MOTOR-TURN W10642989

Ordered a new motor. Removed the outside trim of the oven-microwave combo. 2 screws at the bottom of the trim. Removed the screws that held the combination micro and oven unit in place. Removed the top and bottom black plastic grill of the microwave. 3 screws each. Pulled the entire unit out about 1 inch exposing the screws at each side of the microwave that hold it in place.
Snapped off the top control panel which exposed the wiring connecting the control panel.
Unplugged a couple of wire harness units to free the control panel.
Be sure to label the units to know which goes where during reassembly.
Remove the microwave unit from the housing and place it on its side.
Remove the metal plate that houses the motor. 4 screws hold the motor in place. Disconnect the 2 wires from the old motor and you are ready to install the new motor. Be sure to TURN OFF THE POWER to the unit at the breaker box and remove the turntable from inside the microwave.

The replacement of the blower was an easy repair. Just had to remove two back panels of the oven and the blower was then very accessable. Just remove the two electrical wires and then three screws and the blower came right off. Put the new blower on with the three screws and replaced the 10 or 12 screws holding the back panels and the job was complete!. The difficult part of the job was removing the combo unit from the cabinet to access the back panels. That part took some effort. Had to build a platform to slide the oven out onto after I disconnected the electrical feed wire (#6 wire) located in a junction box in my attic. Once that was done, the actual blower replacement was simple. The turntable motor was a different story...Although replacing the turntable motor was going to be as easy as replacing the blower motor, I couldn't access the underside of the microwave without disassembling the whole combo unit cabinet! That was very disappointing to me that Whirlpool didn't make that part easier to access, so I didn't replace the turntable motor. Too bad but we are just going to live with the turntable not turning!!

I turned off the power to the oven at the breaker. I then removed the side trim pieces by removing the screws located behind the lower oven door. I removed the plastic trim pieces above and below the microwave oven and removed the control panel and slid it into the opening above the microwave. I located the two screws securing the microwave into the frame and began sliding it out. I had to disconnect a small wiring harness and two wires from the microwave that were attached inside the opening above the microwave. The microwave section was the easily slid out, turned on it's side where the turntable motor was accessed by removing the access panel. I pulled the old motor, checked resistance and it matched the new motor. I then checked the old motor by applying 120V to it and it ran FINE! I thought I had the wrong part, but decided to install the new motor anyway. I did, secured the access panel and replaced the microwave in the frame. I reconnected the wires and secured the control panel and tested the microwave...and the turntable works!

My unit is a wall mount/cabinet/built-in model. The repair is actually fairly simple once you determine that the actual microwave is just a component of the entire unit, and that it (the microwave) can be easily removed from the unit. I did not figure this out until after I removed the entire unit (disconnect the power supply, lift the entire bulky, heavy unit out of the cramped space in the cabinet, etc). Once I got it out I figured out how easy it is to remove the actual oven - a couple of screws, literally. The unit is a bit bulky, but not particularly heavy and is quite manageable. I did this entire process alone.

I got the oven out, rolled it on it's side and found the plate to access the motor. The plate is located on the bottom/underside of the unit. The plate is nothing more than a section of the underside of the metal housing that has been cut-out as an access point. This "cut-out" is not complete - that is, not completely cut out so as to all the plate to stay in place without the need for screws, etc, until you actually have to use it. I used a pair of dykes to cut the couple of points still connecting this plate, removed the two phillips screws to remove the motor, disconnected the two wires connected, then reversed to complete the repair. You then flip the cut-out plate over/rotate it, and some screw holes line up. Find a couple of small screws, and re-attach the plate to cover the motor.

The actual fix is really easy, again, once you figure out the simple way to remove the oven. I am an idiot, so you will probably find this much easier. I could probably do this repair now, after my experience, in less than 30 minutes (probably less than 15 minutes). I probably save a couple hundred $ by doing it myself so was well worth the time to do it. Good luck.