ESS23XGSCBB General Electric Refrigerator - Instructions

Background: My refrigerator was part of the class action law suit back in 2006. As a result both doors, the auger in the ice maker and a heating element in the freezer were all replaced.

Problem this time: Water was not dispensing.

Solution: Replaced the double outlet water valve in the back lower left portion of the refergerator. Water was coming into it from the water filter hose, but not coming out of it when the water dispenser in the front was engaged.

Further, I found that the coils in the back of the freezer were iced up and I therefore defrosted them with a heater. Thus, the original problem encountered with the law suit, did not get fixed by simply replacing the doors. That problem is still there. I think the defroster/heating element in the freezer is again not working.

However, I do now have water flowing again and the installation was, as others have described, very easy. Thanks for the online help.

I removed the outer plate by sticking a very small screwdriver in the small holes at the bottom of the plate and pulling the plate toward me.
I then removed the 4 screws from the internal plate and pulled the plate toward me.
Then I romoved the 3 screws holding the old solenoid and unplugged it.
Next I put the new solenoid in place and replaced the three screws.
Finally I plugged in the solenoid and replaced the internal and external plates.

Unplug the fridge, then:
1) Remove food and shelves from freezer
2) Remove rear panel from inside freezer (panel that covers the evaporator coils)
3)Stare at all the ice covering the coils for 10 seconds!
4) Plug the drain hole in the bottom left side of the freezer (cork or plug made from rolled up paper towel), and place a big towel in the bottom of the freezer compartment to absorb the melting ice
5) Plug in a table fan and leave it blowing into the freezer compartment, at the iced-over coils. Come back in 30 minutes.
6) Ice should be all melted. Place the wet towel in a bucket.
7) Remove the little clip attached to the green wire from the top of the panel., and then remove the two top screws on either side of the panel covering the coils. Take out the panel.
8) Removed the two screws that hold the heater element in place at the bottom of the coils. Pull the element out about 3 inches and disconnected the two wires.
9) Connect the wires to the new heater element, and screw it back into place. Put panel back, shelves in, turn fridge on. Fixed

I ordered the defrost heater and replaced that, also ordered the defrost thermostat but the old one looked fine so I did not replace that. Fridge and freezer have been working great, no more icing problems.

Thank You PartSelect!

Moved refrigerator forward, this allowed me to work on the back panel. Unplugged the refrigerator power cord. Released all 6 screws, removed panel then release an additional screw that was holding the water valve and the two (red & blue) connectors. Then installed the new part in reverse steps. Plug the unit and job well done. I had purchase the water filter already after several minutes push for water from the dispensing front part of the refrigerator and good to go, later in the evening we notice the ice maker working fine and producing ice. Thank you parts select.

First I disconnected the Power from the unit. Pulled out the freezer drawers and the ice machine used a 1/4 inch nut driver and removed the sheet metal from the back of the freezer exposing the evaporator coils. I defrosted the coils. Then I removed the two screws holding the defrost heater braket assembly and removed the two electrical connections from it. I then installed the new heater put everything back together(reverse of installation)and it works like a brand new fridge and freezer.

I used the video Parts Select referenced on YouTube, which showed a technician doing the repair. In my particular instance I did not need to remove the escutcheon around the dispenser using a putty knife or remove screws from underneath. There are two tabs in lieu of the two screws that I used a Phillips screwdriver on to push in which released the control panel. It went just as the video showed w/o a hitch. I'd like to add that this is the second time I've used Parts Select for a different appliance and thank God for their showing you what the part looks like and the videos, it helps bolster your confidence to do the repair correctly! I only wish there was more sites like this.

I followed the partselect videos for the temp sensor and defrost thermostat and the refrigerator has been working well for a about a week now. The refrigerator is old enough that I was just going to replace it. When I called the repair company I use, they said it would cost $200 to $300 for the repair, but I didn't want to put that money into an old refrigerator. I did a little research, found this site and figured it would be worth buying about $20 in parts and giving it a try. I have absolutely no experience working on refrigerators, but the videos were so easy to follow, everything went smoothly. The old thermostat was definitely broken when I checked it with a meter, so I'm pretty confident that the problem is fixed.

Replace the motor fan on condenser and clean the condenser

After shutting off the h2o, I unplugged the refrigerator. Using the nut driver, I removed the cardboard backing. Then I removed the fitting where the inlet line to the ice maker and pried the old tubing from the unit. I then undid the clasp about 1/2 way up the back and removed the section that went through the back to the ice maker.
I then reassembled everything and plugged in the refrigerator as well as turning on the water.
Keep in mind that because h2o and electricity are involved. MAKE SURE THERE ARE NO h2o LEAKS.

1. I unplugged the refrigerator/ freezer
2. Turned off water supply
3. Removed the screws that held the cardboard skirt in place
4. Unplugged the water tube from the push connect
5. Removed the screws around the water inlet to the ice maker
6. Remove the water fill tube
7. Install new water fill tube and put all the screws and plates back where they go

The three bulbs would then remain on, so I loosened them to keep them off. I didn't know that the cooling system also would stop when the door was open, so for two days only the side freezer was operational. When I discovered that, I hot glued the switch button off, while I searched for a replacement part. The replacement part was an exact duplicate. A simple prying out of the old switch - using a screwdriver, and the reconnection of the two wires connectors to the new part, and clicking back in place ... done. Seriously, it took two minutes.

Unplugged ref.,turnned water off at wall and drained, removed back cover on lower part of ref. then removed screw holding water valve,unplugged both wires from unit,pulled the 3 water lines off,1 I had to cut, would not release,got new water valve,push 3 water lines in place,attached the 2 wires in place and screwed unit back on ref.and replaced back cover on ref. Then I got a hair dryer and thawed all ice that had built up behind and under ice maker in freezer,cleaned that mess up,turned water back on plugged in ref. All good ,repaired problem,old water valve was bad.

The problem was both the valve and a frozen slug of water in the supply line located inside the door. After replacing the valve, I turned the freezer to a setting of 1 and in about 30 hours, water flowed out the tap.

Followed the video showing how it was done. Took me longer to go to the basement and shut the water off and on, than it did to replace the valve

The repair did not go exactly the way it was described in the YouTube video, but basically it was similar. After unplugging the power cord, emptying the freezer, removing the shelves and the ice reservoir, I removed the ice maker assembly by unscrewing a Philips head screw and unplugging the power connector. The connector had little retaining tabs on each side that I pried open with a straight blade screwdriver. Then the ice maker lifted right out. Next I removed one screw holding the auger motor assembly, unplugged the power connector, and lifted out the assembly. This where things got difficult. After flailing around a bit, I removed the panel on the back wall of the freezer below the evaporator fan assembly, exposing the evaporator coil. I saw that the fan assembly was attached with two screws at the top and two screws at the bottom. The top screws were easily removed, but when I removed the bottom screws, which were situated in very tight quarters, I DROPPED BOTH SCREWS DOWN BEHIND THE EVAPORATOR COIL. Be prepared with a magnetic nutdriver so this doesn't happen to you. I could not retrieve the lost screws, but fortunately it appears that the top screws hold the assembly securely enough. The assembly was loose, but it was still attached by a power cord that I could not disconnect. I removed the tracks on the side walls for the ice bucket, and then I could maneuver the fan motor assembly just enough that I could reach over the top of it, grab and pull off the old fan blade, and slide the new fan blade onto the shaft. Reassembly was straightforward, replacing each part (except two lost screws) in reverse order to disassembly. After getting everything put back in and plugging in the power cord, I was amazed at how quiet it ran.