NOTE: This replacement ice maker mechanism does NOT come with a cover, shut off arm, a wire harness, or the mounting hardware. Those must be ordered separately, or you can use the existing parts.
This includes both the run capacitor and the start relay. The capacitor helps the compressor kick on and off while maintaining a constant temperature to keep things frozen in your freezer.
The start ...
This is a multi-use and multi-appliance screw. It can be used on a microwave, refrigerator, range/oven, air conditioner, dehumidifier, washer, or dryer. The measurements of this screw are 8 x 1/2 inch...
If your refrigerator or freezer is too warm, or making noises, you may need to replace the fan blade. The fan blade attaches to the evaporator motor, which is in the freezer section, to help circulate...
Interior surface of ice tray felt rough & flaky (coating deteriorated) so cubes would not release. Unplug appliance. Remove timer cover by hand pressure @ edge. Remove single attachment screw & bracket at lower front of icemaker. Disconnect wiring harness from socket @ rear of compartment. Tricky part was determining what type of connection held the other two attachment points along the long edge of the icemaker. I did not have repair manual or useful drawing but looked @ PartsDirect pic of side brackets & used a small mirror to confirm that mine were also some sort of "snap in" attachment. Remove icemaker unit by pushing upward and outward on the unit. I takes a good bit of pressure and will pop loose, but be careful not to break attachment bracket from freezer wall. Scavenge shut off bar and wiring harness from old icemaker once you have it out & attach to new one before installing it back in freezer. Again, you might find a mirror useful to align those pesky snap-in brackets with the new unit. Since you probably kept your freezer running while waiting for the part, the plastic snap-ins will be cold and brittle. I warmed them up first by applying a dampened cloth heated in the microwave to make them a little more pliable. A good push of the new unit towards the snap-ins along with some upward force will get it stable. Reattach the metal screw in bracket & connect the wiring harness to rear plug... and don't forget to plug the whole thing back in. It will take awhile for the first batch of cubes dump as the timer may need to cycle completely around to get to the fill cycle... be patient. Dump the first couple of batches of cubes just to make sure you're free of any residue.
My ice maker has been shedding its non-stick coating for over a year. Within the last month of so, it started pouring water into the ice bucket below, turning it into a solid mass of ice. So I purchased a new ice maker assembly. I encountered two problems not mentioned in the 21 or so do-it-yourselfer repair stories that precede this one. First problem: one of the three screws that hold the ice maker to the refrigerator wall is hidden behind the large (black) end of the ice maker and is difficult to access. Before trying to replace the ice maker, make sure you have the physical dexterity to remove that screw. Second problem: it is not apparent how to remove the wire harness that plugs into the ice maker assembly. BEFORE you can remove the wire harness, you MUST remove the large white cap that covers the black end of the ice maker assembly and then push in a retaining tab to release the wire harness. If you don't do this, the wire harness will not release. Other than those two problems, it was relatively easy to remove three screws, unplug the wire harness, transfer three small, metal parts from the old ice maker to the new, plug in the new wire harness, mount the ice maker assembly so that the water tube is in the proper position, and then re-install the three screws. The ice maker works fine now. (P.S. I was told by an expert that the real problem might be a malfunctioning fill valve. I would have replaced the fill valve if replacing the ice maker assembly had not fixed the problem.)
I diagnosed the problem via the internet. Diagrams helped a lot. Coils were frozen over. Thawed them out overnight. Manually advanced timer and the defrost heater was operable. The defrost timer wasn't "turning" on it's own. I turned the fridge back on while I awaited the part. It worked fine for the time I had to wait. (over two weeks since I had delayed ordering the part) New timer arrived as promised. Undid 4 hex head (1/4") screws. Unplugged 4 prong connection. Plugged in new timer and replaced the 4 screws. Frigde works great.
