GSH25JFTC General Electric Refrigerator - Instructions

I found a thread on line while serching for a solution, and your part was recomended. I ordered the WR49X10173 kit which is the Dispenser Water Tube Heater Kit. It arrived the next day.

I installed the kit this morning at 8:00 and it took about 30 minutes. I just follow the instructions provided with the kit:

1. Pry off plastic frame.
2. Lift control board out.
3. Disconnect the 3 wire harnesses from circuit board.
4. Unscrew the dispenser unit. (4 Phillip Screws).
5. Peel and stick the heater in the recessed area. See instructions from heater kit for picture on where the heater should go.
6. Splice wires according to instructions that came with the heater kit. Splices are provided. Very easy to do. Just follow the directions. Splice one heater wire to the harness red wire (position 2) and the other heater wire to the (black&white) harness wire (position 6).
7. Plug in the just the one harness to the control board and in 60 seconds you will start to feel the heater area getting warm. That's how you know it's working.
8. Put everything back together and you are in business.

My water has not frozen up since I installed the heater kit this morning. it would usually freeze in about an hour. I have some pictures if someone would like to see how I did it.

I first shut off water flow to the fridge. Examination of the package (which was not exact in appearance to the original) demonstrated that the electrical connectors were well-insulated so I arrogantly and successfully proceded without disconnecting the power. My fridge is old enough that the model doesn't appear exactly on anyone's list so I wasn't alarmed that it took an extra 10 minutes or so to noodle out how to adapt the slightly different inlet cowling and electrical cord with extension, but the device is pretty simple.
Soon I loosened the two mounting screws with a nut driver, used a screwdriver to pry away the plastic snap-in housing over the electrical socket on the fridge inner wall and pulled away the electrical plug. The original water fill tube remained in its cavity, ready for re-use.
The new unit's mounting points matched the original screw locations perfectly, as did the fill cowling - which on the replacement icemaker has two possible attachment points. The new unit's electrical connector required an extension pigtail to adapt to my socket, but it was included in the package. The extra cable posed a minor cosmetic issue because it hangs in the collection basket a bit, but that will soon be remedied with a tie wrap.
After the water was restored and an anxious wait of a few hours, we had well-formed ice cubes that weren't all stuck together and the stalactites haven't reappeared.

A week earlier, we had frozen water all over the freezer section which obviously dripped from the icemaker. We turn off the icemaker and cleaned the freezer. Upon turning the icemaker back on, water continuously pours out of the ice tray. This time, even turning off the icemaker does not stop the water from flowing through. I checked and cleaned the water valve, reinstalled it and it still does not work. I had to crimp the water line and even remove the water filter to make sure there will be no water leaks.

When I got the new water valve, installation was a snap as I have already removed the old one. After installing the new valve and putting back the filter, everything is back to normal.

Procedure for removing/replacing the water valve:
(1) Unplug the refrigerator and move it so that you have some working space in the back. If there is a mechanical valve in the water line, close it so that when the hoses are unplugged, there will be no spills. If there is no mechanical water valve, you can simply crimp the hose with a rubber band or a cable tie.
(2) Use an adjustable wrench or a screw driver to remove the screws on the bottom panel. My refrigerator has 4 big screws and 1 small one that is used to anchor the water hose.
(3) Pull the panel up slightly to remove it. The water valve is mounted with one screw at the bottom-left corner.
(4) Use a screwdriver to dismount the water valve.
(5) Unplug the electrical connections to the water valve. My refrigerator has one Brown and one Blue connector. Remember which plug goes to which connector.
(6) Place a towel under the water valve and use the adjustable wrench to remove the main hose connection.
(7) Next, remove the hoses that to into the water valve outlets. On my refrigerator, these hoses are of different sizes and have quick-disconnects. I simply have to press on the collar at end of the hose, pushing it towards the valve to release the hose, then pull on the hose.
(8) Prepare the new water valve by removing the plastic cover that protects the connector for the main water line.
(9) Connect the main water line to the new valve using the adjustable wrench.
(10) Connect the two hoses of different sizes to the valve. You only have to push them all the way into each valve and slightly tug on them to make sure they are locked in place.
(11) Re-connect the Brown and Blue electrical connectors to their original location.
(12) Mount the new water valve into the back of the refrigerator (one screw).
(13) If possible, quickly check that the new valve is working properly: If you have a mechanical valve in the water line, open it and make sure there are no leaks near the valve or inside in the icemaker. You may have to plug in the refrigerator power to complete the initial test.
(14) Replace the back panel with the 4 screws and anchor the hose to the back with 1 screw.
(15) Once everything is back in its place and the refrigerator is on, cycle the water dispenser several times to run fresh water into the hoses and the new valve.

