36348042891 Kenmore Refrigerator - Instructions

Unplugged refrigerator, removed three screws to take out part, disconnected the wires and removed bad unit. Removed fan blade from old unit and attached to the new unit. Attached wires, placed the new motor back in. Plugged it back in, within 20 minutes panel between freezer and refrigerator was cool to touch.

Frig and freezer were defrosting and refreezing other than normal. Home warranty contractor told me ice maker was faulty. Purchased new ice maker. Unplugged frig, loosened 2 screws with nut driver. unplugged old ice maker, lifted old ice maker out. Took old fill cup off old unit and put on new unit since new fill cup was a different size. Swapped ice maker insert from old to new unit. Plugged in new ice maker, slid over the 2 screws, tightened, and plugged in frig power. New ice maker works fine but still have defrosting and refreezing problem. Figure old ice maker probably works just fine. New contractor still trying to solve problem. Have had problems with this GE Monagram keeping proper temps since it was new in 2005, don't recommend it.

Order 2 cams as recommended in other posts.
I didn't realize until the project was finished that the 2 cams fit together to tilt the door toward the refrigerator and force the door to catch.
1. Removed all items from door storage.
2. Removed top hinge cover held by single screw and top hinge plate held by two bolts.
3. Lifted up door to clear bottom hinge pin and removed door.
4. Turned door upside down and removed bottom hinge assembly held on by two bolts.
5. Replaced upper cam located on bottom of door and screwed the hinge assembly back on to bottom of door.
6. Drilled out the rivet that holds the lower cam to the bottom hinge pin.
7. Removed old lower cam and and replaced with new cam and secured to lower hinge assembly with pan head screw and nut (instead of rivet).
NOTE: The metal shim that goes between the cam riser & door was also broken, we used a small washer instead of the replacement shim.
8. Replaced door back onto lower hinge pin and secured upper hinge pin with original bolts.
9. Placed cover on upper hinge assembly and secured with original screw.
This is a project my husband and I completed together :)
Perhaps we will store lighter items on the door to lessen the chances of the cams deteriorating again.

Troubleshooting was easy - others had the same problem - coils freeze over and frost blocks air flow to refrigerator - part identification made easier by online picture - many parts look the same so you may want to call and confirm before you order (there were variations to this model number) - To repair: take off five screws that hold the metal panel on the back of the freezer - remove the panel - use a heat gun or hair dryer to melt ice from the coils (put a towel at the bottom to soak up the water) - unplug the kit at the top of the freezer and carefully pull off the thermostat clipped to the coil - remove the four screws that hold the heater kit to the back of the freezer - install the new kit where the old one was then re-install the panel to the back of the freezer - next, make time to clean the condenser coils under the refrigerator/freezer

Couldn't find schematic or repair manual
Finally found your site which showed the location and part numbers of the timer and heaters.
I ordered them; they came immediately.
I replaced only the timer, since it was the easiest and took only a few minutes. Defrosting the frezer coils with a hair dryer took about an hour.
Rerigerator froze over again in about two weeks.
I then replaced the heaters. One of the heaters was 'open circuit'.

I read over the other posts here and went with jacking up the fridge door and setting it on (2) 2x4 studs. A nut driver was used to remove the bottom hinge. I then drilled out the rivet that held the old cam in place and then used a 3/16 rivet to secure the new cam. A rivet is not necessary as you can also use a nut and bolt to hold the cam in place. It took less time to order the part and install it than it did to drive over to the appliance parts store and pick it up. I ordered around 10 am and the part was here the next day at 2:00 (without special delivery costs). By 2:30 it was on my fridge.

First, I made a mistake. I took all the screws out and removed the gasket. This allowed the door tray to drop loose. Then, I realized that wasn't the way to go. So I remounted the door tray and the metal gasket supports but left the screws loose. Then, starting at the top, I worked the new gasket in behind the metal supports and tightened the screws along the way. I completed the installation by following this same method down the sides and at the bottom.

Shut off power to the refrige. Removed old icemaker, using large hammer. Installed new unit.

