ESS25LGMACC General Electric Refrigerator - Instructions

Very easy repair to do. Read instruction sheet before starting! Unplug unit prior to removing panel cover.

Remove three hex head screws holding control panel cover in place and reveal the circuit board.

Remove all the wiring harnesses by gently pulling them from the sockets on the board. Do not pull the wires - make sure you pull on the plastic socket so that the wires aren't damaged. If plugs seem tight use needle nose pliers to gently wiggle them out. Remove earth (green) wire from spade connection on fridge chassis. The new board has a slightly different connection for the earth wire.(No spade connector - wire now has a ring connector that attaches between panel cover and fridge chassis using one of the hex head panel screws when the cover is replaced.

Using needle nose pliers locate four plastic mounting tabs holding the board in place and squeeze in the end of each tab whilst gently pulling the board off it. Repeat for all four tabs and remove old circuit board.

Making sure the new board is the right way round locate it on the plastic tabs and push gently until you hear the tabs click. Gently pull the circuit board to ensure it is locked in place.

Re-install all the wiring harnesses. Put a hex head screw through the cover panel and slip the earth wire ring over it and screw panel to chassis. Replace two remaining hex head screws and plug fridge back in.

Voila!! No more ticking sounds and a plentiful supply of ice and water!!

Noticed the problem in November 2009. Replaced Hi Limit Sesor for Defrost thinking it was the freezor temperature sensor. Did not fix the problem. Replaced Motherboard. Did not fix the problem. Called Sears Repair. They mis-diagnosed the problem and told me it was the sealed system. I doubted them and sent them home. Replaced the correct freezer temperature sensor that connects to the motherboard. FIXED.
Removed a panel, cut two wires, soldered and insulated two wries, reinstalled panel.

Dis-assembly only consisted of three screws, but for the not-so mechanically inclined, I would suggest taking a picture of the ice crusher blades before removing them from the auger shaft.

I popped out the old one and popped in the new one.

1. content of freezer was put in an ice box
2. panel covering rear of freezer compartment was removed, a few screws
3. old fan now accessible was removed an new fan mounted.
4. modular wiring plug broke, wires had to be soldered and wrapped in heat shrunk insulation
5. compartment was cleaned an rear inside panel closed

Thanks for all those who shared their experience and the schematics available on website. It gave me the confidence to to this myself. Its my second repair in freezer (previous being a defective heater)

The leak was obvious and I took out the cardboard backing. I closed the valve (water supply) to the water dispenser and ice maker.

With the screw drivers and socket set, I was able to take out the old valve and disconnect the hoses.

Since the part was identical to the leaky valve it was just a matter of reversing the steps. I had previously researched on the web to find the identical part and found a match at Partselect.com. I wish all my repair attempts turn out to be this easy. I wish GE had used better parts since this incident has set me back by several thousand dollars due to the water damage to the wooden floors, basement ceiling and walls.

first replace the solenoid behind the front display. than replace the mother board on the back side of the fridge due to a relay being burned out on it.

GE Wanted $300 + to come out and do the repair.

With partsselect and a little time I cut that cost in half.

Thank you,

Mike

Actually this was a two part repair of which I purchased both parts. The micro switch Pt # PS296176 and also a double outlet water valve Pt # PS304374 from Parts Select as well.

The difficult part was accessing the area to get to the micro switch.

The trim had to be removed, then the cover.

Then one unplugs the board and removed the face plate which also contains the micro switch.

Once removed the two electrical terminals had to be disconnected, the micro switch installed and terminal reconnected.

Then reverse the removal procedure.

Then on to the double outlet replacement.

Suggest watching the installation video for the replacement although it was really a straight forward repair.

Two things to remember.

1. Unplug the fridge

2. Shut off the water to the dispenser

Overall it was not bad at all.

This was my first attempt at refrigerator repair and it went well.

Good luck on yours.