I unplugged the electrical connection. Then I removed the 2 screws holding the icemaker in place. I lifted out the old icemaker unit and put the new one in place. Then put the 2 screws back in and plugged in the new unit.

The icemaker started making ice very soon after turning the unit on.

Remove Ice maker bin from the refrigerator and empty. Unscrew the three Phillips head screws that secure the front plate to the bin and gently lift and pull the tab that secures the interior portion of the plate until it clears the bin. Once you remove the front plate, it will expose two side tabs on the front of the bin which must be depressed so that the plastic insert that hold the auger in place can be removed. Isolate the auger with the from the unit by rotating the parts off the shaft. The ice crushing blades are attached to the auger and can easily be removed by twisting the plastic nut off with pliers. The cutting blades will now slip off the end (make sure you study the orientation of the blades as each piece will come off separately and make the job unpleasant when you go to put it back together). Now that the auger is out, just reverse the process and you have a "new" ice dispenser. Works like a charm. The diagram furnished by PartSelect was very helpful and accurate if you get a bit lost, especially when putting the crushing blades back together.

Emptied the fridge and freezer. Unplugged it and in so do doing defrosted the freezer coils. Replace the listed parts, for they were right there easy to get at and replace. Between the three of them we had an 80% chance of getting what was wrong. The freezer and the refridgerator are both working just fine. No more warm milk.

used a screwdriver to remove screw and unplugged part. Plugged in new one and secured with a screw.
Simple

On the web site I explained the problem and the solution was immediate. I went to the installation video and was instructed how to install the double outlet valve. It took about 10 minutes to take out the old part and install the new one. I didn't have water immediately so I viewed comments by others and learned that I may have a frozen line in the door. I tried thawing out the line and in about 3 hours and I had water. I figure I saved about $200.00 by doing it myself. Thank you partselect.com

Removed the ice bucket assembly and attempted to dismantle and re-assemble it the same as new
after replacing the auger. I wish the part was shipped with replacement instructions because a simple job turned into a major headache for me because of the following:
1) I did not realize that the the nylon nut at the end of the auger rod assembly has a reverse thread. By the time I had it removed using vice-grip pliers and a bench vice.....the nut threads were stripped.
2) When removing the nylon washers, spacers, metal cutters from the old auger rod, I grabbed the entire grouping hoping to drop them on the new auger rod as a group. While doing so, the pieces slipped out of my hand and It was very difficult to find the correct order of configuration even with the on-line parts photo. I would recommend that you number each part before removing them from the rod because there is only 1 way all of these pieces can be re-assembled to work as designed.

The Top Filter Housing on this refrigerator contains some sort of Excess Flow Check Valve to prevent water flow if there is no filter installed. When the spring on this valve weakens over time, the valve closes unnecessarily with normal flow and chatters. This sounds like a woodpecker hammering on the side of your house and water flow is almost non-existant. You may have heard the same thing after you changed the filter if there was air in the system. The noise stops and you have normal water flow once the air is vented out of the filter. If you start hearing this noise unprovoked (filter has not been recently changed), the Top Filter Housing needs to be replaced. To replace this part, you will need a 1/4" and 5/16" nut drivers or sockets and two 1/2" open ended wrenches. You might also need plumber's putty. Shut off the water and have a bucket ready to drain the water into. Remove the lower cover from the back of the refrigerator. Disconnect the two hoses going to/from the top filter housing. One is connected to the main water line, the other is connected to the Water Fill Valve located in back of the refrigerator on the bottom left corner. Un-screw the cover plate from the back of the refrigerator and pull the plumbers putty out (can be re-used if still pliable). On the inside of the refrigerator, pull the plastic cap off the Top Filter Housing to expose the two screws holding it in place. Remove the two screws and pull out the Top Filter Housing with Tubing. Replacement is the reverse of what you just did. If the tubing is a little short, you will want to unbolt the Water Fill Valve from the refrigerator prior to re-connecting it to ensure a water tight connection.

