3638400412 Kenmore Refrigerator - Instructions

Door cam disintegrated after 20 years. This was a terrific site for suggested repairs. My problem was not paying attention to how the door shim, cam and spacer were placed on the hinge. Most of the site's instructions did not forewarn the obvious...pay attention when doing repairs!!

Instructions from others were generally pretty good but as adept as I am at D-I-Y I still did not pay attention to how I took something apart so it could be assembled properly.

I don't think that ordering an entire door hinge set is necessary. It does not appear that shims and/or spacer come with the hinge assembly. Door cam was all that was needed. I thought about replacing the cam on the freezer side but won't do it until absolutely necessary.

This is a very good website and my thanks to all of the posts for the instructions!!

I stacked three 2x4's that were approximately as wide as the door in length. This required lifting the door about 1/4" but it also got the weight of the door off the cam so the bracket assembly that the cam was attached to could be removed. I drilled out the rivet that held the old cam in place and like previous DIY's had to use a small bolt and nut to secure the new cam in place. Reattached the bracket with the new cam and that was it. The only problem was that the head of the bolt I used was not flat enough to allow proper clearance for the door to swing freely without feeling some drag and the wife noticed that immediately. I told her to wait until the weekend and I would again remove the door and file down the head of the bolt to allow the required clearance. After a few days of use, the door itself ground enough material off the head of the bolt so that the door began to open and close properly. So now she's happy, I'm happy and the dog is happy.

I removed the shield over the timer and the part that supported the timer. Just unpluged it and pluged in new timer and put back shield. I had already replaced the defrost heaters which had totally burned up. I also replaced the thermostat while I was making the repairs although the old one was still o.k. All the information that I needed to make the repairs I obtained through your website. After looking at several websites to compare prices-etc, I found yours to be the best overall. Thanks-a-million your website is worth it's weight in Cold Food !

I had to call for a appointment for repair with GE Appliance because I thought then it . .was something electrical. The technician came out & checked everything out, turned out it was not electrical, The technician went out to his truck got a light bulb from his truck, put it in & it worked. It cost me $121.00 for trip charge from GE appliance for a light bulb that worked, your light bulbs were defective twice. Very disappointed with your products, cost me alot of money for a good light bulb thru GE appliance

From instructions found on the site I was directed to the defrost timer part being bad. And from the information others posted that have had the same problem I was able to replace that part by removing the bottom grill just below the door and on the left side was the part. Removing one screw to remove the bracket from the frame and then another screw to remove the part from the bracket. I found it easier to remove the part from the bracket before I pulled the part out so I would have more room to unplug the connector. Just reverse the steps to replace the new part. It took about a day or so for the refrigerator to get to the proper temp.

This repair replaced two riser cams - one attached to the bottom fridge hinge and one attached to the bottom of the door. The two cams
mate together. So, don't just buy one cam, buy two.
1. Removed all contents off the inside of the door as well as the bins.
2. Unscrewed single screw holding plastic cover over top hinge.
3. Unscrewed 2 screws holding top hinge to the top of the door and removed the top hinge.
4. Pulled door up and off bottom hinge and layed
on floor.
5. Removed plastic grill on bottom of fridge.
6. Removed 2 screws holding bottom hinge in place.
7. Using a vice to hold the hinge, I used a hacksw to cut through the rivet holding the riser cam to the hinge plate.
8. Used a small bolt & nut to secure the new riser cam to the hinge plate.
9. Reattached hinge plate to the bottom of the fridge.
10. On bottom of the door remove two screws holding riser cam to door.
11. Position new riser cam in place and reattach to bottom of door.
NOTE: on my door, the metal SHIM that goes between the cam riser & door was also broken. I ordered the replacement SHIM but it turned out to be made of PAPER. So, I didn't bother putting it on. If the riser cam wears out again, I'll just replace it again.
12. Put door back on and secure the top hinge to the top of the fridge and you're done.

I placed the new part on the end of the freezer door guard and firmly pushed it in until it 'clicked'. Easy as pie! The more difficult part was to remove the broken off part inside the opening of the freezer door hwere the new bar end was to be inserted. I finally used thin nose pliers to reach in and grab the broken off part.

Since the cam riser was obviously broken I obtained a replacement.
It also broke. The door hinge cam needed to be replaced also.
To repair Remove the hinge cover using a #2 phillips driver. Than remove the Hinge using an 8mm socket. Turn the door upside down and, using an 8mm socket remoge the cam riser and the door hinge cam.
Replace in reverse order.
Be sure to inspect all parts and order all required.

Parts Select made this an effortless process. From finding the part, ordering, to the online diagrams.

I'll be back...

two screws and a connector were removed to replace the timer.
Timer was located on the top front of fridge

Installed the new timer.

I layed several small 2x4 blocks on the floor, then raised the door up from the hinge, using the small pry bar. Then removed the the screws for the hinge. Removed the screws holding the door stop and removed the door cam. Then, I replaced the door closing cam. Replaced the hinge and screws. I Lowered the door on to the hinge and applied a little lubricant to the cam and job complete.

Remove contents of door , Remove top hinge cover - phillips screwdriver , remove top hinge screws ( 2 ) - socket wrench , lift door off lower hinge pin , lay door on edge , remove cam retention screw ( 1 ) - socket wrench , remove broken cam , install new cam , apply vasaline to cam and hinge pins , repeat above steps in reverse . Door now self closes .

0. As a safety precaution, unplug the range or hit the relevant fuse breaker before you start. You might also want to grab a flashlight. Definitely do not try to do this while the oven is hot.
1. Pinch the wire over the light bulb cap to remove it. This is inside the oven at the back.
2. Pop off the hemispherical glass cap.
3. Unscrew the old light bulb, and screw the new light bulb in its place.
4. Put the cap back.
5. Secure the cap by putting the wire back in its slots on the cap.

No tools needed, the cap is just held in place with pressure from the wire.

replaced lights in refrigirator and freezer