59658392890 Kenmore Refrigerator - Instructions

Noticed refrigerator making a noise, the noise would get louder when the freezer side door would be open. After awhile the noise stopped and noticed the refrigerator was no longer cooling. Looked in the freezer and noticed the back was iced up around the evaporator panel. Removed food and shelves on freezer side to gain access to the evaporator panel. Turned the Defrost timer knob manually to melt ice build up. Unplugged refrigerator. Then removed the 11 screws(1/4 inch screwheads). Noticed evaporater fan was stuck on fan shroud. Removed 2 (1/4 inch screwheads) and pulled the fan motor out. Noticed front bearing was leaking a black residue and that the motor shaft was extremely loose and not spinning true. Put back in for time being to order parts. Ordered parts from Partselect.com, website was easy to navigate and they had excellent diagrams of the parts. Ordered new evaporater fan, grommets, and fan blade. Received parts next day sooner then expected. Took a digital picture of fan motor wires to ensure proper re-install of wires afterwards. Unplugged refrigerator, removed two power wires and green grounding wire to fan motor. Took note of fan position on shaft and direction of fan fins. Took 2 (1/4 inch screwheads) to remove fan motor from fan motor mount. Removed old fan blade from old fan motor shaft to get front motor mount bracket off old motor. Put new grommets on new fan motor, put in fan motor mount, installed 2 screws. Installed new fan blade shaft on new motor shaft made sure it was the same depth on shaft as the old set up. Reinstalled motor into refrigerator with two screws, reinstalled wires, verified correctly hooked up with digital picture took. Plugged refrigerator back in, verified fan worked and proper direction of air flow, began cooling. Reinstalled panel and 11 screws, shelves and waiting for it to cool down before putting food back in. Cooled down, no problems since and noise is gone. Looked at old motor and noticed front bearing failed and wore down the shaft causing it to spin out of round and make the loud noise. Thank you Partselect.com for having the great web-site to navigate and diagrams to verify I was getting the correct parts.

I didn't know what the plastic was - just that it was unappetizing. Reading other posts, it must have been the teflon coating. The refrigerator is 13 years old and reading other posts, I guess I'm lucky it lasted that long.

My boyfriend did the repair and here is his story:

The first ice maker we received was cracked on one corner. Not knowing how it got that way, I was concerned that there might be additional internal damage and that the unit wouldn’t work properly. Part Select was contacted and a replacement unit was sent with no difficulty.
As other reviewers have said, the replacement was quite easy, taking less than half an hour. The only tools I needed were a screwdriver and a nut driver. To begin, unplug the refrigerator and turn off the water supply to the ice maker. Loosen, but do not remove, the two top attachment screws. Then remove the bottom screw. Lift the unit up off the top screws and remove the water inlet hose at the top right. It’s probably a good idea to have a container handy to catch the small amount of water that comes out, but you’ll need a third hand for this.
The electrical wiring harness is very short and may be tricky to disconnect. On my refrigerator there is a round vinyl connector that plugs into a receptacle on the back wall of the freezer compartment directly behind the ice maker. This was removed with no difficulty (accidently, actually). Once the unit is out of the refrigerator you can remove the connector from the ice maker by using a screwdriver to depress the latch tab that is visible in a window in the unit housing. When installing the connector in the new unit make sure it is fully seated. Next, reconnect the round vinyl connector to the receptacle on the back wall of the freezer compartment. This was the worst part of the whole procedure. You have to support the unit close to the back of the freezer (due to the short harness) with one hand while inserting the connector with the other. This requires both arms in a confined space. The first time I did it I apparently didn’t get a good electrical connection on one end of the harness, and it didn’t work. Because the connectors are directly behind the ice maker I had to remove the unit and re-install it, but it was much quicker the second time, less than 10 minutes.
Once the connectors are in place put the water inlet hose into the opening at the top right. You may need to re-use the retaining clip from the old unit for this. Slide the two top mounting ears down between the screw heads and the back wall of the freezer compartment and tighten the screws. Then install the bottom screw. Plug in the refrigerator, turn on the water and make yourself a frosty beverage.
All in all, a relatively quick and painless procedure.

Another note - we kept saying "is there ice yet"? I think the metal bar that controls the ice maker needed to be raised and lowered a few times before it would work properly as it seemed to raise 1/2 way but the ice would not drop so I put it down and it worked its way up. Had to do it a couple of times over a 4 hour span but once going, it is working like a champ.

