Lower Light Socket removed and Wires capped with wire nuts
My tenants moved out of my rental property and abandoned their refrigerator there. The freezer door would not close properly because someone had previously removed the lower door support bracket and failed to replace the lower bracket shim that positions the lower part of the freezer door properly out from the refrigerator cabinet causing the door gasket seal to bind before the freezer door was fully closed. I removed and replaced this lower door bracket with a new shim made up of serveral thicknesses of cardboard to achieve this spacing and freezer door now closes and seals properly. They had never connected a water supply to the refrigerator although this model is equiped with an ice maker and in door ice and cold water dispenser. The access panel on the back of the unit had been previously removed and discarded. I made up a new access panel from cardboard and connected the water line to the solenoid valve. Valve was so old it would barely open when valve energized and water flow was too slow to make proper sized ice cubes and fill a water glass. I purchased a new water solenoid valve and replaced ther original valve and cured that problem. Replacing the access panel cured an improper cooling problem because with panel removed, most of the air flow bypasses the condenser coils. Lastly I replaced the upper tubular light bulb and the lower light socket I purchased here and installed a 40 watt bulb in the new light socket. Presto! I was able to turn non working abandoned refrigerator into a workable unit.
Pulled out the ice bin and dumpted ice in the sink. Use 1/4 inch nut driver to take out all 1/2 inch screws. Be careful to watch how door spring and holder goes. Pull assembly apart and remove alger. Plastic nut on end of alger has reverse threads, remove it and then remove broken alger drum. Replace with new drum and reassemble in reverse order.
Fairly straight forward remove and replace. Tight limitations made it a little difficult but universal joint for socket set allow the best access to the screw that held the lever in place. Replacing the spigot onto the water line was a concern. The fit was so tight you must take care not to damage the plastic line.
1. Pull out drawer. 2. Remove screws to release the auger. 3. Unscrew the end of the auger. 4. Pull parts off. 5. Replace drum. 6. Replace parts in the correct order. 7. Twist end of auger back on. 8. Replace unit onto drawer and install mounting screws. 9. Place drawer in freezer. 10. Test ice dispenser. 11. Watch kitten run to refrigerator and beg for ice cube. 12. See smiles on family members faces.
I took out the ice bin and in the back where the auger meets the ice bin I had to replace the small plastic piece to hold the auger in place when using the automatic ice maker. It was an easy fix.
the process was pretty straight forward though the part came without instructions. We were able to replace the part improperly with ease. however, we were not able to get the pieces aligned properly for a long time. We ended up taking the door off many times to try to realign the pieces. After many hours I finally unscrewed the bottom cam while the door was in place. The piece popped into place and all was fixed. Had the part come with directions telling us to do this we would have replaced the cam within 15 minutes!
1. Put pieces of wood under door to support it. 2. Unscrew three screws holding door hinge. 3. Disconnect water line. 4. Unscrew screw holding each cam. One to door and one to hinge. 5 Replace cams. 6. Retrieve plate with threaded holes behind frame that the hinge attaches to. 7. Use thin philips screwdriver through the hinge bracket, shim, frame and screw plate to align it for the other two screws. 8. Replace all three hinge screws. 9. Connect water line fitting. 10. Remove wood for door support. 11. Check door for smooth movement and strong pressure when closed.
I was able to transfer my old ice maker from my old Roper Refrigerator/Freezer into my new Whirlpool Sidekick Freezer. Everything transferred directly except for the water fill tube. I ordered one on line and simply cut it to the right length, removed the cover plate inside the freezer compartment and the little sticker from the outside. Inserted tube and fastened in place with two screws (not provided but was able to use the screws that were in the holes inside the freezer before the ice maker went in. Works great. By not buying the ice maker with the freezer I saved a hundred bucks or so.
The old door gasket came loose and became trwisted. Door would not not close without effort and did not seal properly.
Heated new door gasket in clothes dryer for 10 minutes. Moved all food out of door into refrigerator proper. Removed door from refrigerator and laid flat on living room carpet. Placed a tarp over the refrigerator opening. Loosened nuts on door holding gasket in place. Removed old gasket as I went. Inserted new door gasket. Needed to use putty knife to get new gasket seated properly. Re-tightened nuts as I went. Rehung door on refrigerator.
Removed all ice from bin and let it thaw. Removed all screws and nuts from the front to release the ice crusher and the long bit. Had already printed out all the advice from others on the on-line section about taking photos and not getting the crusher blades out of order. Removed the clip with needle nose pliers and the washer. Removed the blades laying them down in exact order and direction they came off. Put on the new auger drum and reversed everything. It was nice to know that the plastic screw that held the clip is a reverse thread, otherwise we might have broken the dang thing. Too bad there aren't instructions with the part when you get it instead of just a diagram. All-in-all, it went well.
Removed door,layed on floor and worked myself around door. I had soaked gasket in hot water before hand but that did not remove wrinkles that well and made gasket stick out some when finished so had to keep adjusting gasket so door would close and still doing it, otherwise got to open freezer first before closing other door until I can get it adjusted.
My glass shelf shattered while i was cleaning the refrigerator and I was very skeptical at being able to find a replacement since the refrigerator is a 1991 model.
I ordered the shelf on-line halfway believing it would not fit - it arrived THE NEXT DAY and was the exact fit for the model. I was elated and the whole incident renewed my faith in customer service. PartsSelect was great and I will re-order for future needed repairs.
