3XART731GB02 Whirlpool Refrigerator - Instructions

I have a side by side so in order to access the bi-metal switch I first had to empty out the freezer. The switch is clipped on to the top of the evaporator coil. I had to remove 8 screws to remove the back panel of the freezer compartment. The bi-metal switch was right there in plain view. There are two colored wires that come out of the switch. I tried pulling them out of the socket they were plugged into but gave up for fear of breaking something. I ended up cutting the wires and splicing them together. I used the plastic twist caps. I made sure when I closed everything back up that the open end of the caps were pointing down so no water can accumulate in them. It has been 3 days now and so far so good

DISCONNECT POWER. Removed all shelves/baskets.Popped upper panel off (just clips in) Removed 6 screws in lower back panel ( 3 each side) slid panel in place but down. You can then easily see the defrost thermostat/defrost termination switch. Cut the wire connectors (pink n brown wire) stripped back wire, attached new defrost thermostat. Thermostat clips on. New thermostat ohm's at 5.5, old one was "open". Slid cover back up meeting the upper cover grooves. Screwed lower panel in. Put shelves etc back in. Plugged in. Turns on, put a bottle of water in freezer. Checked a while later, frozen. has been frozen for a week.
-James

Parts arrived at 2:30PM.

Read instructions, gathered tools, and went to work. I'd already watched an online video at your site on how to do the repair.

Removed the hinge cover covering the hinge top by using a nut driver to remove the single screw holding it in place. (The video described an older frige and it did not have a screw. I figured that out when I finally went and got a ladder. I had tried to pop it out like the video shows.) There are three screws holding the hinge top in place. I tried using the nut driver to remove the screws but they were pretty firmly in place. I resorted to using my ratchet wrench and that made it easy. (Keep track of your screws, one of mine rolled under a cereal box on top of the frige and I thought I would never find it.)

I had emptied out all the items on the door of the frige, removing the shelves. It was easy to lift the door off of the bottom hinge and lay it on its side against the ladder. At this point I had my son hold the door steady (its kind of unwieldy and 'slippery' when you are trying to remove a screw from the bottom of the door.)

I removed the screw that held the plastic Door Closer, Upper Cam using the nut driver. I used a straight bladed screw driver to pry the old part out of the door (it has an insert for the hinge pin and it had been in place a long time). I also cleaned off the bottom of the frige door (you would be surprised what gets stuck on there - obviously someone spilled oranged juice on the floor and it splashed up on the bottom of the door). The old part had a lot of particle dust that came off it when I removed it. The new part popped right into place and I screwed it back in. The video shows that the repairman had to use a drill and tap set to rethread a larger hole but I just put the old screw back and it held fine. The video also showed the repairman adjusting the Door Stop Bracket but I didn't have to do that, the new cam installation wasn't impeded by the bracket.

I moved to the frige cabinet (again, good to have a second pair of hands to keep track of the door and not let it get damaged while I turned my attention to the Door Closer, Lower Cam. I used the nut driver to remove the screw holdin it to the hinge bottom. It came off easily (it practically fell apart and turned to dust). I placed the new cam and screwed it in using the old screw. No problem.

You could put the door back on with one person but it helps to have two. One to manhandle the door and the other to place it on the lower hinge post.

I put the upper hinge back on and put in the three screws but I left them lose so that I could adjust the door. When I tighted the single screw closest to the door after positioning the door, we tested how it opened and it was hitting the side of the interior cabinet when it closed - you could feel it dragging and it made a clunk/swoosh sound. We readjusted the door using the outside upper corner as a guide and retightened the screw. This time there was no problem. We tighted the other two screws using the ratchet wrench and then put the plastic hinge cover back on with the single screw using the nut driver.

Took us about 25 minutes and made my wife very happy (biggest benefit). The door now 'locks' open and 'locks' closed just like when we bought it and the two doors are aligned (level accross the top) which should have been a dead giveaway that the door closing cams had worn down.

Done by 3:00PM.

Remove side handle from the freezer door ...pop out the black panel from the ice/water dispenser... you need to bend it a little bit to remove... un snap the electrical connections ...the plastic connectors, not from the fridge or the back of the panel,there are plastic connectors (white) in the middle between the fridge & the plastic outside panel.I needed a thin knife to lift the connector snaps to pull the pieces apart. It's not a bad idea to note how they match up so you can put it back properly. unscrew the white panel. There are two screws remove panel.I had to cut the micro switch out of the old style panel. the new panel is much more precise. By the way, if you are replacing the micro switch, it's a good thing to know, there are two. One is for the ice maker, the other is for the water dispenser. You might as well replace both at the same time even if one is working it will save you having to do this again anytime soon.Snap the micro chip into place & thread the wires back through the control panel screw the panel back into the door snap the wires togeather. now test the water dispenser just to be sure. Now arm wrestle the panel back in to the tracks. This is the hardest part. Why it doesn't just slide in is beyond me. Must have been designed by a guy!!! It really is easy & it saved me $300.

