I have purchased five new Maytag frost free top freezer refrigerators in the last six years. Two of the five refrigerators have had a failure of the evaporator fan motor (freezer fan). The symptoms in both cases were a temperature in freezer compartment was OK, and the temperature in the refrigerator compartment was warm (50s).
I kept the most recent failed fan motor. The manufacturer and part number is: Panasonic P/N UDQR002MB. I am not sure if the first failed fan motor was the same part number, but it looked physically similar.
No, I was not asking a question. I was providing information that may help someone else diagnosing a problem with a Maytag frost free refrigerator. With two refrigerators out of five with the same failure, I am sure there must be a lot more out there with the same problem. I did searches through Google Groups and it didn't yield any other failures similar to mine. So strange, since I have had two.
Not strange to me. I've encountered it a few time with the fridge at home and a couple at work. Quick and cheap fix compared to calling a service tech out.
This confirms my suspicion that the Panasonic evaporator fan motors have an inherent design flaw. Thanks for the information.
I replaced the evaporator fan motor with Maytag P/N 61004888, which required cutting off the plug and replacing the connections with slide-on crimp terminals.
It's just too bad that Maytag hasn't been up front about this problem and installed new evaporator fan motors in the affected refrigerators. I can just imagine the huge amount of money that has been bilked from the U.S. population through repairs because of these faulty parts.
Another failure of an evaporator fan motor. This makes three out of five refrigerators that have had a failure of the evaporator fan motor (freezer fan). This failed fan motor was a Panasonic P/N UDGR002MGL. How to go Maytag. After having the same failure in three different Maytag frost free refrigerators, I now vow to never buy another Maytag product.
I have a Magic Chef, which is made by Maytag. It has the same white- body evaporator fan motor described above. This fridge was new when it was delivered in Nov., 2002-- the motor has failed after only 3 years and a couple months of use.
Remember the ad campaign featuring the bored Maytag service tech who has nothing to do? When I called the factory service center to ask about warranty coverage, wait time on hold to speak with a rep was nearly half an hour. :) Of course, the fan is out of warranty. Price for the listed replacement motor at most appliance parts houses: $50.
My first thought was that I have an unreliable product, and that I can look forward to more repair bills in the future. That impression seems to be supported by several articles I've read in the Google groups archives concerning Maytag products. Would you agree with that assessment of Maytag? I also get the idea from articles in this group that this motor is one of the most common components to fail in any refrigerator. Does that tally with your experience?
This fridge was provided for free by my power utility under a replacement program designed to offer low power consumption refrigerators to a low-income person (like me) who couldn't afford one. Fortunately, I've managed to save up, so that I now have the option to go buy a new one. Point is, I currently have no money invested in this fridge.
I've long had the impression that Whirlpool/KitchenAid is the best and most reliable. I bought a Whirlpool gas range at
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(nice to see they're still in business), which offers overstocked and cosmetically blemished appliances at significant discounts. It has been trouble-free for 7 years (I'd been holding my breath about the ignitors but, so far, so good).
So, my questions: in my circumstances, and keeping possible future service bills in mind, would you replace the fan motor or the whole fridge? Is Whirlpool still reliable, or would you recommend a different make? Can I look forward to something that's a little bit better than 3 years of service from the most failure-prone components in whatever make you would recommend?
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