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MSD2656GEQ Maytag Refrigerator - Instructions

All Instructions for the MSD2656GEQ
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Icemaker was dumping water into ice bin and the ice maker shut off arm broke its rear mount
First I removed the 14.3 tons of freezer contents, closed the water valve, shut off the juice, and removed the freezer bins, the freezer door and the three screws that held the element in place. After bringing in 397 hand tools from my garage inventory, I loosened the unit and, after extensive evaluation, I finally disconnected the wiring connector from its freezer rear wall connector counterpart. You ain't gonna believe the rest of my story--of total ineptitude by an experienced fix-it-yourself dummy.

I searched the internet for a replacement ice maker and found it at partselect.com. I called Sears to ask if I could add my refrigerator to my existing appliance repair account. Sears said sure--it would cost me only one arm, three toes and one grandchild. I abruptly declined their magnanimous offer—I don’t give up my arms and toes so easily.

I visited the local Maytag repair parts and service retailer, who advised they didn't do parts anymore. Expecting their repair price would be greater than Sears, I resorted to partselect.com. I called them to be assured what I was buying was not mistakenly a 747 Landing Gear. On the afternoon (West Coast) of 4/28/10, I ordered (via internet) one PS21215123 Ice Maker Assy. Much to my pleasant surprise, it arrived via FedEX on 4/30/10 (no freight charges to me).

My repair/replacement efforts were hampered by the effects of my right rotator cuff surgery a few months before and major left wrist surgery two months ago to remove fractured bones and torn ligaments.

Undaunted by my physical handicaps, I forged forward. After re-installing the unit, I turned the water supply and electricity back on. It was graveyard dead. I wisely then bought two bags of ice as an interim solution to the severe needs of my wife and me for our daily chilled evening cocktails. I removed the unit, checked it out and re-installed it. I bought two more bags of ice. All the while, I turned the water and electricity off and on as required by reasonable safety standards. High tediousness!

Several more home maintenance tasks then arose for Sergeant Super Fixer, but I returned to the ice maker problem on 4/8/10. Last chance--remove the device and insure there was no frozen ice in the inlet tube--or call the local partsless repairman. No ice found, but I did learn the wiring connector to the unit was awry--no contact! While explaining that to my wife, I realized the two upper mounting screws were intended to be partially installed into the freezer wall to accommodate the unit's slotted mounting holes! Then, tighten the screws. Oh my God! During my 143 installations and removals, I had installed those screws blindly--using the (handicapped) skills of my right and left hands without any benefit of direct eyesight.

I returned to my challenging project this morning (4/9/10), fully utilizing all the expertise I had gained yesterday. Fifteen minutes of amusing effort! Turn on the juice! Turn on the water!Two hours later, ice cubes were dropping into the bin like rhinoceros bisquits in the jungle.

Hallelujah! I now am free for the next challenge!

HINT: Put a bed pillow (an old one, or your wife's) in the freezer compartment to soften the harshness of its cold metal on your back, if you use the "crawl in on your back" approach.
Parts Used:
Replacement Ice Maker
  • GORDON from CUPERTINO, CA
  • Difficulty Level:
    Very Difficult
  • Total Repair Time:
    More than 2 hours
  • Tools:
    Nutdriver, Pliers, Screw drivers
51 of 70 people found this instruction helpful.
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ice maker did not make ice
The ice maker was not getting water. I hotwired the water valve by switching the connectors for the water dispenser and ice maker water valves and water flowed into the icemaker when the water dispenser lever was pushed. I wronly assumed the water valve was good. I removed the icemaker and determined that the gear motor was not getting power in the position the icemaker had stopped.In this position, the thermostat determines when the motor gets power so I replaced the thermostat. The icemaker still would not get water! As it turns out, the water solenoid was sticking due to a deteriorated rubber washer which let the solenoid plunger get too far out of the magnetic field. I replaced the water solenoid assy and all is well. Don't get fooled by hotwiring the valve. If it isn't getting water, the solenoid probably is the culprit.
Parts Used:
Cycling thermostat
  • DAVID from TINLEY PARK, IL
  • Difficulty Level:
    A Bit Difficult
  • Total Repair Time:
    30 - 60 mins
  • Tools:
    Nutdriver
47 of 61 people found this instruction helpful.
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Yoke auger tore hole in plastic ice enclosure
Very simple repair. First Remove ice tray. Next remove enclosure. Believe there were 3 screws to remove enclosure (1 bottom, 2 top). Slide enclosure out slowly to gain access to power connector mounted on back wall. removed components from enclosure (motor and solenoid). Take extra care removing solenoid with spring/rod as it is 3 separate pieces (spring, rod, and coil). Easy to figure out reassemble but easier if you take note during disassembly. Took me a while to get yoke off from motor assmbly. noticed they were reverse threads (lefty). So to remove yoke from shaft had to turn CW vs CCW on regular threads. Once had yoke off, rest of assembly was easy. Mounted motor, reinstalled yoke. Put entire re-assembled enclosure back in fridge. Slide in part way, to give yourself plenty of room to plug power connector in. Reattach assembly with 3 screws. Works like a champ.
Parts Used:
Ice Enclosure
  • Craig from East Fairfield, VT
  • Difficulty Level:
    Really Easy
  • Total Repair Time:
    15 - 30 mins
  • Tools:
    Nutdriver, Pliers
36 of 37 people found this instruction helpful.
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Had to replace a hose connector at the base of my refrig/frreezer
Perhaps a helpful hint:

