ET18JMXSW07 Whirlpool Refrigerator - 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 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 has 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 receiver 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.

i had used your web site before and i read several problems that your readers had. i went to the back of the unit, removed the bottom cover and right there the i found the run capacitor and i chaged it. since i had only ordered this part to save money i went back and ordered the Start Device which when i took it off it was completely burned. the replacement part came labeled with 2 different compressor #, so i picked the one that i had and unpluged each wire. the part may differ from the one that it's in the unit but it worked when i pluged everything back on. it also helps to take a picture of everything before removing the wires in case you have to leave it and come back later. i hope to use this refrigerator another 10 years. thank you all for your help.

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/heater. Replace with new. Reassemble.

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.

First I removed all the machine screws from
behind the fold of the gasket. Removed the metal
strips that hold the gasket in place as well as
the door shelves. Gently reattached the new gaskets, behind the metal strip and re-hung the shelves. A hot air blow dryer helped keep the gaskets flexible. Whole operation just takes a little patience.

Had to disassemble ice maker to install part. . .

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.

It was so easy!

Thanks for the rush to my home on the part.

I just unscrewed the plate that locks in the light switch (screwdriver) and unplugged the old faulty part and plugged in the new switch, screwed the cover back on and I was done!

Easy!

And I am not Mr. Fix-it!

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 connector 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.

unpluged unit, removed 2 panel screws, removed 4 fan screws, disconnected wires, reassembled

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 individual components, I eneded up replacing the full ice maker assy. The new ice maker works properly.