8517 - Instructions

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.

I saw on a partselect web site that these symptoms could be caused by a failed condensor fan motor. After removing the cardboard panel in back of the refrigerator I noticed the fan was not running when the rfigerator was. The fan was held in place by three brackets. I unscrewed the screws holding the fan motor to the brackets and also uns ... Read more crewed one of the brackets to make room to pull the motor out. I cut the wires close to the motor. I removed the fan blade and secured it to the new motor. I had to reroute the old wires in order to have enough slack to use wire nuts to attach them to the leads on the new motor. I then re-attached the motor to the two brackets remaining in place and then re-attacehed the third bracket I had removed to get the motor out.. The most difficult part was working in a very confined space.

First I removed the Ice bin, I then loosened the ice bin rail under the ice maker and removed the screw that attached the bottom of the ice maker to the side of the fridge. I unplugged the power to Ice Maker from the back of the fridge and unscreewed the two screws that secured the ice maker to the fridge. This allowed the Ice Maker to ... Read more be removed from the fridge. To replace the new ice maker I simply repeated the steps in reverse.

UNPLUG the appliance. After removing the top of the dryer the front is easily removed. To make life simple I disconnected the wire harrness at the quick disconnect and placed the door/front away from the workspace. I removed the bracket holding the coils in place and replaced the old with the new coils. replaced the front and top panels a ... Read more nd pugged it in! Good as new!! I originally ordered the wrong part and PART'S SELCET.COM refunded my money no problem! I will bookmark this site and use it again.

Philips head screwdriver and ten minutes was all it took! I removed the two screws that hold the icemaker assembly in place, then pulled it out a little and disconnected the electrical plug freeing the icemaker assembly. Then I snapped the external parts off my old icemaker assembly and snapped them on the new icemaker assembly. Installin ... Read more g the new icemaker assembly was just as fast and easy. I snapped the electrical plug into the new icemaker assembly, then screwed in the two screws. It was making ice shortly thereafter. Glob free ice! I'm glad I didn't call a repairman. I probably saved a hundred bucks. A ten year old could accomplish this simple and easy task. No wonder the Maytag repairman has time on his hands.

There is already a lot of good advice on this web site and others on how to diagnose and do this repair. I'll add a few additional comments that might be helpful.

I wanted to confirm that my old thermostat was in fact bad. I did this by disconnecting the two connectors and connecting them to each other to bypass the thermosta ... Read more t. This is like having the thermostat always closed. With the back panel still open so I could see the frozen coils I plugged the fridge back in and turned the defrost timer knob with a screwdriver to get to a defrost cycle. I could then see the heater element slowly melting the ice. This is of course not a safe way to operate the fridge. Over time this would get too hot and damage the food or worse. I only did this for a few minutes to see the system operating. I did not melt all the ice at that time. Also, it is of course dangerous to plug the fridge in with the panel open, so a great deal of caution is advised.

When I got my new thermostat I wanted to confirm that it worked before going through the install procedure. To do this I cooled it down and then used an ohm-meter to see that the circuit was closed. The important thing I found out is that ice-water, even 2 parts ice, one part cold water, was not cold enough to do this. Only when I put the thermostat into a cold freezer for a while did it get cold enough to close the circuit. I did this side by side with my old thermostat and saw that it was in face bad -it never closed the circuit.

This part from Part Select was an exact match for this freezer-on-bottom Whirlpool refrigerator. The connectors were identical so I did not have to solder wires together as others have need to do.

Some people get the ice off of the coils with a hair dryer. For me this could take half an hour. What worked better and much faster was spraying warm water on the ice with an old spray bottle. This adds extra water to the mix, but it did not overflow the drain pan. Even if it did, it would be easily mopped up if you can roll the fridge out.

One last thing. I suspect this thermostat broke in the winter, but with the dry air the fridge worked for a long time. Once summer hit and the house got humid, the coils iced up quickly.

Good Luck!

After moving the refrigerator away from the wall I removed the cover on the lower back of the unit by removing the screws that held it in place. The condenser fan was not turning and there was heat build up in the area causing the refrigerator to not work properly creating elevated temperatures in both the freezer and regrigerator. Remova ... Read more l of three torx screws from the original motor was all it took to get the motor free. By turining it and working the fan blade around the mounting bracket I had the motor out in just a few minutes. Replacing the new motor was just as easy to reinstall. The fan was removed from the old motor and placed on the new for installation. The original motor was wired to accept a connector from the wiring harness of the refrigerator. I simply cut the connector off the wiring harness and stripped the insulation from the wires which easily allowed me to connet the wires of the motor and harness with two wire nuts. Three self tapping screws were used to hold the motor in place replacing the torx screws. Installed I plugged the unit in and immediately the fan started spinning as the unit came to life. Cleaned and replaced the cover over the back and slid back into its spot. Running as good as it did when it was new. Easy job to take care of.

Fixed it eventually with part PS470049 ('M' Series Ignition Coil Kit). See separate story.

The flame sensor did not fix it but read on for info on how to replace this part. Before replacing this part, I should have read another posting in a different web site about the ignition coils: if you see a red glow inside the burner uni ... Read more t but the flame does not come on, then the problem is likely to be with the coils, not the flame sensor. However since some users here had solved the problem by replacing the flame sensors, I figured I'd try it. The setting for "More dry, less dry" never worked either so maybe this would fix two problems at once.

