KSFS KitchenAid Refrigerator - Instructions

Patience is a virtue. The kit really works. 1st, lift the front plate of the ice dispencer by placing a flat head screw driver into the two slots at the bottom of the panel. When the panel is lifted up slightly at the bottom, push up on the panel to remove it. Careful not to break panel and the wires attached. Next, remove the wiring p ... Read more anel by removing the two screws on left and right sides. Then, unplug the old black ice cover from the wiring panel (this is the heating plug that you will nolonger need). Next, remove the parts and replace them with the parts in the kit, noting where each part comes from, etc. All parts in the kit are necessary and should be used. Some of the replacements need trial and error. Patience will be important. Also needed is a person that loves to solve problems, especially because the kit does not come with instructions. But the kit definitely works!

I removed the ice maker from the refrigerator, by removing one screw on the underside bracket and loosening the two screws at the top side, then lifting the ice maker off the loosened screws. I then unplugged the electrical harness that supplies power from the refrigerator to the ice maker. I then disassembled the ice maker by removing ... Read more the front cover which is snapped in place, then removing two recessed screws at the front. I removed the broken part, I then reassembled the ice maker with the new part. I replaced the two recessed screws at the front and snapped on the cover. Then I reinstalled the ice maker in the refrigator by plugging in the harness, slipping the ice maker over the loosened screws in the refrigerator and replacing the screw that was removed from the underside bracket. Tightening all the screws completed the project.

1) removed the face plate that runs 3/4 way up the back of the freezer side. a total of 8 screws. (6")
2) disconnected the three electrical connections.(30sec)
3) removed the fan of the the old evaporator fan motor (5sec)
3) removed the fan motor (1")
4) put in the new fan motor (1")
5) put on the old fan on the n ... Read more ew fan motor(5sec)
6) reconnected the three electrical connections (30sec)
7) replaced the face plate on the back of the freezer (6")
Had re-frozen meat within 1 hour.

first I backed off top two screws and removed bottom screw. unplugged wire harness. removed old icemaker. harness on new icemaker was the same. plugged in hung new icemaker on top two screws installed bottom screw. turned water on job complete and very easy. I was very satisfied with the whole process.

I used a flat-head screwdriver to pop out the old light rocker switch. Then, I unplugged the wires, plugged them into the new light rocker switch, and then popped the new switch into the hole. That's it! Lights began working again.

After emptying the refrig. door, I unscrewed the plate on the top of the refrigerator that covered the door bolts. Then off with the three bolts. I removed the door by lifting it up a few inches. The two parts of the door cam were easily removed and replaced with the new part. BEFORE REPLACING the door spread vasoline on both cam parts. ... Read more
(Not after as I did. The second time you do any of these repairs go SO much better :o)
After putting the door back on, adjust the tension of the screws holding the door in place if needed to align the door on the cams so that it shuts completely. Failure to do this will require taking the top off the door again. (see comment above on "... second time...")
If all is properly aligned, the door should swing completely shut.
Even with the mistakes that required removing the door to lubricate the cams, and removing it AGAIN to readjust the screws on the top to properly align the door on the cams, this was a twenty minute job. My wife and I were still speaking to one another at the end of it- a sure sign of an easy repair.

I originally ordered the part because of globs of ice being around the icemaker. The icemaker then quit making ice altogether after a few weeks of removing the ice globs (so the spindle of the icemaker would rotate again). It came to me that there was now no water being supplied to the icemaker hence, "no ice". Decided to replace the w ... Read more ater valve as the most likely culprit.

Removed the bottom back panel behind the refrigerator. Turned off water supply. Unplugged refrigerator power plug. Unscrewed the hose connection to the valve and two small plastic feeder tubes going to icemaker and ice water dispenser in the front door. Removed spring clip securing the valve to its mounting flange. Pryed up the valve out of its mounting flange as it is mechanically held there by a pressure fit. Maneuvered the valve out and into my hand. Removed the two electrical connectors and draped them to the side. Reversed the entire procedure with the new exact replacment valve.

