8ED20Z Whirlpool Refrigerator - Instructions

First I turned off my refrigerator, called for service, and had the problem diagnosed as a bad start relay. The repairman checked the compressor to see if it too was bad. The compressor was fine so I ordered the part I needed from PartSelect. After receiving the new start relay and overload from PartSelect, I unplugged the refrigerator, p ... Read more ulled it out and removed the screws from the lower back panel with the socket set and screwdriver. I removed the white self contained start relay box from the compressor by gently prying it off with a flat edge screw driver. I carefully disconnected the red and white wires from the broken start relay with pliers and followed the step by step directions that came with the replacement parts (the start relay and overload were separate components, not inside a self contained box like the original part). I proceeded to attach each part to the compressor, reconnect the red and white wires, and attach the new cover. I vacuumed out the area around the compressor and the condensor coils, plugged in the refrigerator, and turned it on. It worked immediately. I screwed the back cover on and pushed it back in place. Within 24 hours the ice maker was nearly full and I saved $225 by doing it myself.

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!

Replacement was very easy as new ice maker was identical to the old one. Took about 10 minutes.

lift out old (broken) crisper drawer cover, replace with new. Replace glass shelf. Took longer to clean the shelf off then it took to replace.

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

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 th ... Read more e lower door hinge; screw the top door hinge.

a simple replacement

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 ... Read more 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!!!!

I had read here from someone that fixed there shelf support stub and it was very loose, so I was trying to advoid that problem. It took me less then 5 minutes and my only tool was a pair of pliers. A short turn clock wise from the 9 on a clock to the 12 ( which is the top left corner ). then pull the broke shelf stub straight out. Put t ... Read more he new shelf support in the same way you took the old one out and turn counter clock wise 1/4 or from 12 back to 9 and you should have a tight fit. I hope this helped.

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 ... Read more 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.

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.

Turn off the fridge and unplug the power. Inside the refrigerator unit, remove two plastic panels extending from the front to the rear cooling vent by unscrewing two screws. Gently unhook the thermostat tube from the rear vent.

On the control panel, gently pry off the two control knobs and the front control panel. Remove fo ... Read more ur screws to drop down the control assembly. Unplug the left electrical connector and unscrew the lever control arm being careful not to bend it. Disconnect the right side electrical connector and you can now remove the control unit to a table to easily work on it.

Undo two screws to remove the thermostat bracket. Undo two more screws to remove the thermostat assembly. Install the new thermostat and reverse the process just described. It takes about 15 minutes if you know what to do ahead of time. You will have to reuse the plastic tube that covers the thermostat sensing tube.

Brackets rotated outward and lifted to disengage from door. Front metal strip removed from broken bracket. New bracket placed on shelf strip ends and replaced into door mount plastic. Hardest part was caused by manufacturer changing number of part and supplying it as a "kit" with both left and right bracket, as opposed to previously ma ... Read more rking each end LS of RS and changing the configuration so that LS became RS. Joelle, in Customer Service was wonderful in figuring out the number change and sending me the correct part after I realized the originally ordered part was for the wrong side.

I emptied refrigerator contents and tilted the refrigerator to the right so as to access the metal panel upon which the evaporation tray was resting. The metal panel is on the left side underneath the refrigerator and the evaporation tray is resting on the panel. I removed 4 screws that were holding the metal panel, pressed down on the ... Read more panel, slid out the old, cracked plastic evaporation tray, inserted the new plastic evaporation tray, raised the metal panel to its original position, replaced the 4 screws, being careful not to pinched the water line that feeds the ice-maker. VOILA! Un-tilt the frig and re-stock it. It took a day for the temperature to stabilize, due to tilting, I think. New tray $45.

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.