GSR23KSTASS General Electric Refrigerator - Instructions

The very first symptom here is important! The door water dispenser is not working but the ice macine is working. You may only have a frozen water tube in the door so do the following before diagnosing that your solenoid valve is bad: 1) the tube usually runs under the front of the refrigerator and usually has a quick disconnect. Undo the connection and press the dispenser. If water comes out of the tube you have a frozen or blocked tube in the door. 2) Immediately adjust the temperature in the freezer and warm the freezer compartment as much as you can without destroying the freezer contents. Wait 24 hours. This will usually unfreeze the line. Do not waste your time with a hair dryer. NOW, if this doesn't work and you are convinced you need to order and replace the solenoid, follow these steps. Assemble your tools first. I needed a good ratchet set and a screwdriver. A shop towel is helpful for spilled water. A light is handy. Pull out the refrigerator to gain access to the rear of the unit. Unplug the power and close the water valve (older homes, you may need to actually shut the house water supply). Remove the screws which hold the cover over the lower half of the refrigerator. On the left you will see the solenoid. It's always good to see that your new part matches the one you feel needs replaced. They may not match perfectly due to changing design but they should be very similar. One screw holds this part in place and access is very simple. Now simply unplug the electrical connections. In my case, one blue "blade" type connection (powering the water) and one red "blade" type connection powering the ice maker. They are not the same size and this coupled with the coloring means you will not accidently switch them. pull the tubes clear of the solenoid. This is simple and needs no explanation. Grab your new solenoid and reattach both the electrical and water lines (two, remember, ice maker and drink dispencer). Replace the single screw. Re-attach the rear, lower refrigerator cover and go to the front of the unit to check the water. You can listen carefully and hear the power engage from the new part bringing you water. Clean up, replace the refrigerator back to its place and look really tired when your wife sees that you worked "so hard"! You probably saved at least $50-$80 from a service call.

Only tool I used was 1/4 inch socket. Using the 1/4 inch socket, the screws were removed from the panel covering the control board. (this is on the back in the lower right corner). When this panel is off you are looking at the control board. Next remove all the plug in connectors. Don't worry about remembering where they go. They all are different and can only go in their specific place. After removing the connectors, pull the board out. Replace the plug in connectors before putting the new board back in , then snap the board back into place.(held in by four pins). Replace the cover.

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.

Removed front panel (using small screw driver) by popping it out, disconnected wire from solenoid, removed solenoid which was rusted, 3 small philip head screws held it in place insereted new solenoid,connected wire snapped front panel back in. Clapper valve closes tightly and no frost in frezzer, saved my self a bunch of money.

First I defrosted the evaporator core with a hair drier, making sure to disconnect the power before hand. I pretty much followed the directions included with the part, which by the way were excellent, and very detailed. The alternatives were call a repair man for around $300.00 plus parts or take less than a $40.00 gamble. Or even replace the refrigerator at $1400.00. It was the diagnostic portion of your website that convinced me that I had found the problem and that I could repair it myself with a minimum of effort. Needless to say I will come to this site in the future before calling a repair person. The refrigerator is working just fine now. I had my parts in three days, thank you for your attention to detail and a all around positive repair experience. George Day

Water line 5/16inch was severed, under refrigerator. Used union connector to join line. Dispenser plate removed using allen key to unsnap plate ,from under the plate itself. Removed screws holding solenoid valve and removed the plug from circuit board connected to solenoid. Installed new solenoid valve. Put flapper back in place, and made sure spring on left side of flapper is reattached to the opening on the flapper. This corrected all problems. Caution, keep an eye on spring that it remains in place.

I read stories from the website how others did it so I figured I would give it a try. I put all the frozen stuff in the refrigerator piled up. Took out the shelves. Took out 2 screws with a socket extension ( nut driver will work fine.) Remove the light bulb. lifted up on the back panel...it came right out. Saw the coils and on top the sensor. Took it off, cut the wires, spliced in the color coded new one ( pink to pink, orange to orange) Stuck it in the top coil in the original position and crossed my fingers! I put all the pieces back easily, restocked the freezer and waited. HOORAY!! My ice cubes are all separate and free. NO frost inside. A very easy fix for $20.

Note: If there is a large amount of ice build up on your coils a hair dryer works great. The drain is on the bottom anyway. Also , you may want to seal around the wire nuts to keep moisture out. I did

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!

Everything looked to be working but the compressor. As a pro checked every thing came down to a relay on the main board.

Just removed cover from back top left. marked and removed all wires. removed old board and installed new board very easy. Must read paper sent with it,
you may need to cut wires on some models.

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.

Repairs on purchase of the parts were easy and went great

Moved refrigerator out from wall, unplugged from electric, removed plate at bottom back with 1/4 nut driver, turned incoming water valve off, disconnected water line from water valve on refrigerator, removed mounting screw, remove water lines from valve and electrical plugs, set old valve aside and replace with new valve, reconnecting water lines and electrical plugs then remount bracket, reconnect water line from source, open water valve and check for leaks, replugged refrigerator and depressed the door button to check to see if working. It worked and there was not any leaks. Replaced back plate and placed refrigerator against wall. Job completed.

several times I had to remove the ice maker door solenoid due to it sticking. I ordered a new one from parts select. Problem solved!!!

first i removed the three screws that covered the circuit board that was bad. then i removed the 6 connectors that went from the refrigerator to the board then popped out the old board , popped in the new board reconnected the circuit connectors covered everything back up and my refrigerator is back on line. this all took about 10 to 15 minutes time ... thank you for your product it really did the job..

Turn off the water.
Unplug the refrigerator
Take the back off of the refrigerator
use socket wrenchs to undo and take off the water valve in the lower left corner of refrigerator.
Pull out and disconnect electrical connections
Pull out the 2 water tubes one for ice and 1 for water-white is water and black is ice.
install the new valve and connect the water and ice back in the new unit
connect the two power cords and reattach unit to the frame Turn water on and check for leaks.
If no leaks put back on refrigerator and plug in.
Wait 30 min to an hour for water to begin to flow back into the unit.