GTS18KHP General Electric Refrigerator - Instructions

Had to defrost the freezer to melt off all the ice before servicing. Once that was done the icemaker replacement only took about 15-30 minutes to complete. The new icemaker came with many accessories and adaptors that were not needed and the instructions were based on replacing an older model and not really clear for my model. They mentioned not being able to use the new stripper but it was exactly the same as the old one so I left the new one in place. All in all it was easy and did the job.

-Empty the freezer
-Take the cover in the back of the freezer off
-Melt the ice off the coils (heat gun, hot water, etc.)
-Cut the wires off the old sensor and connect the new sensor using a soldering iron or some other method.
-Cover the spliced wire with heat shrink, electrical tape or some other method.
-Reassemble the cover

Done!

I have not yet done the repair. After watching this repair video two problems came to mind. First I only ordered one grommet not knowing that there were two (or more I don't yet know). The second problem is that this video must be for a fridge from like the 1940, but it looks NOTHING like mine from 2008. The manual shows a bazillion parts and frankly I'm just a wee bit afraid to get started, and I am generally very handy, buuuttttttttt I don't know about this one

I didn’t do the repair because I ordered two grommets. When they arrived, one of the packages was empty! Instead of just sending me another one, they refunded the part so I still need one. By the way, I was not refunded half the shipping either which was more than the part itself.

Up plug from wall removed rear access cover in freezer let thaw out and replace two wire sensor had previously checked out knowing the defrost strip was good and the defrost thermostat was visually deformed and tested open at freezing and 40 degrees

Bent the motor bracket down, then using a rat tail file, elongated the holes in the back panel of the refrigerator to secure the fan in the "centered" position. This was a problem that was with the refrig. since it was made. The parts involved were perfect. NO problem at all installing them.

Water was leaking from under the GE dishwasher, but once we pulled it out, had apparently been going on for a little while. Turning the water off to the dishwasher made it stop, so it was happening even when the unit was not running, potentially indicating somewhere early in the path of the water to and into the machine.

Indeed, inspecting the water inlet vale showed a slow leak. Getting the replacement part was fine, and it fit the electrical, water inlet (existing 90-degree water inlet elbow), and water outlet connections just fine - but the original machine screws that held on the original water inlet valve did not work. It took a little research to figure out the new type of screw required, which was apparently a 10/16 Type AB, which seemed to be a less common type of sheet metal screw (with a point), as opposed to the original flat-ended machine screws. So, after ordering those separately (which were a bit expensive), it went together fine.

A note on the water inlet valve part just indicating the the threading on those parts has changed over time, so potentially ordering the screws to attach it might be worthwhile, would be good information to add about the water inlet valve.

Find a video on youtube. Remove 6 screws. Pull the Styrofoam part up before removing the panel. Unplug and Remove the fan assembly.
You will need a NUT DRIVER to take the bracket off the backing plate.
I ordered the red grommet and the red bumper. You need TWO of the red grommets if that is the problem. My freezer was about 8 years old, and the grommets were worn and compressed, the bumper was not. Replacing these parts DID NOT FIX the problem. I needed a new motor.
I probably disassembled and reassembled this stuff about 7 times before I got all the parts and tools. Each time I had to unload the freezer.

Remove the one screw holding the unit in place, unplug it, slide in the replacement, plug and screw it in.

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.

Turned water supply off; pressed dispenser sw to release presure ; cut tubing holding reservoir ; nuit driver to release screw holding reservoir and pulled out ; took outside and used hose nozzle to try to clear; did not clear at first then took weedeater string and disloged something and water flowed freely; turned out had to change waer solenoid valve (both) as the one for the water dispener was also plugged which did not show up before.
P.S. Had back flow water thru system before and changes of parts. Water flowed freely.

Looked at fan and seen it was rubbing metal cage. After looking and checking fan noticed bushings were worn letting fan hit cage. Repair was very easy. Used a 1/4 inch nut driver to remove bracket holding fan. Pulled fan blade off shaft by just pulling it forward. Removed fan and replaced grommets. Reassembled fan and fan blade. Took just 10 minutes.

Remove ice maker and all of it's accessories in order to remove the panel covering the fan. Don't drop the screws!
Unscrew the lower fan bracket. You will see the lower red rubber grommet. Hold fan motor with one hand and push the fan off the shaft and into the compartment above. Then remove the round retainer thing below it by holding it and pulling down on the motor assembly. Install new grommet on upper part. and put it all together.
REMEMBER where the fan is on the shaft. It has about one inch of shaft placement. I put mine so that most of it was above the hole that the fan goes into and about 20 percent showing below the sheet metal.
Also check to see if your fan is damaged. Mine was not.
This refrigerator has been awesome! I have had many issues but have been able to fix all of them for the last 15 years!

My husband took out the old icemaker in about 5 minutes. The new icemaker was a perfect fit even though the refrigerator was >10yrs old. The only difficult part was the plug extension that was needed so that it would fit into an older appliance. The part was included, it just made the cord about 3 inches longer than it needed to. After working with it for about 20 minutes we were able to fit it on the back side of the icemaker. Now it works great!!

Removed icemaker from freezer,
Removed 3 screws from cover plate, and removed screw securing main gear, removed gear.
Pulled back cover plate to expose switches and mechanism.
Removed screw holding switch to remove switch, and installed new switch.
I should have taken a pic of the cover plate, the interior mechanism and the wiring as I went along. It would have saved me 45 minutes in reassembly. Also, as luck would have it, I reversed the wiring on the switch. So off was on, and I had to remove it, switch wires and re-install.
But it works!