When aI received the hose adapter/connector, I inserted the 2 hose ends only to have water drip from the connection.
I used a utility knife to remove an inch from each side, then reinserted the hoses. That made the differnce. Dry as a bone.

LG
Parts Used:
Water Tube Connector/Union - 5/16 to 5/16
  • Leo from Salem, SC
  • Difficulty Level:
    Really Easy
  • Total Repair Time:
    Less than 15 mins
43 of 76 people found this instruction helpful.
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Icemaker arm was broken
The tiny piece of plastic that holds the wire that shuts off the icemaker, broke early on with our fridge (after just a few months.) We superglued it, but last week it bit the dust for good.

Once I got this part, I removed the freezer door and trays, and pulled the icemaker out by removing 3 flathead screws and unplugging the cables. Laying in the freezer on the floor was a bit unconfortable, but not too bad.

Then I inspected the icemaker. There was no obvious way to remove the part without disassembling the front of the unit (where the motor is) to release the spindle and free the part, so I did that - 3 or 4 nuts was all that held it together. Once that was out, I removed the spindle, swapped out the part, and put it all back together and back in the freezer. Plugged it in and waited.

It took a while to start making ice. Like 5 hours. Now it's going pretty slow (much slower than before.) Haven't had time to look into it, but my suspicion is the rubber hose that feeds water into the icemaker is blocked with ice or kinked. In any case, we have ice now (but not a lot), and the unit shuts itself off properly. However, we went from having too much ice (thing never shut off) to too little (thing makes ice too slow), so I need to shoot for somewhere in the middle ;)
Parts Used:
Water Fill Cup and Bearing
  • Jason from Austin, TX
  • Difficulty Level:
    A Bit Difficult
  • Total Repair Time:
    30 - 60 mins
  • Tools:
    Nutdriver, Screw drivers
32 of 44 people found this instruction helpful.
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doesn't get cold at all and freezer was warm condenser wouldn't run
removed all 6 screws in back of fridge. located the condenser the relay was a white like circut to the left of the unit. The entire pience comes off easy using a flat screw driver to pry it off the pins.
The replacement came in 2 pieces insted of 1.
I replaced the relay and then the overload reconnected the wire harness back the way it was before. The new relay has a larger connector prong for the live wire so the kit comes with a jumper wire so the original wire harness can be used without splitting the cabel made the repair very easy. Also the new capacitor is bigger and better so I replaced that as well. The capacitor makes sure the relay gets stable current so its good to have a working one.
Parts Used:
Run Capacitor Relay and Overload Kit
  • Jean from Fremont, CA
  • Difficulty Level:
    Easy
  • Total Repair Time:
    Less than 15 mins
  • Tools:
    Nutdriver, Screw drivers
27 of 31 people found this instruction helpful.
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There was a chattering Noise from Adeptive Defrost Assy
I first dropped the Cover Assy, which covers lites and controls, this was done by pulling it forward and it drops down, did not remove top shelf so It was a bit difficult to tilt cover assy. for removal. There is a srew located close to filter assy. in back use nut driver 1/4"located to remove this screw, there are then 2 screws located to the rear and side of light holders, both phillips head, the one on the left side is a bit tricky to remove but I use a thin bladed scredriver, Next there are 2 screws located on both ends od the slides that control temp, both again removed witn1/4 " nut driver, the whole upper assy drops down and forward the Adeptive Defrost assy is located in the back right corner of this assy, unplug the wires and unit snaps out, I foud it easier to pop off top cover of new unit so I could see connector assy when I reattached the wires, then replaced the top assy and snapped new unit it place, Reassymbly was reverse of removal, before placing cover assy back in place I replaced both lamps as 1 was out .
Parts Used:
Adaptive Defrost Board Light Bulb - 120V 25W
  • Herman from Hughesville, PA
  • Difficulty Level:
    Easy
  • Total Repair Time:
    15 - 30 mins
  • Tools:
    Nutdriver, Screw drivers
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Ice Maker was leaking water and causing the ice to freeze into a block
First I removed the Ice bin, I then loosened the ice bin rail under the ice maker and removed the screw that attached the bottom of the ice maker to the side of the fridge. I unplugged the power to Ice Maker from the back of the fridge and unscreewed the two screws that secured the ice maker to the fridge. This allowed the Ice Maker to be removed from the fridge. To replace the new ice maker I simply repeated the steps in reverse.
