10689482998 Kenmore Ice Maker - Instructions

This ice maker is really a Kitchenaid appliance.

1. Remove all ice and drain water pan by removing drain cap.
2. Disconnect waterline and unplug ice maker
3. Set icemaker on a work bench unless you like working on your knees, head down.
4. Remove flip out chute and ice scoop bracket.
5. Remove water pan by removing thumb screws
6. Remove single 1/4" head cap screw that holds plastic cover over pump.
7. Remove discharge hose from pump. Pull clear plastic 1/8" diameter water supply line from notch in left edge of pump base.
8. Remove three cap screws holding pump. Two are visible. The third one is behind the pump and requires an 8" extension on the socket.
9. After the three screws are removed the pump drops down. The electric connection must be unplugged. Pinch the tabs on either side to release the plug.
10. Reverse procedure to install new pump. Unless you have really small hands or love being frustrated, don't bother to reinstall the third screw that is behind the pump. The pump stays in place just fine without that screw.
11. After reinstalling the icemaker, clean thoroughly by washing all inside surfaces with a strong bleach solution.
12. Run a cleaning cycle with one quart of strong bleach solution in the water tray. At the conclusion of the cleaning cycle, drain the water tray. Place unit into service. DON'T FORGET TO CLEAN REGULARLY. If the water supply is not chlorinated molds and algae will develop in recirculation hose.

I removed the 2 screws on each side of the grid and disconnected the electrical plugs attached to the grid. I slid the broken unit out. I then carefully slid the new unit in making sure not to pinch any of the electrical wires. I replaced the mounting screws, plugged the 3 connectors back into place and turned the ice maker back on. I had ice cubes within a couple of hours

I removed the cutter grid and unplugged the light bulb and wire heating plug ins. I slid the front cover plate off the cutting grid and loosened the screws on the front of the cutter grid and unthreaded the broken, top grid wire, leaving the bottom wire in place as it was in tact.
I then threaded the new wire through the cutting grid frame starting in the center and threading right and then left. While the threading was not difficult, the wire was easily kinked. The process up to this point was only 15 minutes or so.

Once it was completely threaded, I worked for a couple of hours trying to smooth and straighten the wire so that is was somewhat taut and straight enough to create symetrical ice cubes.
My frustration came in pulling on the wire from the center point to each outside ending point where it was to be wrapped around the screw and the screw tightened back down. The wire was fragile enough that it would break, by the time I was finished I barely had enough wire left to touch the screw let alone hook around the screw.
After 3 or four days of successful opperation, the grid quit cutting again. As I took it apart, it was obvious that the weight of the ice was enough to pull the wire, that was already too short, away from the screw. I refastened it again, but think it is unlikely to hold.
If it won't hold, I would be hard pressed to purchase another wire. I may bite the bullet and purchase the entire grid mechanism with the wires already installed. Even though the cost of the entire grid mechanism is $200 more than the purchase of another wire, it may well be worth the ease of installation!

Followed instructions supplied. It was relatively easy and the parts fit exactly right. Sears wanted twice as much for the part and service would have charged me another $100 to come to my home. I saved over $100 doing the project myself.

First I removed the cutter grid assembly by removing two screws. Also disconnect the wire that powers the grid. Once on the bench, simply remove the broken cutter wire. String in the new wire, starting at one end and working back and forth to the other end. Tighten the terminal screw on the first end, and then "strum" the wires, one at a times, pulling the wires taught. Pull the excess wire thru the second terminal, until all wires are taught, with equal tension. Tighten the second terminal screw, and cut off excess wire at both ends. Re-assemble cutter grid into Ice Maker.
Problem solved!

In pre-replacement of the circulation pump, i had read a story about how to make sure you cover the drain hole to prevent hardware from falling down it. Well I followed the instructions in doing so by covering the hole with a paper towel. After removing the pump i noticed some build up behind it. So like any other person i cleaned it up, and i just happened to use the paper towel covering the hole. Im sure you know what im going to tell you next. When replacing the pump i dropped a screw and yes down the drain it went. After a few laughs between my boss and I, I had to share this. When you block the drain with something leave it THERE until the job is done.

