Plastic Tubing - 5/16 Inch WR17X2891

First of all, the larger white plastic tubes in this thing are 5/16" OD, which no plumbing store seems to stock. At the lower left rear end there are 2 tubes, one for water and one for ice, that are doomed to fail being in proximity of a heat source - they essentially get cooked to the point of becoming brittle and cracking. The smaller tube and union can be easily found, but do yourself a favor if the larger one cracks and order the plastic tube and water tube union here, and just cut off the brittle part and amend the old tube using the union.

Plastic lines to ice maker and water dispenser cracked from heat. Replaced Icemaker line by removeing 2 screws holding Icemaker then two more holding icemaker mount, Pulled large plastic tube that water runs down. From back of unit removed grommet that goes thru refrigerator back, then bent open clamp and pulled out 1/4 " line. Reversed process to install.
After doing this I believe it could all be done from the back with out removing the icemaker. Just pry open the clamp on the grommet and pull the 1/4" icemaker line out of the grommet.

The water supply tube was a a little challenge. The 5/16 tube comes thru at the bottom of the fridge under the meat bin. Remove the meat bin and the next bin up to gain access. I cut the tube off with a side cutters about 1/2 of the way between the floor of the fridge and the water tank. Then I took the new line and attached the old line to the new line with a bolt of the correct od with the head cut off so I could tie the two lines together. Then I pulled the old line out from the back of the fridge while pushing the new line in. Attached the line from the tank to the new line with the Water tube union then cut the line off in the back and installed a new Dual inlet valve and the icemaker, drinking water line and supply line to it. Let it sit over night making ice and made sure no leaks before pushing back.

Ordered parts from another vendor - got wrong parts (1/4 in parts instead of 5/16 in parts). With your parts, I just cut out the bad portion of the tubing, and replaced it using the 2 union connectors. Thanks.

This problem had already occurred in 2008. Repairman replaced dual water valve. Cost $190.00. We decided to do it ourselves this time. The repairs were actually made in three phases. First, when I pulled the fridge out from the wall, unplugged it, and turned the water valve back on I discovered that the plastic tubing from water supply into the fridge had long cracks in it and water was spraying out everywhere. I turned water off, went to Lowe's and bought the kit for that repair. Of course I didn't have to use all of the parts in the kit because the water supply was already there from the valve that came up through the floor. After turning the water back on and plugging the fridge back in, my husband and I tested it by trying the water dispenser. We found that water was leaking from somewhere inside the fridge, but didn't know where. After UNPLUGGING it, and turning the water off again, I took the metal back off at the bottom. It was leaking from the bigger plastic tubing (5/16"). It was just hanging, not connected into the dual water valve. Figured it had just broken. So I thought I just needed 5/16" tubing. I went on the GE website and it was very hard to get answers to my problem because I couldn't find the plastic tubing that it looked like. I ended up ordering the plastic tubing that goes up that back of the fridge to the icemaker. They sent me two of those, not one for the freezer and the bigger clear one (5/16") that I thought I needed. Then, I found this website! This PartSelect website is great!! After reading about other consumer repairs, I knew how to disconnect the dual water valve and found out that the smaller plastic tubing that goes up the back of the fridge to the icemaker had been pinched where it connects to the dual water value, barley hanging on. Just quick disconnected it from the valve by pushing up on the outside where the tubing comes out while pulling on the tubing. It came out, and I had to use needle nose pliers to pull some of it out where it had broken off inside. Then, pushed the new tubing into the valve and ran it up the back of the fridge, unscrewed the plate that goes over the clamp that holds the tubing, loosened the clamp a little, pulled the old tubing out, pushed the new tubing in, (the clamp was still tight enough) put the metal plate back on and replaced the screws. Then I re-connected the dual water valve to the electric clips, connected the 5/16" tubing to the right side of the valve. (The black tubing that goes up the back of the fridge goes into the left side of the valve.) put it back into place and screwed it back against the body of the fridge where it goes, put the back on and plugged it back in. We tested it again, and water was leaking, but not from where I made my first repair. I reversed everything again, and discovered that where the 5/16" tubing goes into the dual water value, it seemed more loose than it should have been. That is where the water was leaking from! I ordered the dual water valve, the 5/16" plastic tubing and the water tube union. I replaced the dual water valve-very easy! MAKE SURE YOU UNPLUG THE FRIDGE, turn the water supply off, disconnect the small tubing from the dual water valve, disconnect the electric connections to the valve, and reverse the process. What I did was replace the 5/16" tubing the comes out of valve & goes up into the storage tank behind crisper drawer. Used union there. Put everything back together and it works!!

This repair was done on a 13 year old fridge. Within the last several years I had to replace the Incoming Water Line twice, the line from the Inlet Water Valve to the Dispenser Water Reservoir, and this time the Icemaker Water line. These were all due to the plastic tubing hardening and becoming brittle from the heat of the compressor.

For this repair, I not only replaced the cracked Icemaker Line, I replaced the Incoming Water Line with copper, and replaced the Dispenser Water Reservoir. If you have a leak in one of the plastic water lines around the Valve Assembly, I recommend you do the same.

The Icemaker Water Line instructions from Stephen from Raleigh was very helful and complete.

I found Scot from Fort Collin's instructions on replacing the Reservoir very helpful too. Although I found his comment that one line was too short, to not be the case. In fact I had to trim both lines because they were too long.

Scott from South Lake Tahoe's suggestion to use the old Reservoir Lines to fish the new ones is good. I used duct tape to attach them together instead of drip irrigation fittings, and it worked fine. It helps to have somebody at the back of the fridge to pull the line while you push it from inside the fridge.

The line to the door connection can be accessed by removing the grill at the bottom of the front of the fridge.

Pretty easy repair. Thanks to the other contributors for the help!

bought an push in, in line connector and a new 5/16 plastic hose. I just replaces 2 feet of plastic hose from the selonid up an splices the hose using the connector. Worked perfect.

Super simple... removed pnl in back connected the splice, added the new house, replaced the clip in the Ice Maker Tray....

Plastic water line gets brittle from compersor heat over time and eventually brakes. I tried to fix with 5/16 line from a locel hardware store but outter diameter was slightly smaller so connection to valve leaked. This OEM part fit perfect. I cut the line beyond the brake and connected it with the tube union part, Easy fix. Everything works fine with no leaks

There is no access to the inside of the door to replace the water line. I was able to insert a 1/4" drip line barbed connector into the old line at the base of the door and then connect that to a piece of the plastic tubing which I then connected back to the original water supply tubing with the 5/16" union. It took three attempts to get the tubing through the bottom hinge without a crimp in it. It's best to have a second person to hold the door while you "fish" the tubing through the hinge.

This part (plastic tubing) does not show up under my model of refrig...so I had to look thru the various water lines and pick the one that "looked" right. Luckily, this is the exact replacement part and works perfectly. I removed the lower back panel from the fridge, removed the bracket holding the water line connectors and pressed the outer ring of the coupler up until it released the old water line. I pushed in the new line, made sure it was snug with a gentle pull and ran the line under the fridge up to the existing coupler. I removed the old line from the existing coupler under the front left of the freezer door, and pushed in the new line. I did not need to use the new coupler. If my old line would not have been so brittle and cracked in several places, I could have just cut out the leaking portion and popped the new couple in to mend the line back together. Easy job and we can stop buying bottled water at the store now!