Parts Used:
Replacement Ice Maker
  • Shelley from Katy, TX
  • Difficulty Level:
    Really Easy
  • Total Repair Time:
    15 - 30 mins
  • Tools:
    Pliers, Screw drivers
30 of 47 people found this instruction helpful.
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The Ice and Water Dispenser Would Run on After the Glass Was Removed
I am going to be completely honest here. This problem had persisted for months. I finally decided that I would buy all the associated parts and repair the unit hoping to cover the problem. Much to my surprise, after carrying out the repair, using the instructions provided by PartSelect, I still had the problem. I decided to remove and LUBRICATE the button which depresses the Limit Switch when you push a glass against the rubber membrane. Low and behold the problem was solved. The frig is nine years old, so I feel I may have prevented other problems in the future by replacing the three parts. It was a follow the directions sort of repair. I was very pleased with PartSelect response to my order (received it next day) with standard shipping.
Parts Used:
Limit Switch - 2 Terminal Dispenser Control Board Ice Dispenser Solenoid and Door Kit
  • Doug from Berkeley Springs, WV
  • Difficulty Level:
    Easy
  • Total Repair Time:
    30 - 60 mins
  • Tools:
    Screw drivers
23 of 26 people found this instruction helpful.
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Refrigerator would not defrost and was abnormally warm inside both compartments
The adaptive defrost assembly is located in the refrig compartment. This requires removing the panel which covers the temp controls and interior lighting. In the back right hand corner is the adaptive defrost circuit board. It has a six wire connector and is retained by two screws.

Remove the two screws and grip the connector making sure to disengage the locking tab with holds the connector in place.

Replace with the new assembly by plugging in the connector, replacing the two screws and then reinstalling the compartment cover.

Set the temperature lower than you normally would temporarily to make sure that the system is working properly (takes 30 - 45 minutes).

Once the unit begins to cool again, you can gradually readjust the temperature to it normal range in both the freezer and refrig compartments.

I used a flashlight and a mirror to check the coil in the freezer compartment for a couple of days to make sure that the defrost function was working correctly by looking up into the louvers and observing if there was any ice accumulation.

Easy repair and Partselect provided great on-line information. Also, I probably saved a bundle.
Parts Used:
Adaptive Defrost Board
  • Conrad from Northville, MI
  • Difficulty Level:
    Really Easy
  • Total Repair Time:
    15 - 30 mins
  • Tools:
    Nutdriver, Screw drivers
21 of 21 people found this instruction helpful.
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I pulled the fridge out to vacuum the coils and noticed the fan was not working
First I removed the cardboard cover, which was held in place by 7 screws. Actually first I unplugged the fridge, next using a nut driver I removed the 3 screws holding the supports to the motor. The motor with fan just pulls right out. Next was to disconnect the wire harness or plug, which required squeezing together the plastic plug and moving it side to side while gently pulling.
With motor in hand using a pair of pliers remove the poor excuse for a nut of the fan motor shaft holding on the fan. Slide the fan off the shaft -note direction of blades!!!! Using a nut driver remove 2 srews holding on the plastic motor support . This slides right off the back. To assemble follow the reverse . Just check to see that the fan spins freely before plugging back in your fridge.
Parts Used:
Condenser Fan Motor
  • Gray from Gilead, ME
  • Difficulty Level:
    Really Easy
  • Total Repair Time:
    Less than 15 mins
  • Tools:
    Nutdriver, Screw drivers
21 of 21 people found this instruction helpful.
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Hollow Ice Cubes, Stuck Icemaker & no more cubes
We have a Reverse Osmosis water filter supplying the fridge, so the internal water filter only served to reduce the water pressure inside the unit. I installed the bypass plug by simply twisting and removing the internal water filter and then twisting the plug up into the same hole. Done in 5 min.
Longest part of this was clearing the top shelf to reach back there... Oh, and figuring out that this part exists and that it could help with the problems we were having with the unit. The water filter is relatively new, less than six months, but it still contributed to the problem enough to cause the failure.
[Thank you Partselect.com for having this web database set up that gets EXACTLY the right part!].

