Models > ZISS420NXCSS > Instructions

ZISS420NXCSS General Electric Refrigerator - Instructions

All Instructions for the ZISS420NXCSS
1 - 15 of 116
Keep searches simple. Use keywords, e.g. "leaking", "pump", "broken" or "fit".
my refigerator was warm but the freezer was cold and working correcttly
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.

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.
Parts Used:
Temperature Sensor
  • michele from North Smithfield, RI
  • Difficulty Level:
    Really Easy
  • Total Repair Time:
    15 - 30 mins
  • Tools:
    Pliers
268 of 337 people found this instruction helpful.
Was this instruction helpful to you?
Thank you for voting!
Replace water filter
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.
Parts Used:
Refrigerator Ice and Water Filter
  • Alfred from Novato, CA
  • Difficulty Level:
    Really Easy
  • Total Repair Time:
    Less than 15 mins
223 of 337 people found this instruction helpful.
Was this instruction helpful to you?
Thank you for voting!
refrigerator was getting too cold
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.
Parts Used:
Temperature Sensor
  • Larry from Menomonie, WI
  • Difficulty Level:
    A Bit Difficult
  • Total Repair Time:
    15 - 30 mins
142 of 197 people found this instruction helpful.
Was this instruction helpful to you?
Thank you for voting!
Evaporator motor sounded like wind in the trees howling
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 shrink 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.
Parts Used:
Evaporator Fan Motor
  • DOUG from MARYSVILLE, OH
  • Difficulty Level:
    A Bit Difficult
  • Total Repair Time:
    30 - 60 mins
  • Tools:
    Nutdriver, Screw drivers
111 of 137 people found this instruction helpful.
Was this instruction helpful to you?
Thank you for voting!
Warm freezer and no ice
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 condenser 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.
Parts Used:
DC Condenser Fan Motor - 12V
  • Paul from Suwanee, GA
  • Difficulty Level:
    Easy
  • Total Repair Time:
    30 - 60 mins
  • Tools:
    Nutdriver
94 of 124 people found this instruction helpful.
Was this instruction helpful to you?
Thank you for voting!
fan not running
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
Parts Used:
DC Condenser Fan Motor - 12V
  • Ray from Bensalem, PA
  • Difficulty Level:
    A Bit Difficult
  • Total Repair Time:
    15 - 30 mins
  • Tools:
    Nutdriver, Socket set
74 of 102 people found this instruction helpful.
Was this instruction helpful to you?
Thank you for voting!
The evaporator fan motor stopped running, freezer was warmer than normal
First ,I placed all the frozen food from the freezer into the lower fridge compartment. Removed the main shelf. Removed the ice cube tray shelf. Removed the center plastic covers using a nut driver. Removed the complete inside back wall of the freezer to get access to the fan. Simply removed about 5 screws, and cut 3 tie straps that held the wiring in place. Unplugged the fan connector and removed fan with its brackets and placed them on the kitchen table. Then used the nut driver to remove 2 screws which hald the fan to its bracket. Simply pulled off the fan blades and pressed them onto the new motor. Mounted new motor onto the bracket. Reinstalled the fan assembly back into freezer. Reconnected the wiring and the fan began to run... BE CAREFUL NOT TO TOUCH THE FAN WITH YOUR FINGERS!
Finally replaced all the covers, panels, and shelf etc. and everything is once again nice and cold.
Parts Used:
Evaporator Fan Motor
  • David from Romeo, MI
  • Difficulty Level:
    Really Easy
  • Total Repair Time:
    15 - 30 mins
  • Tools:
    Nutdriver, Pliers
65 of 87 people found this instruction helpful.
Was this instruction helpful to you?
Thank you for voting!
fridge side freezes some items
went to your website and viewed exploded view to find the sensor( there are two I just picked one to replace for now), pried the cover off carfully and pulled out the sensor. I snipped the wire in the middle leaving plenty to work with. I shortened the wire on the new piece, spliced the wires together and with some 3M rubberized, tape wrapped them up, replaced the sensor back into the cover and snapped in place.
Parts Used:
Temperature Sensor
  • Anthony from Murfreesboro, TN
  • Difficulty Level:
    Really Easy
  • Total Repair Time:
    Less than 15 mins
  • Tools:
    Screw drivers
53 of 74 people found this instruction helpful.
Was this instruction helpful to you?
Thank you for voting!
freezer cold / fridge warm
put fridge into test mode, failed One sensor. Took it out, Tested it, Ordered part also picked up splice kit from electric store spliced it truned on and good to go
Parts Used:
Temperature Sensor
  • Mark from Mancos, CO
  • Difficulty Level:
    Easy
  • Total Repair Time:
    30 - 60 mins
  • Tools:
    Screw drivers
44 of 52 people found this instruction helpful.
Was this instruction helpful to you?
Thank you for voting!
The freezer was whining and growling like a baby
I replaced the motor that runs the fan in the freezer compartment. Had to remove a number of shields to get to the fan and then some wires and screws to get at the motor. It came with a plug with 4 wires in it and I was supposed to pull 2 wires out of the old plug and place them in the new plug. Long story short the pins would not extract from the plug and the wiring harness was molded in solid plastic, so I ended up cutting the 4 wires to the motor and splicing in the new one and taping them with electrical tape. So far no more moaning and the ice cream is still hard, so I think we nailed it.
Parts Used:
Evaporator Fan Motor
  • James from Madison, CT
  • Difficulty Level:
    A Bit Difficult
  • Total Repair Time:
    1- 2 hours
  • Tools:
    Nutdriver
43 of 54 people found this instruction helpful.
Was this instruction helpful to you?
Thank you for voting!
Freezer would not defrost correctly
Took panel off back of inside of freezer section, took off old sensor from the evaporator, spliced new sensor into the existing wires, waterproofed spliced connections, snapped sensor back onto evaporator, then put panel back on the inside of the freezer. Really, it took only 10 minutes to fix. Now refrigerator defrosts like it used to, and temps have settled in at specified temps.
Parts Used:
Temperature Sensor
  • Michael from Milton, FL
  • Difficulty Level:
    Really Easy
  • Total Repair Time:
    Less than 15 mins
  • Tools:
    Pliers
30 of 32 people found this instruction helpful.
Was this instruction helpful to you?
Thank you for voting!
Ice & Ice Cream would melt and refreeze
Noticed the problem in November 2009. Replaced Hi Limit Sesor for Defrost thinking it was the freezor temperature sensor. Did not fix the problem. Replaced Motherboard. Did not fix the problem. Called Sears Repair. They mis-diagnosed the problem and told me it was the sealed system. I doubted them and sent them home. Replaced the correct freezer temperature sensor that connects to the motherboard. FIXED.
Removed a panel, cut two wires, soldered and insulated two wries, reinstalled panel.
Parts Used:
Temperature Sensor
  • Joe from Suffolk, VA
  • Difficulty Level:
    Really Easy
  • Total Repair Time:
    30 - 60 mins
  • Tools:
    Nutdriver, Pliers, Screw drivers
30 of 34 people found this instruction helpful.
Was this instruction helpful to you?
Thank you for voting!
water running slow
unscrewed old filter by hand, installed new filter.
Parts Used:
Refrigerator Ice and Water Filter
  • David from Tacoma, WA
  • Difficulty Level:
    Really Easy
  • Total Repair Time:
    Less than 15 mins
35 of 57 people found this instruction helpful.
Was this instruction helpful to you?
Thank you for voting!
Very high pitch whine. Not real loud but really annoying.
First I hired a repairman and he said that it was in the unit and would not be worth the expense to fix.

