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ZIC36NMALH General Electric Refrigerator - Instructions
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The refrigerator made continous "whooing" sounds that increased and decreased in pitch. Sounded like a ghost. Would keep us up at night. Also noticed that the heater was not heating under the evaporator coils.
561 of 652 people
found this instruction helpful.
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John from Holly Springs, NC
- Really Easy
- Less than 15 mins
-
Nutdriver
After checking the stories, the consensus of opinion was to change the mother board. I had a tremendous help from Tom Paone at [email protected]. He also told me to change the motherboard but to make sure that the coils were totally defrosted before starting up the refrigerator after changing the board.
Took off thr ... Read more ee nuts around the board at the back of the unit. Removed the input wires and you have to push in the plastic tabs holding the board in. Then just put the new board in place and push till the tabs click. Re-install the wires and put the cover back on.
Really simple task,
It is now a week since doing this and the unit is working perfectly. No soulds and good nights sleep. The ghost has moved on.
Took off thr ... Read more ee nuts around the board at the back of the unit. Removed the input wires and you have to push in the plastic tabs holding the board in. Then just put the new board in place and push till the tabs click. Re-install the wires and put the cover back on.
Really simple task,
It is now a week since doing this and the unit is working perfectly. No soulds and good nights sleep. The ghost has moved on.
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my refigerator was warm but the freezer was cold and working correcttly
305 of 404 people
found this instruction helpful.
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michele from North Smithfield, RI
- Really Easy
- 15 - 30 mins
-
Pliers
I went to a GE repair center to explain my problem, the service center reccomended that I have a techinician come out o look at it. $75.00 for the visit and what ever labor and materials wuld cost.
I went on line to see if there were others having this same problem and found that there were many with the same problem.
... Read more />After reading some of the ways that people found out what was wrong ...it became a matter of three components, the timer, heater or thermostat.
I tried the most common component and the less expensive one first , the thermostat switch I installed it very easily snipping two wires and attaching the news using wire nuts I used the diagram on this website to pinpoint the component and there has not been a problem since.
I went on line to see if there were others having this same problem and found that there were many with the same problem.
... Read more />After reading some of the ways that people found out what was wrong ...it became a matter of three components, the timer, heater or thermostat.
I tried the most common component and the less expensive one first , the thermostat switch I installed it very easily snipping two wires and attaching the news using wire nuts I used the diagram on this website to pinpoint the component and there has not been a problem since.
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Replace water filter
226 of 350 people
found this instruction helpful.
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Alfred from Novato, CA
- Really Easy
- Less than 15 mins
Unscrew old filter and remove(counterclockwise). Line up arrow on new filter with arrow on connection housing. Turn clockwise till resistance met. Do not overtighten. Follow directions. Simple.
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Refrigerator too cold
156 of 163 people
found this instruction helpful.
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Marc from Orlando, FL
- A Bit Difficult
- 1- 2 hours
-
Screw drivers
My repair experience was a little more complicated than previous posts, but nothing major. And most importantly replacing the Fresh Food Air Inlet Cover did fix my problem. Here are the steps I followed:
1. You will need to remove a minimum of the top two shelves to get access to the Air Inlet Cover. It runs along the back of the ... Read more fridge and connects to a hole to the freezer side. It has a little fan inside that sucks the cold air from the freezer and diverts to the top and bottom of the fridge.
2. As mentioned in other posts, there are four screws holding the Inlet Cover in place, 2 lower and 2 upper. To get access to the lower two screws,you simply pop off the lower duct assembly (squeeze the sides). Be careful when removing and installing these screws. If you drop one into the lower duct, you will add a few more steps to the installation to remove more shelves and take out the lower duct to get to where the screw fell. Obviously this happened to me. Not difficult to do, just adds more time.
3. To access the upper two screws I had to remove the top light cover (one screw) and then slide out the top duct/diffuser assy (my name, not GE's).
4. Finally to get clearance to pull out the Inlet Cover, I had to remove the water filter and cover. When you pull away the Inlet Cover, you will see the electrical connection that is simple to disconnect.
5. After I removed my Inlet Cover, it was obvious that it was broken because it rattled and I could peek inside to see that the plastic air diverter/flapper thingy was broken.
6. One final surprise was that the replacement Air Inlet Cover did not exactly match the one I removed. The replacement only had one upper air outlet, while my old one had three upper outlets, left, right and center. I noticed there was a plastic cover over one of the side outlets on the replacement, so I just popped that off and hoped for the best.
7. The replacement Air Inlet Cover Kit came with sticky back insulation that you attach to where the Inlet Cover meet the freezer access hole to make sure snug fit to limit extra cold air leaking into the fridge side.
8. Installation of the replacement Air Inlet Cover was fairly easy, just follow the above steps in reverse and make sure you don't drop any screws.
It's been a couple of weeks since I performed this installation and my fridge has been maintaining temperature perfectly. No more frozen milk or lettuce. The wife is very happy.
1. You will need to remove a minimum of the top two shelves to get access to the Air Inlet Cover. It runs along the back of the ... Read more fridge and connects to a hole to the freezer side. It has a little fan inside that sucks the cold air from the freezer and diverts to the top and bottom of the fridge.
