ARS266RBB (PARS266RBB0) Amana Refrigerator - Instructions

removed ice maker and wire shelf. removed back panel screws and tilted forward. removed 2 screws holding motor bracket. swapped fan blade and reassembled

I didn't know what the plastic was - just that it was unappetizing. Reading other posts, it must have been the teflon coating. The refrigerator is 13 years old and reading other posts, I guess I'm lucky it lasted that long.

My boyfriend did the repair and here is his story:

The first ice maker we received was cracked on one corner. Not knowing how it got that way, I was concerned that there might be additional internal damage and that the unit wouldn’t work properly. Part Select was contacted and a replacement unit was sent with no difficulty.
As other reviewers have said, the replacement was quite easy, taking less than half an hour. The only tools I needed were a screwdriver and a nut driver. To begin, unplug the refrigerator and turn off the water supply to the ice maker. Loosen, but do not remove, the two top attachment screws. Then remove the bottom screw. Lift the unit up off the top screws and remove the water inlet hose at the top right. It’s probably a good idea to have a container handy to catch the small amount of water that comes out, but you’ll need a third hand for this.
The electrical wiring harness is very short and may be tricky to disconnect. On my refrigerator there is a round vinyl connector that plugs into a receptacle on the back wall of the freezer compartment directly behind the ice maker. This was removed with no difficulty (accidently, actually). Once the unit is out of the refrigerator you can remove the connector from the ice maker by using a screwdriver to depress the latch tab that is visible in a window in the unit housing. When installing the connector in the new unit make sure it is fully seated. Next, reconnect the round vinyl connector to the receptacle on the back wall of the freezer compartment. This was the worst part of the whole procedure. You have to support the unit close to the back of the freezer (due to the short harness) with one hand while inserting the connector with the other. This requires both arms in a confined space. The first time I did it I apparently didn’t get a good electrical connection on one end of the harness, and it didn’t work. Because the connectors are directly behind the ice maker I had to remove the unit and re-install it, but it was much quicker the second time, less than 10 minutes.
Once the connectors are in place put the water inlet hose into the opening at the top right. You may need to re-use the retaining clip from the old unit for this. Slide the two top mounting ears down between the screw heads and the back wall of the freezer compartment and tighten the screws. Then install the bottom screw. Plug in the refrigerator, turn on the water and make yourself a frosty beverage.
All in all, a relatively quick and painless procedure.

Another note - we kept saying "is there ice yet"? I think the metal bar that controls the ice maker needed to be raised and lowered a few times before it would work properly as it seemed to raise 1/2 way but the ice would not drop so I put it down and it worked its way up. Had to do it a couple of times over a 4 hour span but once going, it is working like a champ.

unscrewed to removed old and screwed in new

Piece of cake!

Removed the old ice bucket which was cracked and ice would not dispense. The Helix Cap also looked worn which is why I ordered both parts. (Probably if not for the shaking of the ice bucket the Helix cap would have been the only part required. We ended up cracking the ice bucket) Removed the four hex screws from the auger system on the old ice bucket with a socket wrench. Removed the old Helix end cap from the auger system and replaced with the new. Literally just slips on the auger. Reinstalled auger system back onto the new ice bucket. Total time not even five minutes.

Working great! Probably saved $ 75.00 - $ 100.00 on a service call. Half of a wrench on skill level needed (One=Low skill level/ Five=High skill level)

Great response & delivery from Parts Select!
Definitely recommend highly.

Todd
Lancaster-PA

I didn't do it, my husband did. He removed the back panel and used an ohm meter to check the compressor and found that that was working so he decided to replace the overload relay and capacitator. He has an hour lunch and since the parts were in he decided to change it during his lunch hour. The minute he had them replaced....voila!! Cold again! We had a different fridge that had the same problem, but we thought it would be too expensive to fix so we junked it......wish we would have tried this!!! So proud of the hubby!

I used a flat screwdriver and released the lock tab on the bottom of the light switch, and pried the switch out, being careful to not damage the plastic around the mounting place of the switch, unplugged wiring from old switch, plugged in the new one and pushed the new switch into place. Job finished light switch now working.

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 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.

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.

Pull out old module...
Remove 2 wires...
Tape to inside wall [don't want them to fall down into side panel]..

Order new switch..

Fed Ex pkg came on 2nd day..

Install wires on switch...
Press into opening...
Check door light on..[OK]
.. Done

Replaced the compressor with the new one I purchased from you. Installed new parts and recharged unit. The refrigerator / freezer is working better than new. Thanks for the great deal on the compressor. It was here in 3 days. All the parts fit exactly and had no difficulty in the installation or startup. The directions for the wiring were a great help also. Thanks again.

Original parts froze when the fridge was stored in the garage, so when we brought it in and hooked up the water supply we discovered the cracks.

I used a wrench to remove the back lower cover of the fridge. attached to that cover were both the parts I needed to replace. I removed one nut each per part so they were free of the back cover. Once free I unhooked the two electrical plugs per part and reattached the new part so as not to confuse the positions of the wiring. Then I did the same thing with the two hoses attached to each part, swapping old part for new. Once connected, I reattached the new parts to the back cover and replaced the back cover to the fridge. Connected the water line and tried the ice maker and water source on the door. I didn't realize it, but the filter, located in the refrigerator side of the unit had also frozen and cracked, so I had water now pouring from the fridge! Replaced that filter, cleaned up the water and everything is working great!

800 number customer service person Kim originally helped me locate the correct parts via schematic diagram, as no part numbers were visible on my broken parts. She was incredibly helpful and got the correct parts on her first guess ( she told me it was a guess but she was right on the money).

Perhaps a helpful hint:

When aI received the hose adapter/connector, I inserted the 2 hose ends only to have water drip from the connection.
I used a utility knife to remove an inch from each side, then reinserted the hoses. That made the differnce. Dry as a bone.

LG

Ordered a new filter cover, received in 2 days and installed it in about 5 minutes. Worked perfectly.

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 ;)