I used a flat screwdriver and released the lock tab on the bottom of the light switch, and pried the switch out, being careful to not damage the plastic around the mounting place of the switch, unplugged wiring from old switch, plugged in the new one and pushed the new switch into place. Job finished light switch now working.

First I removed the 14.3 tons of freezer contents, closed the water valve, shut off the juice, and removed the freezer bins, the freezer door and the three screws that held the element in place. After bringing in 397 hand tools from my garage inventory, I loosened the unit and, after extensive evaluation, I finally disconnected the wiring connector from its freezer rear wall connector counterpart. You ain't gonna believe the rest of my story--of total ineptitude by an experienced fix-it-yourself dummy.

I searched the internet for a replacement ice maker and found it at partselect.com. I called Sears to ask if I could add my refrigerator to my existing appliance repair account. Sears said sure--it would cost me only one arm, three toes and one grandchild. I abruptly declined their magnanimous offer—I don’t give up my arms and toes so easily.

I visited the local Maytag repair parts and service retailer, who advised they didn't do parts anymore. Expecting their repair price would be greater than Sears, I resorted to partselect.com. I called them to be assured what I was buying was not mistakenly a 747 Landing Gear. On the afternoon (West Coast) of 4/28/10, I ordered (via internet) one PS21215123 Ice Maker Assy. Much to my pleasant surprise, it arrived via FedEX on 4/30/10 (no freight charges to me).

My repair/replacement efforts were hampered by the effects of my right rotator cuff surgery a few months before and major left wrist surgery two months ago to remove fractured bones and torn ligaments.

Undaunted by my physical handicaps, I forged forward. After re-installing the unit, I turned the water supply and electricity back on. It was graveyard dead. I wisely then bought two bags of ice as an interim solution to the severe needs of my wife and me for our daily chilled evening cocktails. I removed the unit, checked it out and re-installed it. I bought two more bags of ice. All the while, I turned the water and electricity off and on as required by reasonable safety standards. High tediousness!

Several more home maintenance tasks then arose for Sergeant Super Fixer, but I returned to the ice maker problem on 4/8/10. Last chance--remove the device and insure there was no frozen ice in the inlet tube--or call the local partsless repairman. No ice found, but I did learn the wiring connector to the unit was awry--no contact! While explaining that to my wife, I realized the two upper mounting screws were intended to be partially installed into the freezer wall to accommodate the unit's slotted mounting holes! Then, tighten the screws. Oh my God! During my 143 installations and removals, I had installed those screws blindly--using the (handicapped) skills of my right and left hands without any benefit of direct eyesight.

I returned to my challenging project this morning (4/9/10), fully utilizing all the expertise I had gained yesterday. Fifteen minutes of amusing effort! Turn on the juice! Turn on the water!Two hours later, ice cubes were dropping into the bin like rhinoceros bisquits in the jungle.

Hallelujah! I now am free for the next challenge!

HINT: Put a bed pillow (an old one, or your wife's) in the freezer compartment to soften the harshness of its cold metal on your back, if you use the "crawl in on your back" approach.

I removed the ice maker which required removing 3 screws and then disconnecting the electrical plug. Once the ice maker was out, I removed the 3 screws that held the motor assembly to the unit.
I removed the motor, replacing it with the new one.
Plugged the power supply cord back in, replaced the unit with the 3 screws and within a few minutes the unit was receiving water and by the next day I had ICE. This saved me $50. for the service call, then another $25.00 installation fee when the part came in (had to be ordered) plus the markup on the motor (approx. $25.00) So I saved approx. $100. and only took about 30 min.

1. turn off power.
2. pop off ice maker cover to access motor assembly.
3. remove three screws to assembly.
4. pull off assembly.
5. attach new assembly making sure metal arm and plastic
ice tray rod align with assembly.
6. screw assembly onto unit.
7. replace cover.
8. plug in refrigerator.
9. enjoy ice again with no leakage into freezer.

I just opened up the fridge back panel accessed the old relay/capacitor, pulled it out, replaced with the new one, snapped it back into place, tested it (compressor came on), replaced the back panel and went on my way. Really, really easy repair.

The ice maker was not getting water. I hotwired the water valve by switching the connectors for the water dispenser and ice maker water valves and water flowed into the icemaker when the water dispenser lever was pushed. I wronly assumed the water valve was good. I removed the icemaker and determined that the gear motor was not getting power in the position the icemaker had stopped.In this position, the thermostat determines when the motor gets power so I replaced the thermostat. The icemaker still would not get water! As it turns out, the water solenoid was sticking due to a deteriorated rubber washer which let the solenoid plunger get too far out of the magnetic field. I replaced the water solenoid assy and all is well. Don't get fooled by hotwiring the valve. If it isn't getting water, the solenoid probably is the culprit.

