36358252891 Kenmore Refrigerator - Instructions

This was a 15 year old great working GE regrigerator. Refrigerator was not cooling properly, though the freezer worked great. Using flashlight, examined cam riser which was clearly broken. YOU MUST ORDER TWO GASKETS AS BOTH WILL BE WORN. After removing all food from the door, taped plastic sheet over the open space to keep food somewhat cool Removed top hinge cover and screws on top of door and lifted door out of bottom bracket placing it flat on kitchen island. Unscrewed hinge elements including old broken cam and shims form the bottom of the door and fit in the new cam. Unfortunately one of the shims was broken, so I used a thin plastic black washer from the hardware store which was big enough to fit over the pin on the bottom of the refrigerator itself. Screwed all the parts back together. Be VERY careful to note how you removed them in the first place...mabe take a digital foto or two. This was kind of tricky to remember. Then used a hammer and chisel to break off the rivit holding the bottom hinge elements on the refrigerator. Sawing with jigsaw didn't work that well. The rivit came right off. Then used a flat head screw, lock washer and nut instead of a reivit and attached the new second cam riser. You are now done with the new parts. Simply reattached the door and it closed like new. Had a simultaneoius problem with a faulty defrost heater in the freezer which also had to be replaced and which was really easy to do. About an hour max. This was the real cause of the refrigerator not cooling properly. But that's another story.

Had to defrost the freezer to melt off all the ice before servicing. Once that was done the icemaker replacement only took about 15-30 minutes to complete. The new icemaker came with many accessories and adaptors that were not needed and the instructions were based on replacing an older model and not really clear for my model. They mentioned not being able to use the new stripper but it was exactly the same as the old one so I left the new one in place. All in all it was easy and did the job.

Opened, discovered not flapper but more complicated

I didn’t do the repair because I ordered two grommets. When they arrived, one of the packages was empty! Instead of just sending me another one, they refunded the part so I still need one. By the way, I was not refunded half the shipping either which was more than the part itself.

I just followed the instructions on the video and it was exactly as they said......no surprises.

This one is a no brainer… One Phillips screw on top to pull top door hinge trim. Two nuts and the top hinge is free. Then pull the door… it helps if you unload all the crap in the door bins. Remove the remnants of the door cam and that leaves a pop rivet. Put some vise grips on the head and use a hacksaw to remove the lower part of the rivet. Then pop-rivet the new door cam in place. If you don’t own a pop-rivet tool, I guess you could use a 10/32” screw and nylock. Plop the door back on and you’re done. Took all of about 15 minutes.

I aligned the back of the controller with the slot in the icebox and it popped right back on. No more frozen vegetables.

Remove the one screw holding the unit in place, unplug it, slide in the replacement, plug and screw it in.

Followed the online video. Unplugged refrigerator, removed trim piece, lifted control board cover, removed 4 screws retaining circuit control board and removed the 3 connectors from the control board. Located flapper and removed by using small flat tip to take tension off flapper connectors. Helper held flash light to illuminate flapper connectors. Reversed procedure. New flapper seals well and cured problems. Circuit board was a bit different than one in video, but still had the 3 connectors. Marked each connector with grease pencil at top edge to ensure correct reconnection. Should note how wires are threaded around circuit board to ensure they are tucked back in correctly in reassembly. Remove trim piece carefully. I broke 2 of the 8 plastic pins that hold trim on. May be due to age of unit as they were brittle. 6 pins still hold trim piece flush.

Researched on internet/you tube; ordered part, and did the repair. Easy to do and saved the cost of a service call.

Read the how to's AFTER ordering the part. 2 things....1) I wish I had read the comments first and 2) it was much easier than the comments led me to believe.

Had I read the comments first, I would have known to order BOTH the upper and lower cam....though there not a problem with the operation of the door. It would just have been a tad better if I had both. I'm not wanting to have to pay shipping for an additional part when the door works satisfactorily as it is.

As to the comments on how to do it....I took none of them. I (instead) removed the top hinge, and lifted to door off. I did have to have assistance to get the hole in the door aligned with the post, but that was rather easily done.

Would I do it again.....in a heart beat. I feel that I've save on the repair man making a call at the house, and experience has had me charged $60-$100 for virtually the same amount of service. My cost...shipping and all was under $20.00

The plastic door closing cams had broken after 17 years of use. It was tricky figuring out how the new cams fit as the old ones had disintegrated. Also you need 2 cams - not one. I first ordered only one. A detailed parts diagram would have helped. First unscrew the top door mount cover and then the top door mount. The fridge door then lifts up and off the lower door mount. Next is the hardest part - drilling off the old pop rivet which held the lower cam. The lower door mount had to be removed to get at the underneath of the pop rivet, and a bench vise was handy to hold it as I drilled off the old rivet. Then you need small stainless steel nut and bolt and split washer or lock nut to replace the rivet. Next unscrew the old upper cam from the underneath of the fridge door and replace. The large hole in the cam goes through the door hinge pins. The two plastic cams should interlock in a way that makes the door swing close. Anyway, now the door works fine.

Replaced flapper. Followed the video. The lamp caused the removable plastic bracket (which supports the control panel and the ice chute) to fuse with the plastic frame in the door. Eventually broke the fused plastic, removed the bracket, and filed the rough broken plastic before reassembly.

Use small putty knife to cut internal sealant on ice maker door trim piece. Then you can easily remove it.

There are Great videos on YouTube!!! Turned off power,Removed trim ring, Pushed a philips head screwdriver in one of the holes underneath the electrical panel with the selector push buttons. This releases the electrical panel. There are Three wire sets with plugs. I removed the plugs and took the electrical panel out. Removed four Phillips head screws and pulled out the big paddle switch. This then exposes the flapper. Replaced flapper with new one and reassembled everything. When I had everything apart, I cleaned with window cleaner. It was pretty moldy from the water leaking. Turned power back on and tested everything to make sure I didn't mess anything up. Works great