First ,I placed all the frozen food from the freezer into the lower fridge compartment. Removed the main shelf. Removed the ice cube tray shelf. Removed the center plastic covers using a nut driver. Removed the complete inside back wall of the freezer to get access to the fan. Simply removed about 5 screws, and cut 3 tie straps that held the wiring in place. Unplugged the fan connector and removed fan with its brackets and placed them on the kitchen table. Then used the nut driver to remove 2 screws which hald the fan to its bracket. Simply pulled off the fan blades and pressed them onto the new motor. Mounted new motor onto the bracket. Reinstalled the fan assembly back into freezer. Reconnected the wiring and the fan began to run... BE CAREFUL NOT TO TOUCH THE FAN WITH YOUR FINGERS!
Finally replaced all the covers, panels, and shelf etc. and everything is once again nice and cold.

Things I learned...remove only the two far left screws and one far right screw from the ice auger motor mounting plate. Disconnect both wiring harness connectors. With the assembly removed from the freezer, you'll need to get the motor seperated from the drive mechanism (fork). This was the most difficult part of the repair. The reason is that the fork (which is reverse threaded) cannot be unthreaded independantly of the motor shaft (ie. they both turn together). Locking pliers on the shaft only stripped metal from the shaft and did not supply enough torque to remove the fork. The way I finally did it was to take the old motor partially apart, then lock the gear case (keeping the shaft from rotating) with the motor's own splined internal rotor shaft. Once I finally got the fork apart from the motor shaft, swapping out motors was simple. You'll need to put the old plastic glove on the new motor to keep it dry. Also, the replacement motor I got from partselect.com did not come with threaded mounting bolt holes. Therefore, I had to use slightly larger self tapping screws I got from the hardware store. I also used locking washers as the assembly is subject to vibration.

My problem began with having to replace the auger due to damage (broken blade). Unknown at that time the unit was having a defrost cycle issue. Once auger was repaired, then the motor to auger failed. Once repaired the GE unit then began shutting down without warning. Mother board replaced. All was fine for two weeks then noticed odd performance by ice-maker (chunks of Ice again)and frozen package containers showing signs of dampness and then refreezing. Read through the Parts Select web site to see what other users may have had gone wrong with their GE's and what the parts overview section may reveal for me. Found that the defrost thermo and temp-sensor controlled defrost functions. The parts were cheap, $20.00 for the pair so I replaced them both since they are both located next to one another in the freezer compartment. The repair video furnished on the P/S web was great and very accurate. The entire job only took about an hour. The repair video indicated using wire-nuts and electircal tape Instead, I chose to solder the wires and use shrink-tubing to provide the moisture barrier. PartSelect folks are great not only for their parts pricing but also for the informative videos. The GE works better than ever

Had previously replace the plastic Water Tank, but when installing it I didn't realize how the quick connects worked. Instead of simply pushing inward in the direction of the blue part of the disconnect, I had pulled out the white ring on the outside of the disconnects. This ruined the inside connections and caused them to leak thus requiring these repairs. Had I known that I wouldnt have bought these parts too. Just Always REMEMBER to push in outside white ring on the quick disconnect and as you push it in pull out the hose when you remove it. To put the hose back in, just push it back in without pushing on ring this time at all and it will lock in place, and shouldn't be leaking. I had to run water into a glass to test if it was leaking, otherwise the line had no water pressure.

1) Unplugged fridge and removed cover over light in freezer.
2)Removed screws holding cover over motor.
3) Removed screws on bracket holding motor in place.
4) Un plugged motor and used razor blade to cut grommet holding wires in place.
5) Plugged in new motor and routed wires through grommet. Then used zip ties to hold grommet together.
5) Re-attached motor bracket and installed new fan.
6) Reinstalled cover over motor.