I removed the screw holding the spring steel retainer/clip using a quarter inch ratchet wrench a swivel with a quarter inch socket and a short extention, then just installed the new one. This spring steal through the door ice maker / water despenser lever spring was an easy fix.
I found you by googling appliance repair parts, and found your site really easy to use. I couldn't believe how fast the part came and the very reasonable price. I put you on my web browser's favorites.
Thanks,
Ron

due to over filling and closing the drawers with the door and kicking, the plastic runners broke. Also, over filling the drawers did not help.
AS for the repair, the only difficulty was getting the right drawer in the right spot. Since I replaced both the veggie and meat drawer at the same time, I got them confused. On drawer is longer than the other. other than that, no problem.

First removed the outside cover plate which was some what scary not to break plastic cover. Had read about another discription of removal of cover to start from the bottom because the top is inserted in slots that would have broken if removed from the top. After cover plate removed it was simple to remove the broken parts and install the new parts. The most difficult part to put back in was the spring and rod had to be inserted the same time.

Found the control bracket housing had broken and micro switch for the water pump was not making contact with mechanical link. (In other words when you put a cup under the dispenser and push water did NOT come out.)

I removed the faceplate and switches, removed all the switches and installed them in the new control bracket. Installed new control bracket into fridge and tested. Works! Reinstalled faceplate and switches and drained system for a few minutes. Man I forgot how good filtered water tasted!

The tiny piece of plastic that holds the wire that shuts off the icemaker, broke early on with our fridge (after just a few months.) We superglued it, but last week it bit the dust for good.

Once I got this part, I removed the freezer door and trays, and pulled the icemaker out by removing 3 flathead screws and unplugging the cables. Laying in the freezer on the floor was a bit unconfortable, but not too bad.

Then I inspected the icemaker. There was no obvious way to remove the part without disassembling the front of the unit (where the motor is) to release the spindle and free the part, so I did that - 3 or 4 nuts was all that held it together. Once that was out, I removed the spindle, swapped out the part, and put it all back together and back in the freezer. Plugged it in and waited.

It took a while to start making ice. Like 5 hours. Now it's going pretty slow (much slower than before.) Haven't had time to look into it, but my suspicion is the rubber hose that feeds water into the icemaker is blocked with ice or kinked. In any case, we have ice now (but not a lot), and the unit shuts itself off properly. However, we went from having too much ice (thing never shut off) to too little (thing makes ice too slow), so I need to shoot for somewhere in the middle ;)

I removed the outer ice/water dispenser cover following directions I found on-line (push down and gently pry out at the bottom). I then removed several nut-head screws which were holding a plastic plate which had the door light and electric control wiring mounted in it. Behind that I found a broken tab on the Control Bracket which was why my water dispencer was not working and I found the chute door for the ice maker was chewed up which allowed warm air into the chute and was causing my ice build up problem. Replacing the Control Bracket was easy. Just note how things come apart. Putting the chute door in was a little more complicated, but again, note how things come apart and you should not have a problem putting it back together.

Removed food itmes on broken shelf. Removed old glass shelf cover. Removed broken shelf bracket. Installed new shelf bracket. Intalled new glass shelf cover. Replaced food items back on shelf

a simple replacement

Removed four screws from ice maker motor/light support.Then unplugged electrical plug from side of freezer.Used two slip joint pliers to remove coupler from motor shaft. installed new coupler to shaft hand tight as will tighten as motor is run.Then reversed tear down order.
Ice dispenser works better than when we first got the refrigerator

The plastic lower door closing cam was worn down. Replacing it was very simple: remove the top door hinge by unscrewing three nuts; lift the door off the lower hinge; unscrew and remove the lower door hinge; screw the new plastic lower door closing cam on to the new door hinge; screw the new lower door hinge; lift the door back on to the lower door hinge; screw the top door hinge.

The design of this refrigerator door (it's a side-by-side) is somewhat unbelievable. The door is designed to hold things, yet when you do the weight of the door wears out the lower door cams. The cams are designed to "complete the door closing", i.e. when you gently push on the door the cam mechanism takes over. When the cams wear, the door fails to close. Note to others - you may mistakenly think that the failure of the door to close is related to the seal; it is not.

The repair is quite easy; remove the upper cover, using a not driver (socket), then remove the upper door bracket. Make sure you hold the door or have someone else hold it. After the fasteners are removed gently lift up on the door and remove it from the lower cam assembly. You will see two plastic cam pieces; one on the lower bracket and one on the door. Both need to be changed to effectively "renew" the door closing mechanism. Once the cams are replaced the door can be reassembled to the refrigerator.