This is a sibe-by-side refrigerator/freezer that needed a new lower hinge set for the fridge door.

First I removed everything from inside the fridge door, closed it, then loosened the top hinge bolts with an 8mm socket on a 1/4-inch ratchet. Using an 8mm nutdriver, I removed one bolt and loosed the other just far enough to be able to lift the hinge and swing it out of the way. (These bolts are long. The nutdriver is faster than the ratchet but you need a ratchet or a wrench to first break them loose.) Then I just lifted the door off the bottom hinge and set it aside.

The plastic lower front grill was covering the lower hinge but that grill is just held at the ends by spring clamps -- popped off easily so I could get to the hinge bolts. Again, 8mm bolts, just remove & replace hinge. I also had to replace the upper half of the door closer cam, which is screwed to the bottom of the door, being careful that the holes lined up: cam, shim, door holes.

Now the tricky part was lifitng the door back on the lower hinge. (It helps to have an assistant at the bottom to locate the hole for you.) Once the door was up, I swung the top hinge over, ran the two bolts in finger tight with my nutdriver, checked & adjusted the spacing* of the fridge door and tightened the bolts. This was all very easy! (*^_^*)

*On a side-by-side, you'll want the door to be straight up & down with a consistent gap top to bottom with the freezer door. The hinge has some slack for adjustment by positioning the door, then tightening the bolts. You'll see what I mean.

New ice maker only used 2 screws and the old one had 3. This was no problem. The old ice maker had already been removed. Just loosen the 3 screws and unplug the cord to ice maker. Only problem with ice maker was with the cord, which I had to use the supplied adapter. It was too long and in the way when reinstalling the ice bin. The ice bin had a small notch area on the bottom left. I used a plastic tie to bundle the cord into the notch. Carefully placed ice bin and no problem. The first part I received was damaged and was replaced 2 days later by a brand new part. Customer service charged for the replacement part but said they would credit my charge card within 2 to 3 weeks for the damaged part. Its been a week and if they follow thru like the said I woild give Part Select 5 Stars for service and Parts.

Replaced several things: evaporator fan motor, defrost heater element & defrost timer. The motor was the key problem but did the other repairs because they are common failures and are easy to replace and are not that expensive. Changing the motor was tedious because of tight access to it. Took about 2 hrs for me. Fan is working properly but not have a problem with water to ice maker not shutting off. I'm researching that problem. (I replace the water valve 2 hrs ago. That was a simple task - took 15 mins.)

1) I removed the icemaker and placed on work table.
2) I pried the front plastic cover from the control box to expose the front base.
3) I removed the three mounting screws from the base (it is not necessary to remove the screw in the plastic gear) and removed the front base. This exposed the back base
4) Using an ohmmeter, I was able to isolate a bad contact on one of the three microswitches in the control box (the one that was mounted to the back base). Replacing this microswitch solved the problem.

Poped out with screwdriver the old swithch and unplugged the two wires. Plugged in the wires to the new swithch and pushed it back in the hole where the old switch was before.

Got part overnight. Unscrewed cover plate at top of regerator compartment, disconnected old part, connected new part. Screwed back plate. Voila!

I saved a bunch of money!

Removed top hinge and electrical connector (freezer door has ice and water dispensers) then had to turn off water supply to unit and disconnect the hose to the door and remove the spring protector from the hose -- this required removal of the compression fittings in the water line so spring would come off of the tube. Then removed bottom hinge from the door and used saw to remove the rivet that had held the cam to the hinge, used a nut and bolt to attach new cam. Put other cam (used two) in the hinge and replaced lower hinge unit on the door. Then reattached both hinges to the refrigerator and lined up the door put the spring protector and compression fittings back on plastic tubing and reconnected the water supply and electric fitting, turned on water to unit and prayed there were no leaks. Prayer was answered, the water dispenser worked properly and the ice maker filled with water so I then replaced the hinge cover on top of the unit and the grill at the bottom and had a pepsi. A few years ago I had replaced the cams on the other door which had no water/electic connections and was a much simpler job.