36358042894 Kenmore Refrigerator - Instructions

There were not two screws as the instructions said. There was only one screw and I had to firmly pull it out after taking out the one screw. Then, to put the new one in, I had to line up two slots on two knob-like things and push it in firmly. Then screw the one screw in.

Other than the two-screw problem, it was easy.

The replacement ice maker that GE supplies for my old refrigerator is a little different than the original. The electrical plug changed from a round plug to a square one. They include an adapter for it, but DON'T USE IT. There's not enough room for the bulky cord and connector. I got a much cleaner installation by taking apart the old and the new ice maker, and then splicing in the old connector into the new ice maker. You need to carefully unscrew a circuit board inside to wire it in, and it'll be more secure if you solider 3 wires instead of using crimp connectors. The instructions also tell you to use your old 'ice breaker', but it won't fit on the new ice maker. I just left the new ice maker's ice breaker on, and it seems to work perfect.

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.

Remove freezer contents, shelves, and interior back-panel. Melt all ice on freezer coolang coil with hair dryer. Be careful not to touch to coling fins on the coils with the hair dryeer since they damage easily. Unplug the old heater coil wire harness at the top of the coils. Gently remove the thermocouple clipped to the top coil. Gently remove the wires leading down to the heater coil at the bottom-back of the freezer. Remove the old heater by removing the two mounting screws. Install new heater by reversing the steps above.
Good luck.
Ps. When the heater coil fails the result is, both the freezer and refridgerator sides get warm and food spoils. A good indicator to watch for is frost building up in the freezer on the interior back-panel. I taped cheap thermometers in both side to help mointor the temperature in case it happens again.

First turned off power and removed top shelf.
Then I used a flathead to slowly pry the switch out by the two sides. You just anlge ita bit and it slideds out easily. Then I disconnected the wires from the old switch, connected the new one and installed the new switch by snapping it back into the cutout.

The problem with this model is usually a burned out heater assembly, when the freezer is still freezing, but the fresh food section is warm. To check, first disconnect power from refrigerator. Remove food and then shelves from freezer section. Remove the screws that hold the back freezer panel in place. Remove back panel and the coils will be exposed. If they are covered in ice the heater is most likely the problem. At the bottom of the coils below the heater assembly is a drain hole plug this hole with a rag. Place a large towel in bottom of freezer pan beneath the coils to catch the water. I do not recommend any method to melt the ice from the coils but a hair dryer, do not chip at the ice or you will most likely damage the coils. After you have defrosted the coils and removed all water from the unit, remove the two screws that hold the heater element in place, this element is directly below the coils. Look at the element, if it is burnt black, this is a tell tale sign it is bad. If that is the case it will need to be replaced. Remove the electrical wires located on te end of unit, the new unit will have instructions with it, reconnect the electrical wires per instructions, remount heater with the same mounting screws that held it in place. Be sure to remove rag from drain hole, replace back freezer panel with screws, replace shelves, and plug refrigerator back in. If your problem was a cold freezer section but a warm fresh food section this should fix your problem. In conclusion, this problem and the fix for it is indicative to these model's ge refrigerator's

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.

1. Unplug, remove control knob from both temp control sliders, remove upper light bulb and light shield from refrigerator compartment. 2. Remove screw holding top of bracket control mod in place. 3. Lift bottom tab from slot and remove control mod from ref compartment. 3. Unplug temperature control and defrost timer and replace. (Each are held in place with two screws.) 4. Replace control mod. This part took me the longest because the space between the top of the control mod and the top of the ref. compartment is very small and replacing the nut was difficult. Use a nut driver with a long shaft. 5. Use screw driver to turn control button of defrost timer to start cycle. 6. Replace bulb cover and light bulb. 7. Set temp control to initial setting. 8. Have a Margarita and celebrate. It's been over a week and the refrigerator/freezer is working perfectly.

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.

The icemaker's valve is easy to inspect and test. First, gently pull the refrigerator away from the wall, and unplug it. Turn off the water supply to the icemaker by closing the shut-off valve in the copper waterline leading to the valve. Use a screwdriver or nutdriver to remove the rear lower access panel from the refrigerator's back.

Next, remove the fill tubing from the water valve. Use a wrench to loosen the flare nut on the brass fitting on the inlet side of the valve (above). Place a container or towel under the valve to catch the small amount of water that will spill from the valve and tubing.

Now use a screwdriver or a nutdriver to remove the screw holding the valve's mounting bracket to the refrigerator cabinet. Pull the valve out of the compartment and remove the tube (or tubes if both water dispenser & ice maker) on the valve's outlet. If plastic tubes don't come out with pliers and assuming there is enough extra tubing, then cut the plastic tubing with a even straight cut edge razor. Then, remove the solenoid's electrical contacts.

Push the plastic water and ice tubes int he appropriate holes in the new valve outlet, reconnect solenoids and remount new water valve.

Before installing the back panel on the refrigerator cabinet, test run the icemaker. Look for leaks, and tighten any leaky connections. If necessary, use Teflon tape or a similar product to ensure tight connections. Discard the first ice cubes that are produced because they are likely to have sediment in them.

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.

First unplug the refrigerator!

Removed the top shelf of the refrigerator. Pulled off the knobs from the temp slider controls. Popped the cover off of the light and temp control section. This Hotpoint model has both
thermostat and defrost timer easily accessible in the refrigerator compartment. Used a socket set
driver to loosen the screws and remove the
temp control section and unplugged the wire connectors. This freed the whole temp control
section. On the workbench removed the old
thermostat by unscrewing the screws with a socket driver. Unplugged the wires from the old thermostat then put the new one in. Then put the
new one in the same holes, reconnected the
wires and reassembled the everything. Then
simply put this temp control box back in the
original place (and reconnect the wire plugs)
and put the screws back in . The hardest part is re-aligning the holes and the control levers, but this is not too bad.

Plugged it back in and so far it has been turning
on and off normally. (The old thermostat contacts
were oxidized so I think this was the problem).

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.