This dryer is a stacked front loader sitting on top of our washing machine. Opening the little front door (lower left side) is easy once you figure out that a little screw below needs to be removed. I almost broke the door trying to pull it open. The sensor is attached to the side of the flame area cylinder. It was hard to remove both the screw and the part itself from the slots as it's very springy. In fact when I finally removed it, it dropped to the base of the unit and sparks went flying as one of the electrical clips touched the metal (ground). Tip: first disconnect the electrical lead coming from the back of the unit to the ingnition block and later I used rubber gloves just in case. (I could not access the plug/outlet in the back). I installed the new part easily, though I was confused by the electrical leads: the white wire connects to the lead that has a red plastic dot on the side, but I think that must be a mechanical part and not a (wrong) marking, while the red connects to the other lead. Anyway, I connected it the same way I found it and put it back. Reconnected the other electrical wires and closed the door.

This did not fix the problem which turned out to be with the gas valve coils: as they get old, they turn off the flame when they get hot, even though the dryer keeps on turning. To read how to replace that part, search for comments under part number PS470049 ('M' Series Ignition Coil Kit). I don't know whether replacing the flame sensor is going to fix the "more dry-less dry" function, will have to see. Still, this website is great. Our dryer is a Westinghouse bought in 1991 (almost 20 years old!) and with this fixes it's just like new.

1st I pried the dryer top open then disconnected the two wires for the auto shut-off. Removed four nuts with driver that opens front and releases dryer barrel. Lifted front up a bit to remove from two lower tabs at bottom of unit and put aside.

I then slid the belt over the barrel noting the side up directions on the belt. On ... Read more the lower left on the back of unit I opened up the vented cover to reveal the motor pulley and belt tension pulley. I put the belt on the pulley and brought the belt tension pulley over the belt. I then aligned the belt to the proper point on the barrel and reattached the front being careful to center the barrel onto the rim that is built into the front. Take care to align all the tabs and shims in the correct order so that barrel rotates freely. Replace auto shut off wires to switch on inside of front and close top.

First pry up on the front edge of the top panel of the dryer which is held in place by snap in clips. Pivot the top open and support against wall or other taking care not to pull on wiring harness. Next remove the 2 screws that hold the front panel in place. These are located on the inside of the front panel. The front then snaps loose al ... Read more so. Remove the plastic drum stop located at the top edge of the front of the dryer. Next I removed the 3 drum screws located inside at the back center of the dryer. Next you can you need to remove the belt the motor located at the rear vent panel on the back. Slide the now loose drum out exposing the rear bearing. With a 5/16 end wrench, loosen the 2 screws on either side of the bearing retainer. Assemble the new bearing bracket to match the old one. Apply a liberal amount of supplied lubricant to the pivot ball and plastic retainer. At this point it was helpful to have someone at the rear of the dryer hold the new retainer bracket against the back of the dryer while I tightened the new bearing assembly in. Assemble dryer in reverse.

The new Ice Maker Assembly arived in less than 24 hours. I was amazed that it came so fast.

I had already removed the old ice maker in order to get the modle number.

I just took two parts off of the old ice maker and quickly snapped them into place on the new ice maker. Then attached it to the refrigerator i ... Read more n less than 10 minutes. With in a few hours I had ice again !!!!!

I would definatly use partselect.com again.

First of all, let me thank your wonder web site and service.


Here is the step-by-step procedure:


Unplugged the power.

Accessed the heater assembly from the front left lower corner.

Turned off the small gas valve.

Unscrewed the copper nut connecting the small gas valve ... Read more and the heater assembly.

Disconnected the 3 wire connectors.

Unscrewed 2 screws under the heater assembly.

Took out the heater assembly.

Unscrewed the screw for the igniter assembly.

Installed the new igniter assembly. Be very careful with the M shaped coil. I broke a new one. That is why I have order the same part twice. But it still cost me less for hiring a tech or buying a new dryer.

Carefully put the heater assembly back into it position.

Connected the gas connector.

Secured the heater assembly to the bottom of the dryer with 2 screws.

Connected 3 wire connectors.

Turned on the small gas valve.

Plugged in and ran a test.

It worked!!.

Removed broken part. Pressed replacement into opening.

Make Sure Dryer is off and disconnected from power! Also, beware of sharp edges on dryer parts and cabinet.
1) Popped-off top lid with flat-blade screw driver (Insert screw driver in joint between top and front of dryer above door) Spring clips are all that's holding top on in front
2) Unplugged plastic electrical connector loc ... Read more ated just along the top-right side of dryer
3) Removed one sheet metal screw located about 8" down from top on either side of dryer - total of two screws
4) Pull front of dryer back and pull up at bottom of dryer (Remember that when you replace front you will have to make sure plastic bearing surfaces on dryer tub are centered back in cut-out on front panel. Plastic tabs fit inside the cut-out or else you'll ge a swishing noise when tub rotates)
5) Set front panel to side
6) Flame sensor is located on the left side of the burn chamber sheet metal cover. It has a red and white wire with flat connectors that must be pulled off. Note which color goes to what terminal
7) Unscrew fastener. Note: this screw/fastener needs a non-standard driver to get it out. I have a variety of other drivers beyond phillips/flat types and non of them worked.
8) I ended up using a pair of pliers to just work it out from under the screw. I bent it, as it has a tab that slips in along left bottom edge of burn chamber cover.
9) Finish taking screw out by hand
10) Put new flame sensor in by inserting tab on bottom first. Then, screw in fastener to top of sensor bracket and reconnect wires. White on top and red on bottom terminal.
11) Replace front panel with door by placing in tabs on bottom front of dryer. Again, make sure plastic bearing surfaces are inside of circular flange on front panel
12) Make sure to reconnect plastic cable connector. Note: I added a tie-wrap because it looked like the connector might rub against drum. There are some holes through which you can run the tie-wrap
13) Replace the two sheet-metal screws
14) Push top down so spring clips re-engage with dryer body

changed the starter connected to the compressor