Now about the hollow cubes: Do a web search and you'll find a lot of discussion about it. This is specific to the Whirlpool (Maytag, and others) newer style front to back icemakers that create "half moon" shaped icecubes. For a Shop Manual to a web search for 4316835.pdf for this series.
No doubt my old unit's icemaker solenoid valve on the back isn't passing as much pressure as it did new, but by itself it isn't fatal just yet. You can tell if you are vulnerable to this if the water spigot on the front only delivers a very slow trickle of water; if it takes a l o n g t i m e to fill a glass.

But here is the rest of the story: There is a fundamental design flaw in the way the icemaker unit was created that makes it malfuntion if the water pressure is too low - they chose to put the thermocouple (TC) that senses the temperature of the freezing cube on the opposite end (front) of the water tray from the water fill tube which fills from the rear. This was probably a manufacturing trade off for simplicity of assembly and it saved them half a cent's worth of copper wiring and a couple of screws. And maybe a safty concern about wiring under an open water channel, but that is a lousy excuse; there are other solutions, and the power "harness" goes right by there within a couple of inches anyway...

There are a number of reasons for low pressure:
- Bad supply inlet valve, or not open all the way, crimped tubing
- Bad Frige icemaker solenoid valve
- Clogged internal water filter (even just a little)
- Frozen ice plug in the fill tube, in the very back top of the unit against the back (use a hair dryer to defrost)
- Etc. Do some more web research for more details.
Of course the icemaker timers do fail as well, so this discussion assumes the icemaker is still functioning as "normally" as it can, given its design limitations.

The interaction with water pressure (design flaw!) is this: if the unit doesn't get enough water due to low pressure, then the final cube position to fill doesn't get any water in it (the front one by the motor). This is the one that the TC is next to as well, so it cools of really quickly and the TC thinks the tray is completely frozen, when in fact it isn't. The TC fires the cycling motor which turns on the heater and then spins the ejector shaft which has tabs that push the half moon shaped cubes around and out. However, since the cubes weren't fully frozen, only their outer shell gets pushed out - the water in the middle drains out leaving a hollow cube set. That liquid water hits the cold ejector bars and some of it immediately freezes, making little stalactite fingers that catch on the tabs and side of the tray, thus jamming the ejector shaft and pausing the cycle in place indefinitely.
The net is that you get a few hollow cubes and then no more ice until you reach in and crack off the ice fingers so shaft tabs can pass and the motor can finsh the cycle and properly stop in its home position. You can also tell by checking whether the front cube location has water in it just after it fills by reaching around and dipping your finger in it. If it comes up dry, then you have this problem.
So, in my case, putting the bypass plug in increased my flow t
Parts Used:
Water Filter Bypass Plug
  • Jonathan from Scottsdale, AZ
  • Difficulty Level:
    Really Easy
  • Total Repair Time:
    Less than 15 mins
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Ice Door Would Not Open
Jenn-air jcd-2389gtw refridgerator/freezer side by side ice door would not open to dispense ice from the ice dispensor I did an online order for the repair kit #ps2003478 (115v) ice dispenser solenoid and door kit to fix the problem with the ice door not opening. As I had deduced, the “solenoid” had gone bad, and the kit held most all the items required to make the repair. The only additional item the kit needs to have is the “fountain door return spring”. Be careful not to loose the spring when disassembling the unit. You might want to order an additional spring just in case you loose or break the original. The instruction sheet was pretty thorough, except for being small and the pictures hard to see. My refrigerator/freezer has decorative panels that had to be removed before I was actually able to get the escutcheon off of the unit, and this configuration wasn’t addressed in the instructions. After figuring out that I had to remove all the trim from the door of the freezer before I could start the repair, the job wasn’t that difficult, but you have to have patience and take your time to make sure you don’t damage the electrical components of the ice dispenser. Make sure you note the position and location of the fountain door return spring before you remove the ice door!! This is important so that you can get the correct “tension” when reinstalling the mechanism. If there isn’t enough tension on the spring, the door will not seal properly, and the dispenser will freeze up. Also, when it comes time to disconnect the “electrical edge connector” from the control panel, be sure to make note of it’s position. It isn’t difficult to pull off, but could be easily broken if you are not careful. The rest of the repair and installation is straight forward and simple. Just take your time and it goes back together pretty easily. Tools you will need are; needle nose pliers, phillips screwdriver with a small and medium bit, and a “torx” tool set to remove the torx screws from the escutcheon and fountain bracket.
Parts Used:
Ice Dispenser Solenoid and Door Kit
  • Stanley from Southlake, TX
  • Difficulty Level:
    A Bit Difficult
  • Total Repair Time:
    30 - 60 mins
  • Tools:
    Pliers, Screw drivers
21 of 22 people found this instruction helpful.
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Icemaker leaked water into ice bin causing a glob of ice
Philips head screwdriver and ten minutes was all it took! I removed the two screws that hold the icemaker assembly in place, then pulled it out a little and disconnected the electrical plug freeing the icemaker assembly. Then I snapped the external parts off my old icemaker assembly and snapped them on the new icemaker assembly. Installing the new icemaker assembly was just as fast and easy. I snapped the electrical plug into the new icemaker assembly, then screwed in the two screws. It was making ice shortly thereafter. Glob free ice! I'm glad I didn't call a repairman. I probably saved a hundred bucks. A ten year old could accomplish this simple and easy task. No wonder the Maytag repairman has time on his hands.
Parts Used:
Replacement Ice Maker
  • Kevin from Tyler, TX
  • Difficulty Level:
    Really Easy
  • Total Repair Time:
    Less than 15 mins
  • Tools:
    Screw drivers
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Quick and Easy Install of Ice Maker Parts
Several days back I found I couldn't get any ice from the ice maker. I was able to hear noise from the ice maker but no ice would dispense. I opened the freezer and removed the ice bucket to find out that the Auger has broken off from it's plastic housing in the back of the freezer. I went to partselect.com to find the part(s) that were broken, it was much easier because of the diagram/images they have for each individual section of the fridge. Parts came quickly and as expected.

