ECKMF86 Whirlpool Ice Maker - Instructions

The problem was discovered to be a cracked fill tube head, This part extends behind the refigerator and is VERY vulnerable to breakage when the box is pushed backagainst a wall space! Placing a shim under the vertical part of the fill tube fixed the problem even without replacing it with the new part. So, now I have a spare!

I wasn't sure what the problem was, but the ice maker seemed simple and on-line resources suggested the control and motor assemblty was at fault. I searched the internet and Partsource had great diagrams which I could match to the part in hand. The price was right (way less than the local stores) so I ordered it.
I unplugged the unit ... Read more from the power in the freezer, but unplugging the entire refrigerator works too. I pried off the white cover on the front of the ice maker, which snaps in place top and bottom. There are three screws holding the contoller (the entire front piece), remove them, pull off the controller and push the new one in place. You may have to turn the blade shaft to line up the notch on the shaft to the motor. Then reinstall the three screws, The screws go into plastic so it is easy to cross thread them, so be careful, I actually think I did with no ill effects. Snap on the cover and repower the unit. Done. Simple and quick.

I was not sure what was causing the problem, I thought at first it was low water pressure causing the hollow ice cubes. After some trial and error testing I figured a likely cause could be the water valve in the ice maker itself. I replaced that part rather easily using the existing fasteners in about 15 or 20 minutes. The ice maker ha ... Read more s been working flawlessly since the repair.

Icecubes came out half-way, and refrooze. I figured out, that the melter does not work (HEATER in the icemaker) Voltage measured 105V no load. Studied the Internet, and folloved an advice: shorted the back wire and the blackwire with white stripes.these go to relay contacts. It seems, that the relay contacts are no good on Infrared receiv ... Read more er boaed. I turn off manually the icemaker, when needed

Looking at the ice maker it is pretty cut & dried as to how to remove the unit. I took out the ice tray and just started removing all the mounting screws. The same for the mold ice tray & heating element. I was just sad that you did not have just the heating element separate from the mold ice tray.

Unscrewed clamp holding water tube to refrigerator ice maker. Pulled water tube from ice maker and water valve inlet. Cut the new tubing to the exact same length and inserted one end to the water valve inlet and the other end to the ice maker then screwed clamp holding water tube back to the refrigerator ice maker.

The ice mold has a coating on it. Over time the coating deteriorates. If your ice maker leaks water into the ice reservoir inspect the mold to see if the coating is compromised. If so, replace with new.

Remove the ice maker assembly. 3 small hex screws. Unplug power cord. Disassemble ice maker assembly. Remove ice mold/h ... Read more eater. Replace with new. Reassemble.

First I removed the two screws that hold the element in place. I then pulled the element out about 3 inches and disconnected the two wires...) Then I put the new valve in, put the cover back on the refridgerator and was done. total time 15 minutes. My wife says I'm the man.

Had to disassemble ice maker to install part. . .

The lining of the ice mold (Whirlpool) started flecking off (black flecks in the ice cubes), so I decided to replace the mold.
Loosen the two 1/4 inch upper nuts and remove the lower nut to remove the ice maker from the freezer. The hardest part was getting it unplugged. I used a small blade screwdriver to release the catch on the c ... Read more onnector and pull it out.
Remove the ice maker front cover. If you have a skinny enough phillips screw driver, there are two deep set screws through two holes on the lower portion of the control module (otherwise, remove the three screws on the controller, unlatch the shut-off arm from the control module, and separate the controller to access the mold screws). Unhook the shut-off wire from the end of the tray. Unscrew the two screws holding the mold and remove the mold.
Remove the plastic hardware from the old mold and install on the new mold.
Attach the new mold on to the control module.
WARNING WARNING WARNING!!! The mold I bought already had the alumilastic on it for the contact point to the thermostat. When I installed it and tightened the screws, the alumilastic was dried out, didn't squash down, and dented the bi-metal thermostat on the controller, ruining it. I had to buy a new thermostat. Be sure to check that the alumilastic is pliable. If not, take it off and buy some fresh to put on there.
Re-install the ice maker. It took a while to get the first batch of ice because the ice maker was at room temperature and I had the freezer door open for several minutes. So the freezer had to get cold and the ice maker had to chill down. Once everything got cold, it started making ice again.

The wiring harness was a straightfoward plug in replacement after depressing the securing tabs, and did provide power to the icemaker. However, the icemaker would continually cycle, with the mold heater on at all times. I suspect this is what caused the thermal fuse to blow in the first place. Rather than spend more time replacing individ ... Read more ual components, I eneded up replacing the full ice maker assy. The new ice maker works properly.

Removed the two screws that hold flaping door. Removed the single screw that covers the connecting wires. Disconnected the wiring plug. I wiggled out the ice maker. Took off the motor cover. Swapped out one motor for the other. Reinstalled the icemaker in the resverse order of removal. Note the wiring plug in the freeze is very fro ... Read more m. It makine s the reconnection differcult.

We have a side-by-side and the tutorial was different than what we have. Had trouble getting cover off, but finally repaired and WE HAVE ICE! Also took longer than expected.
Saved a lot!

First pull out frig and unplug. Shut off water valve. I just had to remove two screws to disconnect unit from bottom rear corner of frig. Pull element out just a few inches and disconnect the plug that feeds it electric. Disconnect water hose and reattach to new unit. Reconnect electric plug and reinstall in back of frig, securing wit ... Read more h two screws. I have an older appliance, so I had to jury rig a bit when reattaching new unit by drilling two new holes for mounting. Also, I had to buy a new water hose because the old part would not accept the standard female end of the hose to connect to. Home Depot has the standard icemaker hoses with two female ends. These two glitches would probably not apply to a newer appliance, but anyway, it's cranking out the ice just fine now! Sure I saved alot of money, even with the extra $10 investment for the hose.

Followed the video on parts page. I was worried I would brake the cover but learned from the video the right way to remove the front plate. I found the video very informing. Thank you for saving me a service call and the part cost was minimal compared to a new refrigerator .