the waterlines pushed right in and worked fine.
- the mounting harness for the valve was alittle different but the parts I need were in the right location and she fit in fine.
8. Attach water lines. They are different sizes so you can't get those mixed up.
9. Attach electrical lines.
- the new valve came with adaptors for my electrical connection. Just snapped them on and kept on going.
10. turn on watersupply for fridge. Plug it back in.
11. Test for leaks, and proper operation. ie. When you push the water does the water valve open?
12. Unplug fridge
13. Now is a good time to clean out any dust or dirt that has accumallated in under around your fridge.
14. reassemble, valve, then cover. move fridge back into place.
15. Plug fridge back in.
16. Take a clean glass.
17. Fill with water from the front.
18. Take full glass of water and go watch tv. You've earned it, and saved yourself probably $100.00 in labor costs. Good Job.

Per the trouble shooting guide on the home page of the website. I suspected the defrost timer was bad because ice had heavily accumulated on the back wall of the freezer compartment and the temperature inside the refrigerator was warm. First, I removed all the freezer racks. Then removed the (4) screws on the back wall in the freezer compartment. I then removed the ben from the ice maker to allow more room. Once I saw all the ice, I unplugged the refrigerator, and used a hair dryer to defrost ( it took about an hour to get it all). Once the ice was all gone, I then moved into the refrigerator compartment and removed the top shelve. This allowed me more room and access to the defrost timer which was behind the back panel. I used the trouble shooting guide to test the old timer prior to removing the new one from the package, (just in case I needed to send it back). Through this test I determined that the timer was bad, it wasn't the heating element or the t-stat. It was very easy to access, I removed the two knobs and lifted up the panel. I located the defrost timer and removed the screws as directed. I replaced the timer just as I had removed it, plugging in the electrical terminals per the removal process. I then reversed the order and put the panel and top shelve back on. Once all complete, I then moved back into the freezer compartment and replace the back panel and then the ice ben. I plugged it in and haven't had a problem since. This site has saved me a tremendous amount of money, a service contractor quoted us $300, to determine the problem. I ordered the part and it was sitting on our door stoop the next morning.

First of all, the larger white plastic tubes in this thing are 5/16" OD, which no plumbing store seems to stock. At the lower left rear end there are 2 tubes, one for water and one for ice, that are doomed to fail being in proximity of a heat source - they essentially get cooked to the point of becoming brittle and cracking. The smaller tube and union can be easily found, but do yourself a favor if the larger one cracks and order the plastic tube and water tube union here, and just cut off the brittle part and amend the old tube using the union.

First I took a beer out and opened it then took a sip. Then I went into my garage and searched for my Black and Decker power drill with a phililps head on it. Failure to locate a phillips head bit i took another sip of beer and took out one of those old fashion screw drivers. I went back into the kitchen and much to my dismay the fridge didnt fix itself. After another sip of beer I took the old slide out and took it to the outside garbage. On my way around the house my neighbor started to mock my home fix-it skills and his back yard became the new home for the broken slide. I put the new slide in, reinstalled the drawer, and filled it with beer.

The actual repair was a snap. However, be sure you check to make sure all of the parts are there. The two electrical adapter/connectors were missing from the water valve package, so I could not complete the job until a new valve could be shipped. The two adapters are essential to proper operation of the water valve. New ones arrived in 3 days.

DISASSEMBLY:

1. Unplug the refrigerator.
2. Shut off the water supply to the icemaker.
3. Remove the screws holding the cardboard cover onto the lower back side of the refrigerator, using a nut driver.
4. Disconnect the water supply line from the top of the water valve.
5. Remove the screw holding the water valve bracket onto the back of the refrigerator.
6. Unscrew the two water feed tubes from the water valve (one goes to the icemaker and one to the cold water dispenser).
7. Pull the two electrical connectors straight out of the back of the water valve. They are color-coded, but it won't hurt to label them with a small piece of masking tape.

NOTE:

Since I wanted this to be fixed and to not have to deal with it for years to come, I also replaced the plastic tubing running up the back of the refrigerator, the grommet that goes through the back of the refrigerator into the freezer compartment, and the water tube the pours water into the icemaker's tray - and it was well worth the few extra dollars and 10 extra minutes of work. To do this part:

1. Inside the freezer section, loosen the two screws holding the icemaker to the back of the freezer (you do not need to remove the screws, but it won't hurt anything if you do remove them).
2. Slide the icemaker upward until it clears the two screws enough that you can set the icemaker out of the way.
3. Grasp the 1/2-inch plastic tube that points toward the front of the freezer and pull it toward you until it comes out.
4. At the back of the refrigerator, pull out the plastic grommet that held the tube you just removed, near the top of the refrigerator.
5. Remove the thin water tube that runs from the water valve up the back of the refrigerator to the grommet.

ASSEMBLY:

1. Basically, reverse the order of disassembly.

CONCLUSION:

It took longer to type the instructions than it would have taken to do the job. If only the elctrical connectors had been there the first time.

