ARS9 Amana Refrigerator - Instructions

After emptying the refrig. door, I unscrewed the plate on the top of the refrigerator that covered the door bolts. Then off with the three bolts. I removed the door by lifting it up a few inches. The two parts of the door cam were easily removed and replaced with the new part. BEFORE REPLACING the door spread vasoline on both cam parts. ... Read more
(Not after as I did. The second time you do any of these repairs go SO much better :o)
After putting the door back on, adjust the tension of the screws holding the door in place if needed to align the door on the cams so that it shuts completely. Failure to do this will require taking the top off the door again. (see comment above on "... second time...")
If all is properly aligned, the door should swing completely shut.
Even with the mistakes that required removing the door to lubricate the cams, and removing it AGAIN to readjust the screws on the top to properly align the door on the cams, this was a twenty minute job. My wife and I were still speaking to one another at the end of it- a sure sign of an easy repair.

I could hear a loud hum from the compressor motor cycling on/off every 5-10 seconds. Pulled the capacitor and relay switch from the compressor. Checked compressor terminals with ohmmeter, no shorts to ground so it was ok. A gravely substance rained out of the overload relay switch when I removed it, so I assumed it was bad. Didn't need ... Read more to check the capacitor as it was only another $20 or so to replace. Also didn't notice any oily residue that would signify a coolant leak, so assumed the system was still pressurized. New relay switch and capacitor plugged right in, no tools needed. Re-secured the assembly with it's original keeper clip wire and I was done. Plugged it in and made sure it was cooling properly before replacing the various back cover panels. Like a new reefer! Couldn't have been easier. Just be careful with the capacitor when you remove it. It could hold a lethal electric charge.

The ice maker had been slowly dying and one day just stopped making ice. No water was getting to the trays.

I read that this could be caused by a failure of the valve, even though the continuity test indicated that the solenoid was okay.

I ordered the part Friday afternoon. It was delivered Saturday. I did the repai ... Read more r in 10 minutes.

I pulled the fridge away from the wall.

I unplugged the fridge. I closed the water supply valve.

I unscrewed the two mounting screws using a flat head screwdriver.

I pulled the old valve out from refrigerator.

Using an adjustable wrench I detached the water supply from the valve. I detached the hose leading to the ice maker from the valve.

I pulled the electrical connectors from the connectors on the valve.

I attached the hoses to the new valve, attached the electrical connector, screwed the new valve in its place, opened the water supply, plugged the fridge back in, checked for leaks, and waited for a few hours.

My ice maker is working better than it has in at least two years.

Installed new ice maker. It was easy - loosen two screws and unplug old wire harness. Put new unit in place. Did not realize new unit would not come with wire harness, but transferred old one to new ice maker (easy) and, "voila" some ice in 24 hours -- much ice since then. I am a 68 year old woman and it was "sort of fun" doing thi ... Read more s job.

I had pulled evaporator cover panel to observe and to defrost with hair dryer. I managed to coax it to run for a few weeks with the hair dryer and by recycling the defrost clock. I finally ordered a replacement for the defrost thermostat and the heater. When I replaced the thermostat, everything went back to working okay. The eva ... Read more porator fan and the old heater are now functioning just fine. Apparently the thermostat needs to be closed for the fan to run. The brown wire used to drive the heater during defrost must also function as the return for the motor in the cooling mode! - Same thing occurred four years ago and I called a repairman through amana - cost over $200 including thermostat and fan motor (which was still running fine - but he recommended that I pick up a new one at amana and replace it my self).