I started to research on the net and this was one possible source. ( evaporator fan). I had to take it apart to verify it. Then put it back together to use until the part came.

The next time went much faster as I did not have to take near as many screws out to access the fan motor. Very Happy to have it working fine again as a new relacement would cost $1200. Thanks much. Ron
Parts Used:
Evaporator Fan Motor
  • ronald from kissimmee, FL
  • Difficulty Level:
    A Bit Difficult
  • Total Repair Time:
    1- 2 hours
  • Tools:
    Nutdriver, Screw drivers
22 of 25 people found this instruction helpful.
Was this instruction helpful to you?
Thank you for voting!
Freezer and fresh food section getting warm due to inside coils frosting over.
No self defrost. Measured heater coil with ohm meter which was OK (not open). Ordered 2 temp sensors (there are 2 in freezer, 2 in fresh food sections). The original and the new all meaured ~150 ohms. Replaced one by one. This did not fix problem. Ordered defrost thermostat. Original measured ~150 ohms - new one was ~100 ohms. Unpluged refridgerator. Removed coil panel (4 nut screws) in freezer and light cover (1 small phillips screw). Locate defrost thermostat clipped to top of coils (orange / pink wires). Cut wires and unclipped thermostat. Stripped insulation off of wires and reconnect using wire nuts. Clipped thermostat back to coils. Ran refridgerator without panel on coils to see if coils frosted up again and listend for fans/compressor to stop ( took hours). Opened freezer and viewed glow of defrost heater. Problem resolved.
Parts Used:
Temperature Sensor
  • John from Windham, NH
  • Difficulty Level:
    A Bit Difficult
  • Total Repair Time:
    1- 2 hours
  • Tools:
    Pliers, Screw drivers, Socket set
19 of 25 people found this instruction helpful.
Was this instruction helpful to you?
Thank you for voting!
All Instructions for the ZISS420NXCSS
1 - 15 of 116