1) Turn off water line and unplug power.
2) Pop off front panel plate at ice cube select switch area.
3) Unscrew 4 screws that holds control panel housing in place.
4) Remove panel assembly by disconnecting two different wiring plugs.
5) Unscrew 2 screws that allows access to control circuit board at end cap.
6) Remove circuit board by sliding it out of the assembly housing.
7) Install new circuit control board in assemble housing and screw on end cap retainer.
8) Attach two electrical wiring plugs.
9) Install control board assemble housing into frig opening and secure with 4 screws.
10) Install front panel plate (pops on).
11) Plug in power and turn on water line.

I first shut off water flow to the fridge. Examination of the package (which was not exact in appearance to the original) demonstrated that the electrical connectors were well-insulated so I arrogantly and successfully proceded without disconnecting the power. My fridge is old enough that the model doesn't appear exactly on anyone's list so I wasn't alarmed that it took an extra 10 minutes or so to noodle out how to adapt the slightly different inlet cowling and electrical cord with extension, but the device is pretty simple.
Soon I loosened the two mounting screws with a nut driver, used a screwdriver to pry away the plastic snap-in housing over the electrical socket on the fridge inner wall and pulled away the electrical plug. The original water fill tube remained in its cavity, ready for re-use.
The new unit's mounting points matched the original screw locations perfectly, as did the fill cowling - which on the replacement icemaker has two possible attachment points. The new unit's electrical connector required an extension pigtail to adapt to my socket, but it was included in the package. The extra cable posed a minor cosmetic issue because it hangs in the collection basket a bit, but that will soon be remedied with a tie wrap.
After the water was restored and an anxious wait of a few hours, we had well-formed ice cubes that weren't all stuck together and the stalactites haven't reappeared.

I unplugged the electrical connection. Then I removed the 2 screws holding the icemaker in place. I lifted out the old icemaker unit and put the new one in place. Then put the 2 screws back in and plugged in the new unit.

The icemaker started making ice very soon after turning the unit on.

used a screwdriver to remove screw and unplugged part. Plugged in new one and secured with a screw.
Simple

Plastic lines to ice maker and water dispenser cracked from heat. Replaced Icemaker line by removeing 2 screws holding Icemaker then two more holding icemaker mount, Pulled large plastic tube that water runs down. From back of unit removed grommet that goes thru refrigerator back, then bent open clamp and pulled out 1/4 " line. Reversed process to install.
After doing this I believe it could all be done from the back with out removing the icemaker. Just pry open the clamp on the grommet and pull the 1/4" icemaker line out of the grommet.

The water supply tube was a a little challenge. The 5/16 tube comes thru at the bottom of the fridge under the meat bin. Remove the meat bin and the next bin up to gain access. I cut the tube off with a side cutters about 1/2 of the way between the floor of the fridge and the water tank. Then I took the new line and attached the old line to the new line with a bolt of the correct od with the head cut off so I could tie the two lines together. Then I pulled the old line out from the back of the fridge while pushing the new line in. Attached the line from the tank to the new line with the Water tube union then cut the line off in the back and installed a new Dual inlet valve and the icemaker, drinking water line and supply line to it. Let it sit over night making ice and made sure no leaks before pushing back.

After doing some research, I found that this problem is due to a defrost issue, and the easiest way to make sure you get it fixed is by replacing the defrost timer, defrost heaters, and defrost thermostat. The defrost timer is in the compartment in the fridge on the top level, behind the temperature settings panel. The defrost heaters were behind the back panel in the freezer section, and are long glass tubes that are only attached by a couple screws. When you buy the parts, dont buy the heaters and a defrost thermostat seperately, because the heaters come with a new defrost thermostat already wired to them. Once you get the back panel off, its pretty self explanatory how to remove the heaters.

Ordered parts from another vendor - got wrong parts (1/4 in parts instead of 5/16 in parts). With your parts, I just cut out the bad portion of the tubing, and replaced it using the 2 union connectors. Thanks.

Unplug the refrigerator
Front cover of ice dispenser snaps off. Remove the 4 screws from the ice chute. Unplug the control module that opens the ice chute. Leave hanging while removing the 4 screws that hold the solenoid in place.(one is a ground wire...note location before taking apart). Unplug the two wires to the solenoid.
To install the new solenoid put the plunger in place and at the same time hook on the trip arm of the clapper door of the ice chute. Plug in the two wires to the new solenoid
Replace the 4 screws.
Plug in the Control modules and screw back in place
Plug in the refrigerator. Do a trial test.
Replace the cover

the first thing i did was replace the water valve at the bottom of the refrigerator but that didn't work so then i spent more time researching the problem on your site and your diagnostic said to replace the ice maker so i ordered it, took the old one out, plugged the new one in and we had ice the next day.

I removed the back panel held in place by 5 screws. I located the thermostat and disconnected it from the wire connection to another part. Due to the connection requirement, I had to cut the wires from the original part and splice the connector with wires to the new part. After securing the spliced wires and covering in electrical tape, I replaced the panel and all screws.