John

Isolated water line. Remove water valve from harness. Disconnect water connections. Disconnect electrical connections. Removed valve. Installed new part. Reconnected water connections and electrical connections. Opened water line.

First, had to use punch tool to pop out electronic face panel. Face unit still connnect via wires. Use painters tape to hold against refrig. Next, Remove ice/water dispenser and also tape to door. This will give you access to solenoid. Remove the 3 screws holding it in place and unplug fsolenoid from Face Panel. Screw new solenoid and place and connnect to Panel. Goood idea is to unplug regrig. while doing this and put a little WD-30 on shaft of solenoid. May want to order new screws, could be rusty, that hold solenoid in place. Sounds a bit complicated but not that bad a job. You'll save over$100 over GE's service.

unscrewed old filter by hand, installed new filter.

After having replaced the main control board and three thermistors, the fridge was still having difficulting getting cold enough - it wouldn't get colder than 15F / 42 F. Uniform frost on the evaporator coil ruled out a sealed system leak, so the remaining culprits were the either the evaporator fan motor or the compressor.

I read that a failed control board is almost always the fault of a bad evaporator fan motor, so this item was the most likely suspect.

To get to the evaporator fan motor, I had to remove, in this order:

1) Icemaker
2) Auger motor and brackets
3) Icemaker bracket
4) Freezer lights and bulb sockets
5) Evaporator panel
6) Evaporator plenum cover
7) Evaporator fan motor bracket

The greatest difficulty lay in swapping the new fan motor harness. Two pins in the harness connector were used for the evaporator thermistor.

I had to carefully cut through the old connector (using a Dremel) to extract the crimped-on pins for the thermistor, then reuse them on the new connector.

The fridge is now maintaining -5 F / 35 F in the freezer / fresh food sections.

Replacing the heater is very easy. Remove the wire racks and the two lower rack bracket screws. Remove the two screws to the back panel, unclip the ground wire and remove the panel. Two screws hold he heater on and two wires for the connection.
However, this did not solve my problem. The story is this. The fridge was getting warm because the coils were freezing over. I called the local repair guys "poncho and lefty" and they came out and replace the themostat and charged me $150. It still froze over a week later. They came back and said it must be the circuit board and charged me just for the $125 part. Nope, it still froze over in a week. So I thought I would take things into my own hands and tell poncho and left to hit the trail. I then ordered a new heater because the old one looked bad even though it checked out okay with an ohm meter. Unfortunately, that didn't solve the problem either. The last thing is to replace are the temp sensors. But before I ordered anything I submitted my problem to a "fix it" forum and someone suggested to check the part number of the themostat that was put in. This turned out to be a brilliant observation. It seems poncho and lefty replace the thermostate with one that is used with a timer. This fridge has the timer built into the circuit board and has a very different temp range than the one they replace it with. Their first clue should have been that the wires were a different color than the one they were replacing and that the part number was totally different than the one they took out. So I ordered a new thermostat and the three temp sensors and replace all of this and the unit works as good as new. The forum also told me that the bullet shaped temp sensor were faulty and should all be replaced, which I did.
Now I have all new parts, so it should be good to go until the compressor takes a nose dive. Hopefully, that will not be for 5 or 6 more years.

This was so easy even a caveman could have done it. (sorry to all you cavemen out there.) Order the parts and they arrived promptly a couple days later. Even with limited mechanical abilities this was an easy project. Only a few screws to remove and a lock nut to take off. Just to be sure your on the right track there is an excellent video to follow on this exact repair on this site.

Called partselect and gave my model number for the frig. I wanted a filter plug because we did not need a frig filter. We have a whole house filter. They looked up the part, took my info, and sent it to me by UPS. It arrived fairly quickly and fit the frig perfectly. I screwed it into place immediately. It was the simplest order I have ever placed and the salesman was very pleasant and proficient. If I have more issues with my frig, I will call partselect again. Just remember to turn off the water before you start.