36548L Amana Refrigerator - Instructions

First I removed the 14.3 tons of freezer contents, closed the water valve, shut off the juice, and removed the freezer bins, the freezer door and the three screws that held the element in place. After bringing in 397 hand tools from my garage inventory, I loosened the unit and, after extensive evaluation, I finally disconnected the wiring connector from its freezer rear wall connector counterpart. You ain't gonna believe the rest of my story--of total ineptitude by an experienced fix-it-yourself dummy.

I searched the internet for a replacement ice maker and found it at partselect.com. I called Sears to ask if I could add my refrigerator to my existing appliance repair account. Sears said sure--it would cost me only one arm, three toes and one grandchild. I abruptly declined their magnanimous offer—I don’t give up my arms and toes so easily.

I visited the local Maytag repair parts and service retailer, who advised they didn't do parts anymore. Expecting their repair price would be greater than Sears, I resorted to partselect.com. I called them to be assured what I was buying was not mistakenly a 747 Landing Gear. On the afternoon (West Coast) of 4/28/10, I ordered (via internet) one PS21215123 Ice Maker Assy. Much to my pleasant surprise, it arrived via FedEX on 4/30/10 (no freight charges to me).

My repair/replacement efforts were hampered by the effects of my right rotator cuff surgery a few months before and major left wrist surgery two months ago to remove fractured bones and torn ligaments.

Undaunted by my physical handicaps, I forged forward. After re-installing the unit, I turned the water supply and electricity back on. It was graveyard dead. I wisely then bought two bags of ice as an interim solution to the severe needs of my wife and me for our daily chilled evening cocktails. I removed the unit, checked it out and re-installed it. I bought two more bags of ice. All the while, I turned the water and electricity off and on as required by reasonable safety standards. High tediousness!

Several more home maintenance tasks then arose for Sergeant Super Fixer, but I returned to the ice maker problem on 4/8/10. Last chance--remove the device and insure there was no frozen ice in the inlet tube--or call the local partsless repairman. No ice found, but I did learn the wiring connector to the unit was awry--no contact! While explaining that to my wife, I realized the two upper mounting screws were intended to be partially installed into the freezer wall to accommodate the unit's slotted mounting holes! Then, tighten the screws. Oh my God! During my 143 installations and removals, I had installed those screws blindly--using the (handicapped) skills of my right and left hands without any benefit of direct eyesight.

I returned to my challenging project this morning (4/9/10), fully utilizing all the expertise I had gained yesterday. Fifteen minutes of amusing effort! Turn on the juice! Turn on the water!Two hours later, ice cubes were dropping into the bin like rhinoceros bisquits in the jungle.

Hallelujah! I now am free for the next challenge!

HINT: Put a bed pillow (an old one, or your wife's) in the freezer compartment to soften the harshness of its cold metal on your back, if you use the "crawl in on your back" approach.

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.

I just opened up the fridge back panel accessed the old relay/capacitor, pulled it out, replaced with the new one, snapped it back into place, tested it (compressor came on), replaced the back panel and went on my way. Really, really easy repair.

The parts discription was a bit vague and I wasn't sure exactly what I was ordering, but I received everything I needed and it works fine. The combination screw conveyor/ice crusher came in one piece. The ice cube bin is a plastic assembly that snaps apart. I used a wide blade screw driver carefully to facilitate assembly/disassembly. Once you have it apart the old converyor slips out and the new one slides in. Do not remove the two screws that hold the new assembly together. You need a phillips scredriver to take out two of the screws from the old assembly and put in the new one. That is, there are four screws and you need to trasfer two of them. Everything now works fine.

Problem: My Maytag side by side door refrigerator just stopped cooling and has to discard all frozen items after I discovered being away for 3 days. First, I went to my computer and read some of the repair stories at Part Select “Need help with your repair?” and installation video guide.
1. I ordered the Refrigerator Adaptive Defrost Board (ADP) - followed the procedures how to disconnect and installed the new part. Unfortunately, it did not correct the problem and only warm is coming out.
2. I ordered the Defrost Heater Thermostat Assembly - removed the old and replaced with new assembly. Again, warm air coming out. Meanwhile, I kept on hearing “clicking sound every few second” not knowing where this coming from. Again, at Part Select, I read the story about it and I ordered the
Run Capacitor and the Overload/Relay with Capacitor. Soon as I opened the parts and tried to match it from the part at the back of the refrigerator and to the part from the compressor, I have discovered that they are not in compatible with the original parts from my Maytag Refrigerator and cannot be installed. And so I contacted (Email) Part Select customer service (Jeanette) if I could return the unused parts and had provided me the “Return address and the Reference Number”. This time, I gave Jeanette the Maytag Model and Serial numbers and asked where I could find this on my refrigerator and make the necessary repair and came back with the diagram and located #4 to the compressor. Ordered the correct part# PS2004058.
3. Upon receipt of the part above, I was puzzled, in the plastic container are four parts, included a plastic cover. I have not given up, I removed the original part encased in white plastic container pulled straight off the compressor and examined it closely. Before detaching all the wiring, I also noted before disconnecting from wire harness and read the Diagram/Instruction Sheet provided.
4. From the four new parts provided, installed the Overload Terminal, bottom part on Compressor with one terminal to the Blue wire. Connected White Jumper to the old harness. Lastly, I plugged the PTC Start Device (two terminals) above the Overload Terminal on the Compressor with the proper wiring as I previously noted and installed the electrical cover. “Plugged in the refrigerator to the power outlet”. To test the result, I left a glass of water inside the freezer and a bottle of wine into the refrigerator. The result - I checked after 2 hours, the water was frozen and a cool wine. “Little frustration included here, as I am not an electrician.” But now, I could say, I fixed it, and very proud of this accomplishment.
Thank You, PartSelect and to a great Customer Support!
Safety Note: Always make sure to unplugged the refrigerator (power off) prior doing the necessary repairs.
Rodolfo Julao/S. San Francisco, CA

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.