2. As mentioned in other posts, there are four screws holding the Inlet Cover in place, 2 lower and 2 upper. To get access to the lower two screws,you simply pop off the lower duct assembly (squeeze the sides). Be careful when removing and installing these screws. If you drop one into the lower duct, you will add a few more steps to the installation to remove more shelves and take out the lower duct to get to where the screw fell. Obviously this happened to me. Not difficult to do, just adds more time.
3. To access the upper two screws I had to remove the top light cover (one screw) and then slide out the top duct/diffuser assy (my name, not GE's).
4. Finally to get clearance to pull out the Inlet Cover, I had to remove the water filter and cover. When you pull away the Inlet Cover, you will see the electrical connection that is simple to disconnect.
5. After I removed my Inlet Cover, it was obvious that it was broken because it rattled and I could peek inside to see that the plastic air diverter/flapper thingy was broken.
6. One final surprise was that the replacement Air Inlet Cover did not exactly match the one I removed. The replacement only had one upper air outlet, while my old one had three upper outlets, left, right and center. I noticed there was a plastic cover over one of the side outlets on the replacement, so I just popped that off and hoped for the best.
7. The replacement Air Inlet Cover Kit came with sticky back insulation that you attach to where the Inlet Cover meet the freezer access hole to make sure snug fit to limit extra cold air leaking into the fridge side.
8. Installation of the replacement Air Inlet Cover was fairly easy, just follow the above steps in reverse and make sure you don't drop any screws.
It's been a couple of weeks since I performed this installation and my fridge has been maintaining temperature perfectly. No more frozen milk or lettuce. The wife is very happy.
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Refrigerator wouldn't cool, constant clicking noise
148 of 177 people
found this instruction helpful.
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Alejandro from New York, NY
- Really Easy
- Less than 15 mins
-
Screw drivers
Unplug refrigerator. First I removed 3 screws to remove cover for Board ASM Main located on back of refrigerator then loosen Board by pressing on each of 4 plastic pins then unscrew ground wire (green) then transfer all plugs from old Board to new Board, put back new board through pins, screw back ground wire then put back cover then plug
... Read more
back refrigerator, took 5 minutes
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refrigerator was getting too cold
149 of 218 people
found this instruction helpful.
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Larry from Menomonie, WI
- A Bit Difficult
- 15 - 30 mins
I removed the old temperature sensor by cutting the wires. I attached the wires of the new sensor with wire nuts and mounted it in the same bracket.
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Evaporator motor sounded like wind in the trees howling
112 of 139 people
found this instruction helpful.
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DOUG from MARYSVILLE, OH
- A Bit Difficult
- 30 - 60 mins
-
Nutdriver, Screw drivers
I had to remove all of the shelves.....part of the ice maker.....the rear cover over the freezer coils.....There were two wires that came from the back of the freezer that were also incorporated with the fan motor plug from the factory....This caused me to cut all of the wires from the new motor and soider them to the existing plug and sh
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rink wrap the connections. If GE would have supplied two new ends I could have cut only those wires added the ends and inserted them into the new motor plug thus eliminating an extra hour and a soildering iron,,,,In my case not a big deal however not a project for those who have trouble with repairs using these type of tools.
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Repeatedly stick in defrost, raising temps in fridge and freezer for hours at a time, some times for days. Repair tech was called out twice to look into this problem, but the temps returned to normal both times before he arrived, therefore, he never could diagnose the problem with a certainity as wh
96 of 121 people
found this instruction helpful.
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Jerry from Otisco, IN
- Easy
- Less than 15 mins
-
Screw drivers
The main board is easy to get to behind the access plate. You will find seven different wire harness plugs, six which are white, that are impossible to remove without breaking the retaining clips which hold them in place....but that's OK.....you are throwing away the old board anyway, so nothing lost. The plugs will snap back into each o
... Read more
f their respective terminal locations without a problem. Be sure to treat the four white, plastic pins that hold the board in place delicately....you will not want to mess those little dudes up!
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Ice dispenser quit working and kept making a clicking sound
86 of 97 people
found this instruction helpful.
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Ken from Gibson City, IL
- Really Easy
- Less than 15 mins
-
Nutdriver, Pliers
All you have to do is replace the circuit board which is really easy. Still kinda mad because the fridge is less than 2 years old. If you hear the clicking noise its coming from the circuit board.
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Warm freezer and no ice
95 of 134 people
found this instruction helpful.
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Paul from Suwanee, GA
- Easy
- 30 - 60 mins
-
Nutdriver
This story starts with a GE side-by-side refrigerator that has always had wide temperature swings and a temperamental water dispenser. The ice maker was not making ice, and the built in digital thermometer showed it was running warm. I suspected that the heat exchanger was full of dust and so looked there. What I found was that the con
... Read more
denser tank was hot to the touch and the fan wasn’t running. As an experiment, I aimed a fan at the it for a while I saw that the freezer temperature dropped back to normal.
.The fan is marked as 11.2 DC so I checked for voltage at the fan and found some. With three wires and no wiring diagram I wasn’t sure this answered all the questions, but hooking the fan to a 12 volt power supply didn’t get it to spin.