The replacement of the auger motor is very easy if you follow these steps:

1 - Remove the ice bucket from the freezer
2 - Unscrew the one screw on the bottom left side of the ice bucket tray (the tray holds the ice bucket in place). I used a small needle nose plier to remove this screw as I was having a hard time with my drill or wrench set. After you've removed the one small screw, lift the tray up and slowly pull towards you.
4 - You'll quickly see that the auger motor and magnetically controlled yoke are connected with a wire harness to the back of the freezer.
5 - Gently crimp the ends of the wiring harness connector with your hand and slowly pry away from the freezer. Once you've removed the wiring harness you can remove the entire tray with the parts attached (yoke/auger)
6 - Unscrew the auger motor from the tray. You'll also have to remove the auger from the motor else it won't come out. In my case the whole plastic attachment was broken so I didn't have to do this (ie I replaced the ice tray as well). It was impossible for me to remove the auger from the auger motor, not sure why the auger was so tightly attached to the motor - it could be the reason the auger motor broke from the ice tray?, so I had to buy a brand new auger motor and auger (ie Auger Drive Motor Kit). I hope you have more luck then I did removing the auger. If you can't remove it you'll need to buy the Drive Motor Kit (which comes with the drive motor, detached auger and auger washer).
7 - Once/if you've removed the auger from the motor and remove the motor from the ice tray, you can proceed with the replacement of motor.
8 - Using needle nose pliers remove the three power connections on the motor (white/neutral?, pink/power?, green/ground, note where the connections were when you removed them because you'll replace them in the same place on the new motor).
9 - Attach new motor to ice tray with the four screws, attach the auger and auger washer to the auger motor, attach the power connections back (white, pink, green).
10 - Re-connect the wire harness to the back of the freezer
11 - Move ice tray back into place, and attach the one screw back to the ice tray to hold it in place.
12 - Replace the ice bucket back onto the ice tray
13 - Done, you should now get ice!

Good luck, I hope this helps. It's easy and you don't have to pay three times this price to replace these ice bucket parts.
Parts Used:
Yoke Guide Ice Bucket Auger Drive Motor Kit
  • Walter from Woodbridge, VA
  • Difficulty Level:
    Easy
  • Total Repair Time:
    15 - 30 mins
  • Tools:
    Pliers, Screw drivers
21 of 24 people found this instruction helpful.
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All Instructions for the MSD2656GEQ
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