Door Mullion Spring DA81-01345B

OMG seriously! I stopped into my go-to appliance repair shop to ask about what might be needed to repair the problem with my refrigerator door. They said you will need to replace the Mullion Flap piece. Cost would be $250-300 with part, labor and service. I went on line to see if I could handle the repair process myself. I found a How to - U Tube video and turns out I only needed to replace a little spring and pin not the whole Mullion Flap. Went to Parts select, ordered the spring and pin and did the repair myself in about 5 minutes. Shipping was $7 so I ended up paying $13 total.

The installation video notes that the door mullion spring has a bent end, and that the bent end of the spring is to be inserted into the LOWER hinge. However, on my refrigerator door, the bent end of the door mullion spring must be inserted into the UPPER hinge in order for the door to function properly. (Also noted that in your video the installer manually closed the door mullion rather than just closing the refrigerator door, another indication that the installation of the spring was incorrect.) After watching the video several times to confirm I was installing the door mullion spring according to the video instructions, I tried inserting the bent end of the door mullion spring into the upper hinge, which proved to be the correct installation of the door mull spring. What should have been a 5 minute repair turned into an ½ hour repair.

I just replaced the broken spring and the little plastic cylinder that goes over the end of one part of the spring. I placed the plastic part on first and slid it in place, then had to bed the other end of the spring a little bit to place it in the hole. But once it went in, the door worked perfectly. And I'm a 70 yr old woman. So if I can do it, anyone can.

Placed new spring pin and new spring in place with pliers-10 seconds tops. HOWEVER!! Your instruction video is INCORRECT. Spring must be placed opposite of video with bent side toward million otherwise million is flipped outward not held closed. Two frustrating days before I figured that out.

There is a pretty good video about this on youtube, but complications arose nonetheless. The replacement spring supplied by Partselect is a bit different from the original in two ways. First, it is made of heavier-gauge wire; this is a good thing for durability, but it makes installation tougher. Second, the ends of the spring, which are bent at right angles to the spring axis in order to fit into the plastic sleeves that hold the spring ends, are far too long. Once I figured this out, i snipped the ends down by a quarter inch or so, and they fit into the sleeves just fine after a certain amount of persuasion from needle-nose pliers. All things considered, it was a bit harder than it should have been, but the door works now, so all is well.

Went to You Tube and saw video on how to replace broken mullion spring. Ordered part online (more than one in case one broke -very cheap <$3.00 per part). Watched video twice and was able to follow instructions and insert spring correctly. Not difficult if you pay attention to details on how the spring must fit and which end goes where. The door works perfectly!

Following the YouTube video - referenced in the PartSelect Website -
First installed the Spring Pin on the Mullion - Then inserted the top end of the Spring into the SPRING PIN - then while holding the spring in place with a left hand finger - using needle-nose pliers in my right hand I manipulated the other end ( the lower end) of the spring into the receiving hole on the door .. DONE!

Just opened the french door took the new plactic sleeve placed it on the upper end of the spring and then inserted into the upper hole first then with a little pressure turned the bottom end of the spring and placed it into the lower hole.

pushed new spring in.

By hand. It was a very easy fix!