I priced parts at a couple websites before using partselect.com . They also have a good diagram to look at (Sears diagrams are really poor). I ordered the part with 2-day shipping; it arrived on time, was correct and fixed the problem.
.The fan is marked as 11.2 DC so I checked for voltage at the fan and found some. With three wires and no wiring diagram I wasn’t sure this answered all the questions, but hooking the fan to a 12 volt power supply didn’t get it to spin.
I priced parts at a couple websites before using partselect.com . They also have a good diagram to look at (Sears diagrams are really poor). I ordered the part with 2-day shipping; it arrived on time, was correct and fixed the problem.
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Refrigerator stopped freezing and cooling frige
77 of 85 people
found this instruction helpful.
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DAVID R. from BATH, NY
- Easy
- Less than 15 mins
-
Nutdriver
Well, I first had a local service guy look at the frige. only to find out his opinion was to replace the entire unit, because the Mother board cost more than the unit was worth. Me not accepting that answer, decided to look on line for a part and availability as well as price. Surprise, Part Select had what I wanted. Now, on the back of t
... Read more
he unit in the upper left hand corner is the access door for the mother board.Find it, but before proceeding disconnect the power supply from the wall receptacle. Remove the surrounding screws on the access door with a nut driver and the correct size METRIC socket. Disconnect the wiring connectors on both sides of the board. Now there are 4 plastic type (mine were white) retaining studs holding the board in place. BE CAREFUL not to break these as you gently pull the board off studs. Replace board with new one, and restore wire connectors in their perspective places. Each connector has a different amount of pins inside so connecting them is easy. I know nothing about refrigeration, and this was a piece of cake. Less than 15 min. Unit cools like never before!!!
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ice stalactites were drooling out of the icemaker and gumming up the cubes in the receiving tray.
91 of 132 people
found this instruction helpful.
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Gerald from Benicia, CA
- Easy
- 15 - 30 mins
-
Nutdriver, Screw drivers
I first shut off water flow to the fridge. Examination of the package (which was not exact in appearance to the original) demonstrated that the electrical connectors were well-insulated so I arrogantly and successfully proceded without disconnecting the power. My fridge is old enough that the model doesn't appear exactly on anyone's list
... Read more
so I wasn't alarmed that it took an extra 10 minutes or so to noodle out how to adapt the slightly different inlet cowling and electrical cord with extension, but the device is pretty simple.
Soon I loosened the two mounting screws with a nut driver, used a screwdriver to pry away the plastic snap-in housing over the electrical socket on the fridge inner wall and pulled away the electrical plug. The original water fill tube remained in its cavity, ready for re-use.
The new unit's mounting points matched the original screw locations perfectly, as did the fill cowling - which on the replacement icemaker has two possible attachment points. The new unit's electrical connector required an extension pigtail to adapt to my socket, but it was included in the package. The extra cable posed a minor cosmetic issue because it hangs in the collection basket a bit, but that will soon be remedied with a tie wrap.
After the water was restored and an anxious wait of a few hours, we had well-formed ice cubes that weren't all stuck together and the stalactites haven't reappeared.
Soon I loosened the two mounting screws with a nut driver, used a screwdriver to pry away the plastic snap-in housing over the electrical socket on the fridge inner wall and pulled away the electrical plug. The original water fill tube remained in its cavity, ready for re-use.
The new unit's mounting points matched the original screw locations perfectly, as did the fill cowling - which on the replacement icemaker has two possible attachment points. The new unit's electrical connector required an extension pigtail to adapt to my socket, but it was included in the package. The extra cable posed a minor cosmetic issue because it hangs in the collection basket a bit, but that will soon be remedied with a tie wrap.
After the water was restored and an anxious wait of a few hours, we had well-formed ice cubes that weren't all stuck together and the stalactites haven't reappeared.
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Ice maker stopped working
84 of 117 people
found this instruction helpful.
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Dan from West Bloomfield, MI
- Really Easy
- Less than 15 mins
-
Nutdriver
I unplugged the electrical connection. Then I removed the 2 screws holding the icemaker in place. I lifted out the old icemaker unit and put the new one in place. Then put the 2 screws back in and plugged in the new unit.
The icemaker started making ice very soon after turning the unit on.
The icemaker started making ice very soon after turning the unit on.
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broken ice maker part
78 of 107 people
found this instruction helpful.
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Laura Beth from Mandeville, LA
- Really Easy
- Less than 15 mins
-
Screw drivers
used a screwdriver to remove screw and unplugged part. Plugged in new one and secured with a screw.
Simple
Simple
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fan not running
75 of 105 people
found this instruction helpful.
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Ray from Bensalem, PA
- A Bit Difficult
- 15 - 30 mins
-
Nutdriver, Socket set
Removed rear and front grills,brushed and vacuumed area- probably caused the fan motor to fail- unplugged fan, removed fan,motor,and shroud in 1 piece, carefully slipped fan off motor shaft, unscrewed shroud and motor. assembled in reverse order. Frige is in tight area, .I'll now roll it out and clean often
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