We weren't sure if the problem was in the Water Inlet Valve or in the Icemaker Control & Motor Assembly. The water in the door did work. We removed the Water Inlet Valve & tested it with an Ohm Meter. It tested good so we put it back in. We then ordered the Icemaker Control & Motor Assembly. When it arrived we installed it and waited a few hours but the icemaker still did not fill with water. We telephoned a parts store and were told the problem could be the thermostat or we could replace the whole icemaker. We replaced the whole icemaker.

An easy job for smaller hands. Removed the two bolts holding the light cover. Removed two electrical connections from the old switch by pinching the retaining clip,removed the switch, snapped in the new one and re-attached the connectors. Your online illustrations helped me to know that the plastic housing for the light switch would only swing down so far and was not intended to be removed. Saved me from breaking that plastic cover's tabs. This home repair saved me more than 5 times the cost of hiring a professional to do it. Very happy homeowner.

rmv panel (5min) rmv fan/motor 3 screws (10 m) cut wire 2in from motor, re route remainder of wire to front so can strip for wire nuts. ( 10m) attach old fan to new motor, place in old opening ,3 screws, a little fussy to align, ( 15m ) route and strip wire from new motor , zip ties work well, wire nuts , plug in fridge vola, no noise, close up, reverse panel. ( 20m). i also took time to clean grilles with small vac and damp rag, ( looks and sounds like new) bob Wi.

I checked the fuses and hoses in the back of the refrigerator to make sure water WAS in fact getting to the front of the fridge. Since the water through the front door worked fine, I had to check the water tube running to the ice maker. It was fine and water was waiting to go somewhere! I decided to pull the icemaker out of the fridge to see what I could fine. Once it was out, I took the ICEMAKER CONTROL AND MOTOR ASSEMBLY off (that's the side part with the dial on it). Only 3 screws to take that off, and it was EASY to see what was wrong once I took that off. There was a connection that was obviously bad (looked almost like it had burned out). My thought was that it was obvious what part was bad, what would it hurt for me to try to fix it myself? When I got online to find the part, PartSelect was the only one that I found that had the EXACT part that I needed, and lucky for me, there were multiple pictures of multiple angles of the part so I could compare and make sure I had the right one!! The part with shipping cost less than the cost of a repair tech to even come out and look at the fridge. Then add the cost of the part and labor if I had the repair tech fix it...I probably saved about $250!!!!

First I did some research on the internet based upon the symptoms. Found several excellent articles that described my symptoms and their possible causes. I was able to isolate the problem to the thermostat by jumpering around the thermostat. In one scenario I was able to determine that the heater was working and in the other that the evarporator fan was also functioning. That left only one source and it was the thermostat. Ordered the part on-line and was happy to pay the extra shipping fee to expedite delivery. Sears was going to charge me $65 to show up and diagnose the problem. Parts and labor were then extra. What convinced me to look into fixing it myself was the week wait to have a repairman actually schedule an appointment. Two things - the internet is very helpful and Parts Select prices are very reasonable in comparison. Hopefully I will not have to fix anything else soon, but if I do, I will return to Parts Select for my part.

remove top plastic cover / phillips screw driver
remove top door bracket / 5/15" socket
lift off door
remove pieces of old cam / phillips screw driver
replace cam/ phillips screw driver
replace door
replace top bracket / 5/16" socket
check alignment

The tiny piece of plastic that holds the wire that shuts off the icemaker, broke early on with our fridge (after just a few months.) We superglued it, but last week it bit the dust for good.

Once I got this part, I removed the freezer door and trays, and pulled the icemaker out by removing 3 flathead screws and unplugging the cables. Laying in the freezer on the floor was a bit unconfortable, but not too bad.

Then I inspected the icemaker. There was no obvious way to remove the part without disassembling the front of the unit (where the motor is) to release the spindle and free the part, so I did that - 3 or 4 nuts was all that held it together. Once that was out, I removed the spindle, swapped out the part, and put it all back together and back in the freezer. Plugged it in and waited.

It took a while to start making ice. Like 5 hours. Now it's going pretty slow (much slower than before.) Haven't had time to look into it, but my suspicion is the rubber hose that feeds water into the icemaker is blocked with ice or kinked. In any case, we have ice now (but not a lot), and the unit shuts itself off properly. However, we went from having too much ice (thing never shut off) to too little (thing makes ice too slow), so I need to shoot for somewhere in the middle ;)