KSSS42MDX05 KitchenAid Refrigerator - Instructions

Power down the refrigerator with the disconnect switch under the upper panel. Empty the freezer. Remove the bins and shelves. Use nutdriver to remove the screws holding the back trim panel in place. Remove the panel. Take picture of the wire connections going to the motor. Remove the motor mounting bracket. Remove old motor/fan assembly from bracket. Press new fan blade onto new motor. Transfer each wire from old assembly to matching location on new motor. Mount new motor to bracket. Remount bracket to freezer. Reinstall back panel. Turn power back on. Enjoy quiet refrigerator.

I wasn't sure what the problem was, but the ice maker seemed simple and on-line resources suggested the control and motor assemblty was at fault. I searched the internet and Partsource had great diagrams which I could match to the part in hand. The price was right (way less than the local stores) so I ordered it.
I unplugged the unit from the power in the freezer, but unplugging the entire refrigerator works too. I pried off the white cover on the front of the ice maker, which snaps in place top and bottom. There are three screws holding the contoller (the entire front piece), remove them, pull off the controller and push the new one in place. You may have to turn the blade shaft to line up the notch on the shaft to the motor. Then reinstall the three screws, The screws go into plastic so it is easy to cross thread them, so be careful, I actually think I did with no ill effects. Snap on the cover and repower the unit. Done. Simple and quick.

First, I removed the two screws that hold the metal grille on the bottom front of the refrigerator, under the doors. I removed the grille panel. The drip pan rests on two tracks directly under the coils. There is a small spring clip that needs to be pushed upward to allow the drip pan to slide forward. I removed the old drip pan, and slid the new one all the way into place.
I then replaced the bottom front grille using the screws on each end.

I removed the grate at the top of the refrigerator and then removed the upper hinge plate. I also disconnected the spring return at the bottom of the door. Lifting the door up allowed it to be removed and laid down on the floor. Then I replaced the hinge stop and Gap cover on the bottom hinge.
I then set the door on the lower hinge, reinstalled the upper hinge plate and reattached the return spring on the bottom of the door.

Icecubes came out half-way, and refrooze. I figured out, that the melter does not work (HEATER in the icemaker) Voltage measured 105V no load. Studied the Internet, and folloved an advice: shorted the back wire and the blackwire with white stripes.these go to relay contacts. It seems, that the relay contacts are no good on Infrared receiver boaed. I turn off manually the icemaker, when needed

The on-line video and the hard-copy instructions with the replacement part made it very easy. Just loosened the 2 upper screws and took out the bottom one. Eased the ice maker out a bit and disconnected the plug at the back (power was off). Checked the replacement part had exactly the same wiring harness - it did. Fitted the bail arm from the old one. So simply did the same process in reverse. So 15-20 minutes after I started, the job was compelete. It takes a while for ice to start coming, but it did, and after 24 hours I threw out the ice and started again to make sure the ice came from fresh water.

The ice mold has a coating on it. Over time the coating deteriorates. If your ice maker leaks water into the ice reservoir inspect the mold to see if the coating is compromised. If so, replace with new.

Remove the ice maker assembly. 3 small hex screws. Unplug power cord. Disassemble ice maker assembly. Remove ice mold/heater. Replace with new. Reassemble.

Looking at the ice maker it is pretty cut & dried as to how to remove the unit. I took out the ice tray and just started removing all the mounting screws. The same for the mold ice tray & heating element. I was just sad that you did not have just the heating element separate from the mold ice tray.

Take pictures of original setup in case you need to refer back and turn off power at the panel. Remove the White panel in the back of the freezer ( 16 screws). Unscrew two screws holding the motor / fan blade and remove. Remove the hot/neutral and ground wires and remove the motor/fan unit. You will have to use the old brackets as the new motor does not come with them so don't throw the old motor just yet. The brackets will have to be removed from the old motor by removing two 1/4 screws and placing the brackets onto the new motor in the same fashion. Once this is complete, just reassemble new motor in reverse order. since the fan has to fit into a tight opening and the mounting brackets have to line up to screw the whole unit in, I assembled everything lightly tightened and mounted the unit to make sure the screws lined up and the fan blade had clearance in the fan opening so that it did not rub. Since the bracket screws are not 100% tightened, this allows some wiggle room to adjust. Once everything is lined up, tighten all bracket screws 100%. Insert the wires and your ready to go. Reinstall the White panel and 16 screws. Motor has been working great since installation.

It was so easy!

Thanks for the rush to my home on the part.

I just unscrewed the plate that locks in the light switch (screwdriver) and unplugged the old faulty part and plugged in the new switch, screwed the cover back on and I was done!

Easy!

And I am not Mr. Fix-it!

Had to disassemble ice maker to install part. . .

After reading trouble shooting this problem I order a thermostat and figured it was worth the try, The part was less than $70.00 and having a reapairman come out would have been more then that just for the service call. Thermastat ended up being the problem, refregerator runninng fine now. Took less than 30 minutes to remove a replace part and probably saved twice that over calling in a repairman.

The lining of the ice mold (Whirlpool) started flecking off (black flecks in the ice cubes), so I decided to replace the mold.
Loosen the two 1/4 inch upper nuts and remove the lower nut to remove the ice maker from the freezer. The hardest part was getting it unplugged. I used a small blade screwdriver to release the catch on the connector and pull it out.
Remove the ice maker front cover. If you have a skinny enough phillips screw driver, there are two deep set screws through two holes on the lower portion of the control module (otherwise, remove the three screws on the controller, unlatch the shut-off arm from the control module, and separate the controller to access the mold screws). Unhook the shut-off wire from the end of the tray. Unscrew the two screws holding the mold and remove the mold.
Remove the plastic hardware from the old mold and install on the new mold.
Attach the new mold on to the control module.
WARNING WARNING WARNING!!! The mold I bought already had the alumilastic on it for the contact point to the thermostat. When I installed it and tightened the screws, the alumilastic was dried out, didn't squash down, and dented the bi-metal thermostat on the controller, ruining it. I had to buy a new thermostat. Be sure to check that the alumilastic is pliable. If not, take it off and buy some fresh to put on there.
Re-install the ice maker. It took a while to get the first batch of ice because the ice maker was at room temperature and I had the freezer door open for several minutes. So the freezer had to get cold and the ice maker had to chill down. Once everything got cold, it started making ice again.

Removed the two screws that hold flaping door. Removed the single screw that covers the connecting wires. Disconnected the wiring plug. I wiggled out the ice maker. Took off the motor cover. Swapped out one motor for the other. Reinstalled the icemaker in the resverse order of removal. Note the wiring plug in the freeze is very from. It makine s the reconnection differcult.

After checking all connections I determined the ice maker which had been replaced on 01/2007 stopped making ice. I had serviceman from a local company return and check the ice maker. He rinsed the ice maker under warm water, melting the ice build-up and re-installed the ice maker. I watched him do the re-installation, then waited for two days to see if the ice maker was functioning. Since the ice maker wasn't working, I called the serviceman, who in turn informed me that the replacement ice maker had increased in price from $170.00 to $274.00. That is when I contacted your web site, ordered the replacement ice maker.
I was totally amazed and pleased by the fast,
easy, and efficient way my order was processed and the ice maker was delivered.
I followed the instructions included with the ice maker, and installed the replacement ice maker in about 20 minutes. I can't thank you enough for the great service. I only wish I had checked my computer after the first ice maker broke down and found your web site.