I removed the cutter cover in the front of the ice maker (3 screws), than removed the circulating pump cover (1 screw). Remove the drain tube from the cover before removing the cover from the icemanker. The drain tube is removed by pulling straight down and twisting. Remove the circulating pump, utilizing the 4 inch extension (3 screws). Reinstalled all in reverse.

Note: install a plug in the drain hole in the bottom of the ice maker (paper towel etc). I dropped a screw on the installation and it fell in the drain hole. It did not impede the drain flow. It has now found a new home.

Unplugged ice maker from power source. Removed water reservoir using wing nut driver. Removed pump cover using nut driver. Removed water hose from pump discharge. Removed wiring harness from pump. Removed small water fill hose from pump bracket. Removed 3 screws holding pump assembly using nut driver. Replaced pump in reverse order. Plugged in ice maker and watched it begin to fill with ice within the hour. A very straightforward repair. Saved myself about $500 compared to the estimate that Sears gave me.

remove tray from icemaker by removing 2 screws and disconnecting 2 electrical connectiona. Remove broken wire and restring new wire. Reinstall tray.

removed the front cover below the compartment door,removed the 2 screws holding the valve to the case and removed the water lines from the valve.The process was reversed to install the new valve.

Removed the grid. Removed the existing top to bottom wire. Restrung the grid with the new wire. Then, it cut ice just fine-better than new. Note: wire provided is only sufficient to rewire side to side or top to bottom, not both. If you need to do both, you'll need 2. Yes, lots of money for a few feet of wire.

Unscrewed clamp holding water tube to refrigerator ice maker. Pulled water tube from ice maker and water valve inlet. Cut the new tubing to the exact same length and inserted one end to the water valve inlet and the other end to the ice maker then screwed clamp holding water tube back to the refrigerator ice maker.

The post I read said start at the middle and work your way out towards the left and right. This was incorrect. All I did was secure one end to the torx screw and tighten it down. I then slowly pulled the wire as tight as I could around each insulator, going slow so as to not kink the wire (very easy to do). Once I was at the other torx screw I used a pair of linesman plyers to gently tug each wire tighter, I needed an extra pair of hands to hold the grid down. Once everything was tight I wrapped the last torx screw and tightened. Here's what no one is saying, you will not get the wire as tight as it originally was but that's ok. After I got everything reinstalled the ice maker is making ice like a champ.

removed broken wire, replaced with new wire and screwed the 6 tensions screws to tighten the grid wire.

Water was not being drawn from the reservoir to the evaporator plate, so I concluded that the recirculation pump had failed. I first unplugged the machine from electrical power. To improve access to the pump, I removed the cutter grid using a nut driver and squeezing the electric connections to separate them. I also removed the reservoir, first removing the drain pipe by pulling it downward and the using pliers to loosen the thumbscrews until I could turn them by hand. I then thoroughly cleaned both the cutter grid and the reservoir to improve performance once the repair was done. The pump is covered by a solid plastic screen attached by just one nut, which is removed easily with the nut driver. The pump itself is attached with three screws which are easily removed with the nut driver and by an electrical connection which loosens by squeezing. Indeed, Upon examination, i found that the pump shaft was stuck solid and did not turn freely, explaining why it did not work. Replacing the pump, reattaching the three screws and reattaching the electric connection was pretty easy except for the right rear screw behind the pump which was hard to reach to guide the screw without a trick up my sleeve. The trick was to wrap scotch tape around the screw and the nut driver so that I could guide the screw one-handed. Once the screw threaded through a few turns, I jerked back the nut driver, pulling the tape off the screw. I then removed the tape from the nut driver and continued to tighten that screw and the rest, and then reattached the electrical connection. I then reattached the screen, the reservoir and the cutter grid, then plugged my machine back into the electric circuit and was pleased to watch it hum back to life, good as new and performing better than it was before the pump had failed.