The line going from the ice maker fill valve ruptured and leaked water on the floor. The outlet fitting for the ice maker water inside the freezer was plugged with ice which caused the pressure to build up in the line and rupture it. The discharge tube inside was full of ice because the ice maker fill valve was old and was leaking ever so slightly. This allowed water to exit into the discharge tube gradually and build up ice to the point of blocking the discharge tube.

rmv panel (5min) rmv fan/motor 3 screws (10 m) cut wire 2in from motor, re route remainder of wire to front so can strip for wire nuts. ( 10m) attach old fan to new motor, place in old opening ,3 screws, a little fussy to align, ( 15m ) route and strip wire from new motor , zip ties work well, wire nuts , plug in fridge vola, no noise, close up, reverse panel. ( 20m). i also took time to clean grilles with small vac and damp rag, ( looks and sounds like new) bob Wi.

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 ;)

remove top plastic cover / phillips screw driver
remove top door bracket / 5/15" socket
lift off door
remove pieces of old cam / phillips screw driver
replace cam/ phillips screw driver
replace door
replace top bracket / 5/16" socket
check alignment

Once I saw the replacement part I understood how to pry out the switch with a small screwdriver. Then just unplug the old one, plug in the new one and pop it into place.

The PartSelect site made it easy to correctly identify the correct part, it was inexpensive, and the shipping was fast.

I'm very pleased!

This is a side-by-side refrigerator. The crushed ice wheel is part of the icemaker bin auger, and it began to fragment, popping pieces of plastic into the ice dispenser and on into our drinks. The manuf. manual had nothing about parts in it, so GREAT thanks to Partselect for their website!!! Now, to dismantle the bin and auger is simple on this design: remove the bin from the freezer and allow it to defrost and dry; there are two small phillips-head screws on the front underside of the bin, holding the front panel in place - remove these screws and pop the front cover off; you'll then see two small phillips-head screws holding the auger-cap in place - remove these and pull the auger cap out, along with the auger; using a small pliers, remove the nut from the auger at the auger-cap, then slide the auger-cap off; at this point you just start removing washers, blades, etc, from the auger - MAKING SURE YOU KEEP THEM IN ORDER - until you reach the crushed ice wheel; separate the wheel from its metal brace, slide the wheel off and replace it; gradually replace all the other parts in order, cleaning them as you go, and simply put everything back together. It helps to keep the exploded parts diagram at hand - available on the Partselect website. It was a snap. The ordering process was simply and the part was delivered to my door on the second day after ordering.

My husband replaced the condenser fan. It took awhile and a few choice words but he got it replaced. The fan seemed to work fine, but it still wasn't cooling. I noticed that when we had the fridge unplugged that water started draining out the dials at the top of the fridge under the freezer. And there was absolutely no water at all in the drip pan under the fridge. So I took the doors off and totally took the inside of the freezer apart. I discovered that the styrofoam on the floor of the freezer had become inudated with fluid and the under the foam the coils were all frozen solid with ice. Hence not allowing any drainage. I put a lamp in the freezer area and defrosted all the ice. In searching the internet i discovered that they no longer produce the foam so i went to home depot and got a piece of foam and aluminum foil and cut it to replace the ruined foam. I put the fridge all back together said a prayer and crossed my fingers and lo and behold it works perfectly now!!!!

Remove the back hardboard cover screws for access to the condenser fan. I opted to tip the fridge over on its side for even better access to the fan mounts and wire. Replaced the fan assy (reused the fan). Splice the wire and it's done.

This is the second time that I replaced the original gaskets. The first set of replacement gaskets were deformed and, even with using a hair dryer as the instructions suggested, was unable to get the wrinkles out sufficiently to get a good seal on either the refrigerator or freezer gasket. Under warranty I was sent a new set of gaskets, which did look in better shape (less deformity and wrinkles) out-of-the-box. I decided however, to soak the gaskets in very hot water in the bathtub and do my best to remove all of the wrinkles after that by laying them flat on the floor and using the hair dryer. They were not perfect after all of that "heat processing" but were much better than the first set I installed. I installed the second set and the results was fantastic. Both the refrigerator and the freezer doors sealed perfectly (you know when they are right when that look good sealed against the surfaces... and it feels almost like you are pulling against a vacuum when you try to open the door). No more ice formation along the seal and the old gaskets, with mold, are gone! My only comment is that the new gaskets don't seem as heavy-duty as the originals which were on the Maytag/Amana but if you take the time and trouble to heat the plastic with hot water and a work out the wrinkles with a hair dryer... they will work just fine.