ATF1 Refrigerator - Instructions

Motor from Part Select was 185W instead of 260W that came out of unit. After a bit of searching online, I found out the 260W had been obsoleted for lack of torque when harvesting ice.

Removal instructions: Unplugged fridge. Then I removed the screw on the bottom right rear of the unit. Then removed the plastic cover that ... Read more covered the power connector. Pulled out the icemaker by pushing in the tab on the bottom left middle of the icemaker unit and pulling unit toward me. Unplugged the connector on the back right hand side. Removed the cover on the left side covering motor. Took out 3 philips screws and removed old motor with broken axle that spun freely (the source of the clicking noise). Put new motor in aligning harvest arm (the thing with the fingers) and did reverse of removal. Then plugged fridge back in and it started a harvest and the next morning I had a half tub of ice.

The easiest thing to do was pull the ice make off. After taking the 3 screws out of the wall of the freezer, take a screwdriver (flathead) and push on the tab for the electrical plug and wiggle the cord out. Then you can take 3 screws out for the main cover and another 2 screws on the next cover. There's the part, pop it out and replace h ... Read more olding pins and start the process of putting back together the opposite way you took it apart.

My troubleshooting narrowed down the problem to either the control assembly or the thermostat, so I bought both just in case. The motor assembly fixed the problem and I didn't need to install the thermostat.

The main thing I want to tell others who are doing this repair, however, relates to the thermostat. If you do indeed need ... Read more to replace the thermostat (#PS380941) there is something you will need that is not included with the part or mentioned anywhere on this site. The instructions with the thermostat indicate you need to apply something called "Aluminastic" to the thermostat when installing it. I don't know about you, but that isn't something I have around the house, so be sure to order a tube of it when you get the thermostat so you don't have to take a trip to the store to get it to finish the repair.

1. Unplugged fridge.
2. Unplugged wire harness from valve.
3. Disconnected water supply from valve.
4. Removed valve from fridge chassis
5. Removed plastic tube from valve (supplies ice maker).
6. Removed old fitting from plastic tube and attached to new valve.
7. Attached new valve to fridge (only need 1 scr ... Read more ew)
8. Attached water supply to valve
9. Reattached wiring harness
10. Turned on water supply, checked for leaks
11. Powered on fridge.
12. Enjoy working ice maker.

I was clening my uprght freezer and noticed that it was preped for an icemaker. I first went to the Whilpool website and could not find my part as my freezer was a 2008 model.

I saw PartSelect on the search page and went to thier site.
I put in my modle number of the Whilpool Ice maker kit that was on the back of my freeze ... Read more r. PartSelect had the part in stock and approx $18.00 less than the other kits listed on the Whilpool site (that did not match my kit number). I orderd the kit on Sunday and it arrived on Wednesday. It took less than and hour to install. Every part I needed was included. The following day I installed the water line and now I have an extra icemaker.

First I removed the old lightbulb from the socket and replaced it with a new one to confirm that the bulb was not the problem. I then pryed the socket out with a flat-head screwdriver. I could tell that the socket was anchored in its hole with clips so it was relatively easy to pry it out. Once the socket was out, I disconnected the le ... Read more ad wires and ordered a replacement socket kit from Partselect. When the new one arrived, I reconnected the lead wires to it, snapped it back into its hole, screwed in a new lightbulb, and presto!! The light was back on with no further problem. Thank you, Partselect!! A $15.00 part saved me what probably would have been at least a $100. service call and heaven knows what the technician would have told me I needed!!!

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.

I first poured water into the ice maker itself and it made ice, so knew the ice maker itself was working ok. Turned the water valve at the wall off, removed the inlet valve from the back of the fridge with a nut driver, disconnected the solenoid wires and disconnected the water supply line entering the inlet valve and turned the water sup ... Read more ply back on and found that the water was flowing ok out of the supply line. Reconnected the water line to the inlet valve and disconnected the water line going from the inlet valve to the ice maker and reconnected the wires to the solenoid on the inlet valve and found no water going through and so determined that the inlet valve/solenoid was faulty and easily replaced it. Note that an ohmeter check said the solenoid was ok, so it could have been that the filter screen inside the inlet valve was blocked. It's a sealed unit, so there was no way to take the screen out to check.

Well first of all, I was afraid that the compressor was shot and I'd need a whole new refrigerator (ack $1000!!!). After googling/reading, I figured out that the starter relay mounted on the compressor was burned out. (loud click as thermal cutout shuts down compressor.) So, I ordered a replacement part, overnight shipping. Unfortunately, ... Read more this was on a Friday night, so I had to figure out how to keep the fridge cold all weekend (til Tuesday). I'd already moved frozen stuff to a chest freezer, but the inside of the fridge compartment was now nearly warm at this point, so I got 10 lb of dry ice. That got things cooled down initially. Well, turns out that with a short piece of wire, you can momentarily jump across the terminals of the relay and kick start the compressor. It then runs until either the defrost cycle stops it or the thermostat kicks it off. Anyway, all weekend, every six hours or so, I turned off the fridge for a minute to cool down the overheated, stalled compressor, then turned it on and jumped the terminals to start it up. Kind of a pain, but saved lots of food. Overall, the $30+$30 (shipping) for the part saved me from having to get a new refrigerator, so I'm quite pleased. I've used Part Select many times now. Very fast service and shipping, great website/database. I shop around and every time end up buying from them again.

I removed the ice maker which required removing 3 screws and then disconnecting the electrical plug. Once the ice maker was out, I removed the 3 screws that held the motor assembly to the unit.
I removed the motor, replacing it with the new one.
Plugged the power supply cord back in, replaced the unit with the 3 screws and with ... Read more in a few minutes the unit was receiving water and by the next day I had ICE. This saved me $50. for the service call, then another $25.00 installation fee when the part came in (had to be ordered) plus the markup on the motor (approx. $25.00) So I saved approx. $100. and only took about 30 min.

I looked on line to see what was causes of the problem and determined that it was probably the fan in the freezer not working. I took the back section of the freezer apart and saw the fan was not running. I checked the parts on line and found that it was availiable and ordered a new fan motor. The blade looked fine, but I ordered a gro ... Read more mmet anyway to ensure that there was no vibration problems causing the fan motor to go out. When the fan motor arrived, I began disconnecting the old one after unpluging the refridgerator and noting the terminals for the wires. The wire terminals were in a slightly different location, but reasoned out which wire belonged to the correct location. I pulled the old fan motor out, switched out the fan blade and grommet and re-incerted the new fan motor. I reconnected the wires and re-assembled the rear wall of the freezer. I plugged in the refridgerator and wa-la! It worked.

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 po ... Read more wer 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.

Originally replaced water inlet valve, not the problem. Tried to work from cheap to expensive.
1. Turn off power, shut off water supply
2. Loosen top two screws of ice maker (will slide up and off, no need to take top two out)
3.Remove bottom screw from ice maker
4.Pulled unit, snapped out existing wire harness
5. ... Read more Cut hole for water inlet on end of new unit and attached wire icemaking on/off bracket.
6 Connected existing wiring harness to new unit
7. Slid new unit down onto top two screws, put in bottom screw and tightened all three
8. Turned on power and water supply
Had ice being made within two hours. Part Select has given me great service, highly recommend.

1. turn off power.
2. pop off ice maker cover to access motor assembly.
3. remove three screws to assembly.
4. pull off assembly.
5. attach new assembly making sure metal arm and plastic
ice tray rod align with assembly.
6. screw assembly onto unit.
7. replace cover.
8. plug in refrigerator ... Read more .
9. enjoy ice again with no leakage into freezer.

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.