Unfortunately, stlll no water was being supplied to the ice maker. Water to the dispenser in the door was still fine. I reasoned that the icemaker, not receiving any water from the fill valve, must be because the signal from the sensor (where ever that was located), must not be getting to the fill valve to tell it to open up and send water. Then a light bulb went off in my head. Where would that sensor be? Epiphany......How about the icemaker itself? Ordered the icemaker, replaced it and I now have ice again. Replacing the icemaker was a tougher job but that's another show. I'll report on that process under a separate repair story under the icemaker category.

The replacement of the valve took only about two hours, mostly because I had to round up my drill, attach a nut driver accessory, move the refrigerator and vacuum out all the gunk and fuzzy stuff from behind the refrigerator (yuck). Actual valve replacement only took about 1/2 an hour what with having to remove a put back a dozen or so machine screws on the back panel.

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.

Unplug the refrigerator. Snap off the ring surrounding the dispenser from the bottom. There are two slots on the bottom. This is the toughest part of the repair because my refigerator is older and the part stuck. Then unscrew the two hex screws and unsnap the parts, then reassemble with the new parts. Snap the ring back on and you're all ... Read more set. Pretty easy.

Removed panel in back of fridge. Disconnected water line. Removed outlet valve housing and disconnected wiring. New part is a retro-fit and was modifiable to fit into same space as old part. Reconnected wiring and water line. Turned water back on to test. Checked water dispenser in front door panel. All good. Replaced panel and whe ... Read more eled back into place.

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.

first I diagnosed the problem with the whirlpool do-it-yourself repair manual, which was very easy to understand. as per the repair manual, "this part located on the evaporator or the back of the liner is used during the defrost cycle. This bimetal senses the temperature from the evaporator. When the temperature reaches 50-70 degrees (F) ... Read more the defrost bimetal turnd the defrost heater off. " then I emptied the freezer. removed the the back panel to expose the evaporator. I looked for the bimetal defrost thermostat clipped on the evaporator. tested the bi-metal defrost thermostat, as per the manual, " the ohmmeter should show ZERO resistance (continuity). if not, the bimetal is bad and needs replacing." NOTE: the bimetal must be cold. it is also tested with the bimetal warm/hot, by running it under hot water. i used a styrofoam cup with hot water & dipped the bimetal in. as per the manual, " the ohmmeter should show an open circuit. if not, the bimetal is bad and needs replacing. then got online found partselect.com. ordered the part, recieved it in less than 2 days. within minutes after recieving the part, I removed the bimetal defrost thermostat and spliced in the new one. thanks to partselect.com my fridge is back up and running properly again. prior to installing the new bimetal, i tested it, as descibed above, you can hear & feel the bimetal open/close when it gets hot/cold.

After some time of not being sure the problem was this board or not I finally found out some information on the defrost on this unit. If you open the refrigerator door and then manually open/close the door light switch 4 times in 8 seconds and the unit does not go into defrost, then the board needs to be replaced.
I ordered the boar ... Read more d and it was here in a few days.
I UNPLUGGED THE REFRIGERATOR.
Then I took the grille off the bottom front and there was a small box attached right in front at the top. There are two spring clips that hold it in place. I used pliers to pull them back and pulled down on the box which released it. I was then able to remove the single phillips screw from the top of the box and view the board.
There are several wires attached using female wire ends. I noted the color order and how they matched the markings on the board and then removed each wire with the long-nose being careful to pull on the ends and not the wires themselves.
I then used a phillips screwdriver to remove the 4 screws holding the board in the box.
I placed the new board in and screwed it in place.
Then I attached each of the wires according to the notes I took earlier so they were in the same order.
Installation from here was simply a matter of reversing the procedures above.

removed the Ice Tray, removed the cover that the motor is attached to, The biggest problem I had was getting the coupler off the drive shaft. It would not tightyen up and would not turn auger. I had to remove the unit and take a hack saw to cut the coupler off
The other problem I could not get the wireing harness unpluged from the ... Read more refigrator, and had to remove each individual wire from its contact. I had to remove the whole motor unit inorder to get the old coupler off.