KSSS36F KitchenAid Refrigerator - Instructions

Not being a professional repair tech, I looked at this sites provided schematics of the ice-maker. I assumed due to the problem I had which parts to order. the parts arrived within 3 days and after I took the icemaker apart I quickly realized I ordered the wrong parts. I called and asked what to do. since I did not open the packaging for ... Read more the "wrong" parts I was able to make a return. I then called back because I discoverd the part I really needed wasn't shown in the sketch. I was told that I needed to order a new motor and it would have the part I needed. I ordered the part and within 3 days it arrived. Once I had the new part I was able to quickly install. Now I have a icemaker that works better than new since ,now it does not seem to jam either.

To make the repair:
First remove the 1/4" nut head screw on the under side of the ice maker.
Remove the shroud covering the electrical connection.
Slide out the maker and depress the locking clip.
Disconect the electrical wires.
Pull off the motor cover (no screws).
Remove the three philips head screws from the motor housing. Gently remove the motor.
Next loosen the screws and pull the "black motor-mounting harness" untill enough clearance to remove the ejector arm and deflector tray. The new kit will have a new ejector arm and deflector tray.
Insallation is the reverse.
The schematics were very helpfull.
It was very simple and I saved a $150 service fee to have someone else do it for me.
PS. When I called I was able to speak to real live Americans who were able to help me, were pleasant, polite, and professional, AND they did not treat me like I was stupid because I am not a professional repair man. I will definately use this service again. and recommend to all my DIY friends!!

I removed the grate at the top of the refrigerator and then removed the upper hinge plate. I also disconnected the spring return at the bottom of the door. Lifting the door up allowed it to be removed and laid down on the floor. Then I replaced the hinge stop and Gap cover on the bottom hinge.
I then set the door on the lower hinge, ... Read more reinstalled the upper hinge plate and reattached the return spring on the bottom of the door.

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

After lots of internet exploring and diagnosis, the icemaker comes right out, and with three screws out and in, the job is all but done. Don't pay anyone for this repair!!!!!

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.

Take pictures of original setup in case you need to refer back and turn off power at the panel. Remove the White panel in the back of the freezer ( 16 screws). Unscrew two screws holding the motor / fan blade and remove. Remove the hot/neutral and ground wires and remove the motor/fan unit. You will have to use the old brackets as the ne ... Read more w motor does not come with them so don't throw the old motor just yet. The brackets will have to be removed from the old motor by removing two 1/4 screws and placing the brackets onto the new motor in the same fashion. Once this is complete, just reassemble new motor in reverse order. since the fan has to fit into a tight opening and the mounting brackets have to line up to screw the whole unit in, I assembled everything lightly tightened and mounted the unit to make sure the screws lined up and the fan blade had clearance in the fan opening so that it did not rub. Since the bracket screws are not 100% tightened, this allows some wiggle room to adjust. Once everything is lined up, tighten all bracket screws 100%. Insert the wires and your ready to go. Reinstall the White panel and 16 screws. Motor has been working great since installation.

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.

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.

The on-line video and the hard-copy instructions with the replacement part made it very easy. Just loosened the 2 upper screws and took out the bottom one. Eased the ice maker out a bit and disconnected the plug at the back (power was off). Checked the replacement part had exactly the same wiring harness - it did. Fitted the bail arm from ... Read more the old one. So simply did the same process in reverse. So 15-20 minutes after I started, the job was compelete. It takes a while for ice to start coming, but it did, and after 24 hours I threw out the ice and started again to make sure the ice came from fresh water.

One screw inside the refrigerator removed the cover exposing the diffuser assembly. I had to also remove the cover inside the freezer compartment in order to free the diffuser assemble bracket that protruded in from the refrigerator compartment directly on the other side. Once the diffuser was freed, the assembly came off in my hand. T ... Read more he new one just snapped back in place. Done.

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!

I removed the cap from the filter pushed a lever and removed fliter. I replaced the old filter, removed the caps on the new one and slid it into channel after replacing the outer cap. I removed water from the spigot for 4 mins. and it was ready to go. I pushed the reset button to get the green light to come on.

I removed screws to rear cardboard cover. I then removed the condensor fan by unscrewing the nut off the shaft. I then removed 4 screws holding the fan motor. I then replaced the motor and reversed the process.

Our spare 25+ year old Kitchenaid refrigerator (side-by-side model) refused to produce cold air. I could hear mechanical sounds and things "clicking", but the temps kept raising. This specific unit only had cooling coils in the freezer, and some ducts that route cold air into the fridge.

I emptied the refrigerator completely, ... Read more removed the ice cube bin and shelves, and left it unplugged for two days with the doors open. Once everything was dry, I plugged the unit back in -- within 8-10 hours, the unit was cold again. Lights worked, and fans in the freezer and back of unit worked. However... once the compressor turned off, it never came back on. This told me that the root cause lies with components that control when to turn off/on the cold flowing into the coils.

I looked up my model on PartSelect website, and looked through their "likely to fail" list for my model. The defrost thermostat and defrost timer were at the top of the list, and symptoms made sense. Those two parts arrived within a week. The defrost timer was easy to install -- unplug old, plug in new. The defrost thermostat involved cutting existing wires, stripping a small section of sheathing, and attaching the wires to the new part with crimp caps and electrical tape. The electrical tape was there to cover the exposed area of the crimp cap and bundle the wires together. (I used 3M's "Super 33+".) Finally, reattach the harness to the socket, and attach the other plugs and grounding clamp.

After re-attaching the rest of the required components, I plugged the unit back in. After about 24 hours, it had gone through at least one cycle and was appropriately cold. After letting it churn for another couple days and watching it closely, I felt confident that the problem had been fixed.

** Side Notes **

Definitely use caution around the fins on the coil. For my unit, the harness plug is directly above the fins, and required some effort to safely remove while not slicing up my hands. Extra long screwdrivers and patience helps a lot. Put a wedge behind the wheels of the refrigerator so that it doesn't back away from you while you work. And, of course, do all this while it is unplugged.

** For the PartSelect Website Maintainers **

If possible, please provide some better guidance on where to place the lead coming off the defrost timer. The Youtube video was nice, but some clarity on which pole/spade to attach it to (and where to find that info, besides "consult your manual") would help many people.

Had to disassemble ice maker to install part. . .