10650446900 Kenmore Refrigerator - Instructions

Changing the KITCHENAID MOTOR ASSEMBLY TO THE ICE-MAKER was fairly straightforward. The hardest part was figuring out WHAT was broken and how to fix it. I was determined to save myself hundreds of dollars by doing it myself and avoiding a visit by the 'repairman'.

1.) Went to KitchenAid website to look at Parts List for my side-by-side refrigerator and ice maker assembly (a PDF file, easily downloadable) . The illustrations helped me visualize the assembly and various parts involved.
2.) Removed cover on front of ice maker.
3.) Removed hex-head screw on undersurface of icemaker on the right, which stablilizes a plastic cover for the electrical connector to the ice maker. Once this is off, it's then possible to slide the ice maker out.
4.) Slide the ice maker out from it's 'shelf' in the freezer. You won't be able to completely remove it until you disconnect the power supply.
5.) Disconnect the multi-pin power connector. (It's probably safest to unplug the refrigerator altogether before doing this, but I did not. No exposed metal wiring or connectors. No problems when I did it this way.)
6.) Once the ice-maker was out, remove the white cover from the motor assembly (on the left side of the unit).
7.) Remove the three screws from the black housing of the motor assembly. (This is where I discovered that the connector between the motor and drive-train was broken and needed to be replaced.)
8.) Remove and replace the drive system for the ice cube ejector.
9.) Then reverse the steps to reassemble.

This may seem a bit vague, but it's really quite straightforward once the ice maker is out of the freezer. The replacement motor assembly includes the motor, the motor housing, the drive-train, and the ice-cube ejector. Very easy to re-asemble.

Shopping for and ordering the part took some time since there are so many different after-market parts dealers. In all honesty, I'm glad I decided on PartSelect.com. They had a decent price, safe checkout, and timely delivery. All the essentials of a good online store.

Thanks, and good luck to the next guy who has to deal with a KitchenAid snafu.

The door is very easy to remove. There is one nut for the cap on the top of the soor hinge. Once the cap is removed, you need to remove the 3 nuts holding the hinge in place. Simply lift the door off the lower hinge and rest it on the dining room table. I set towels down to protect the stainless finish. The closing cam will be visible on the bottom of the door. I choose to replace the lower cam and the upper cam at the same time. I did not know what the problem cam was. The door works good as new. I put a small amount of vaseline where the two cams rub to provide a lubricant.

Removed two screws and popped loose the ice door. Disconnected the single electrical connector. Slid out the old, slide in the new. It worked like a charm. - Still dissappointed that the whirlpool icemaker broke after only 2 years, but the new one works great!

While looking for parts I read the advice on you web site under the ice maker parts. I also had problems reading the LED codes. They would change each time I unplugged the refrig and powered up. I took the other guys advice, ordered the emittered and receiver and the next morning I had ice. GREAT service guys, thanks. Also the part was on my door step in 1.5 days. Sure beat an expensive service charge.

The ice maker was not getting water. I hotwired the water valve by switching the connectors for the water dispenser and ice maker water valves and water flowed into the icemaker when the water dispenser lever was pushed. I wronly assumed the water valve was good. I removed the icemaker and determined that the gear motor was not getting power in the position the icemaker had stopped.In this position, the thermostat determines when the motor gets power so I replaced the thermostat. The icemaker still would not get water! As it turns out, the water solenoid was sticking due to a deteriorated rubber washer which let the solenoid plunger get too far out of the magnetic field. I replaced the water solenoid assy and all is well. Don't get fooled by hotwiring the valve. If it isn't getting water, the solenoid probably is the culprit.

It was easy to snap off the old shelf and snap in the new. The price was right. The part was right. If I need to, I'll be back.

An easy job for smaller hands. Removed the two bolts holding the light cover. Removed two electrical connections from the old switch by pinching the retaining clip,removed the switch, snapped in the new one and re-attached the connectors. Your online illustrations helped me to know that the plastic housing for the light switch would only swing down so far and was not intended to be removed. Saved me from breaking that plastic cover's tabs. This home repair saved me more than 5 times the cost of hiring a professional to do it. Very happy homeowner.

This product comes in a bottle with a brush like Liquid Paper. It goes on incredibly easy. A second coat might be needed. I wanted to prevent rust from setting in so I covered the scratches and dings. The paint is a little brighter since my washer is 10 years old but it still looks great.

Replaced the door cam on bottom of fridge door. ONE THING TO UNDERSTAND- THERE ARE 2 CAMS ON THE DOOR, LOWER AND UPPER, BUT THE UPPER CAM IS NOT LISTED ON THE "DOOR HARDWARE" DRAWING, ITS LISTED ON THE MAIN BODY DRAWING! BE SURE TO GET BOTH CAMS! (PARTSELECT COULD MAKE A NOTE THAT WHEN PEOPLE LOOK UP LOWER CAM, PUT A NOTE IN THERE SAYING Y0U NEED UPPER TOO!)So I had to order the upper cam later and install later. BUT it is quite easy to replace, unlike the video, I only needed 1 tool! The nut driver (electric screwdriver w nut driver head). Thanks -RF

If you remove the bottom vent panel of the refrigerator there are two schematics for the refrigerator. One for the fridge and one for the icemaker. The icemaker has an emitter and a receiver that will tell the icemaker when it is ok to dump ice and add water. The receiver has an LED that blinks different codes. The codes give you an idea where your problem is located. In my case it coded out to be the optics (emitter and receiver). Replacement of the parts involves the removal of three screws on each component and disconnecting a wire harness on each component. Install the new components by following the removal process in reverse. The total cost was $80.00. This was half the price Sears wanted for the parts and about the same price to have a Sears repairman just show up at the house.

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.

I took out the ice collection box and auger to get access to the three screws holding the ice maker assembly against the left wall of the freezer. You can use a screwdriver or a nut driver. I then unpluged the assembly and wiggled it loose from the water fill tube. I assumed that unplugging the unit would disable the water valve but I put a plastic tub under the fill tube just in case. I studied the assembly on the kitchen table for a few minutes before I disasembled it. After removing a snapon plastick cover I removed three or four screws on the gearbox and was able to pull and wiggle the parts apart. The heater contacts have rubber O rings so you have to be firm pulling the mould out of and into the gearbox mount. Make sure it is fully seated. On reassembly note that the ice kicking arm is notched so it fits into the gearbox only one way and it helps to have it in position when you screw the gearbox back on. I also found the plastic ice guide that fits on top of the mold a little awkward in snaping back together. Make sure its fingers space evenly with the ice kicking arms.

I removed the ice maker assembly from the freezer compartment (four nuts/ nut driver) and unplugged the wire harness. I discovered the nature of the problem and I went on the Internet to look for replacement parts expecting I'd have to buy the entire ice maker. When I found PartSelect.com I looked through the pictures of the parts available for my ice maker. I found the correct part quickly and easily. And having an acurate photo on the site, I was able to match all the key features of the mold I had with the one on the screen. I ordered the part, and installed it the day it arrived with just a Phillips screwdriver and a nut driver. It functions perfectly.