Well the frist thing I did was get out the all the paper work and look under trouble shooting.This frig has a list of codes to try to help narrow down what parts might be bad.Well at frist it seemed it was a Defrost Thermastat?Well thanks to PartSelect it showed me right where it was and step by step how to remove and replace it.It took m ... Read more e over 2Hr's,after that I let the frig run all night and the next morning(yep warm frig)not the part I needed,well now Im mad,the local part store said you need a 3in1 jump starter easy to in stall at $50.Can'nt bring parts back no way weather thier opened or not.So get home and can'nt see how this jumper is going to wire up to my compresser?So on to the Web site to get some info,find out that this part gets a thumb's down,it puts out more volt's then needed and kills your compresser the reviews where very help full.So back to PartSelect to see more info,then I spoted the Overload/Relay and went to the back of my Frig and this part just plugs right into the compresser,I pulled it of with pliers and Bingo a burn spot melted right through the Overload/Relay.Ordered the right part the same as the old one.Put the part in and Bam,compresser fired right up.If I only did alittle more home work I could off saved alot of head ach and money.Thanks PartSelect I'll alway's click on to your web site for future parts and advise.

Noticed refrigerator making a noise, the noise would get louder when the freezer side door would be open. After awhile the noise stopped and noticed the refrigerator was no longer cooling. Looked in the freezer and noticed the back was iced up around the evaporator panel. Removed food and shelves on freezer side to gain access to the e ... Read more vaporator panel. Turned the Defrost timer knob manually to melt ice build up. Unplugged refrigerator. Then removed the 11 screws(1/4 inch screwheads). Noticed evaporater fan was stuck on fan shroud. Removed 2 (1/4 inch screwheads) and pulled the fan motor out. Noticed front bearing was leaking a black residue and that the motor shaft was extremely loose and not spinning true. Put back in for time being to order parts. Ordered parts from Partselect.com, website was easy to navigate and they had excellent diagrams of the parts. Ordered new evaporater fan, grommets, and fan blade. Received parts next day sooner then expected. Took a digital picture of fan motor wires to ensure proper re-install of wires afterwards. Unplugged refrigerator, removed two power wires and green grounding wire to fan motor. Took note of fan position on shaft and direction of fan fins. Took 2 (1/4 inch screwheads) to remove fan motor from fan motor mount. Removed old fan blade from old fan motor shaft to get front motor mount bracket off old motor. Put new grommets on new fan motor, put in fan motor mount, installed 2 screws. Installed new fan blade shaft on new motor shaft made sure it was the same depth on shaft as the old set up. Reinstalled motor into refrigerator with two screws, reinstalled wires, verified correctly hooked up with digital picture took. Plugged refrigerator back in, verified fan worked and proper direction of air flow, began cooling. Reinstalled panel and 11 screws, shelves and waiting for it to cool down before putting food back in. Cooled down, no problems since and noise is gone. Looked at old motor and noticed front bearing failed and wore down the shaft causing it to spin out of round and make the loud noise. Thank you Partselect.com for having the great web-site to navigate and diagrams to verify I was getting the correct parts.

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 had read on a fix it site that the start device for the compressor on this particular model was known to fail after 3-5 years. When we received the part it looked like something that just plugged into the compressor. My husband unscrewed the panel in the back of the fridge and saw the part on the compressor. He first removed the thre ... Read more e wires that it was connected to, and the wires were inside a plug so all he had to do was remove the plug from the start device. He then removed the old start device from the compressor. Plugged in the wire plug into the new start device, and pushed in the new start device into the compressor. There was also another black part plugged into the old start device that he plugged inot the new start device that connected to the compressor. Our freezer and refrigerator starting working. Within a couple of hours our freezer had made ice.

unscrewed to removed old and screwed in new

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 cr ... Read more acked 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.

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 ... Read more 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 ... Read more 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!

Everything was easy. I read one of your other reviews and it gave me the confidence to try it myself. First i toke off the cap at the top of the door then the three screws. I lifted the door off so i could be sure the cam was my only problem then put the door back on. That took 5 mins. Then I got on the computer and ordered the parts i ne ... Read more eded. Two days later the parts arrived and and i took the door off again. Then put the new cam on, applied a litle vasiline, put the door back on and forgot that i ever had a problem. Thanks for the help. Doug Arau

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 ... Read more 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.