Fresh Food Door Gasket

My refrigerator is 17 years old. The gasket seal around the door finally needed to be replaced. I ordered the part from Partselect.com. They had the cheapest price, including shipping. The part alone was still expensive, though, (almost $60!) for just being a piece of rubber.

There are little screws all around the inside of the refrigerator door, under which part of the gasket rests. A socket-set was needed to determine which one would fit the screws. The first step is to remove the old gasket. I discovered (the hard way!) that it makes sense to unscrew them a few at a time to remove the old gasket, and screw them back in, until you are ready to install the new one. My refrigerator door was not one "solid" piece. It is two pieces screwed together (with those little screws), and has insulation in the middle of the two pieces. If you unscrew too many at one time, the two pieces of the door will come apart, so don't do that.

When it was time to put the new gasket on, again, it made sense to do a few at a time. I started at the top of the door. Along with the screws, there is a metal rod that holds the gasket in place. Once you unscrew the screws, you place the back flap of the gasket underneath the metal rod. The gasket itself has holes that should line up with the holes for the screws. The rest of the gasket goes on top of the metal rod and screws. Then put the screws back in, using your socket wrench, and begin the next section (ie one side of the door). Work your way around the door, doing one side at a time. The bottom was the most difficult part to get to. Be careful not to run your fingers along the metal rod to push the gasket. I did cut my finger a bit. (Use something other than your finger to do the job.) The whole thing took me a while, but I got it done, while my HUSBAND sat and watched tv.

First I removed all the machine screws from
behind the fold of the gasket. Removed the metal
strips that hold the gasket in place as well as
the door shelves. Gently reattached the new gaskets, behind the metal strip and re-hung the shelves. A hot air blow dryer helped keep the gaskets flexible. Whole operation just takes a little patience.

loosened screws holding gasket, removed old gasket, installed new gasket tightening screws as I went from top first. The only problem I encountered was that the door did not fit correctly when I finished tightening the screws. It was tight at the top and open at the bottom (gasket not even touching refrigerator frame). I did not realize until then that the outer metal door is quite flimsy and is only made stiff by the molded plastic interior door liner and shelves. I simply had to loosen the screws I had just tightened, align the door by closing it and then tightening the screws so that the door retained that position.

Each side of the door had a metal strip bracket that was held in place by 1/4" sheet metal screws apprx. 8in. apart.. the outer lip of the gasket was tightened into these brackets..loosening the screws allowed the removal of the gasket from all 4 sides and corners..It was just the process of fitting the new gasket into the brackets that took the most time..making sure the new gasket was fitted all the way in for aligned proper fit,then tightening the screws evenly around the door frame..Then, 2 weeks later, this 27-year-old refrigerator's lower compressor went out,,and the refrigerator was history! YEAH!!

took old one off and put the new one on.