Whirlpool refrigerator water dispenser stopped working - icemaker works fine

[Jeff]

You read it right! For the past few weeks/month the water dispenser has had a delay of 3 - 5 seconds before coming on, then working intermittently (30 second delay), and now not at all. Meanwhile the icemaker is working just fine. I replaced the mini switch, checked the hoses, connections, washers, etc. Sometimes it starts working again, then within a few hours there is the 5 sec delay, and an hour later - nothing. So far nothing has worked.

I do hear the switch click, but the ?pump/valve/solenoid? doesn't turn on to dispense the water.

Any help would be appreciated.

There was another post I found with the same problem here.

[Dan O.]

A delay in dispensing water can be caused by air getting into the fridge's internal water reservoir (like from being cracked) or the tank expanding when it should be rigid. The latter is often found where a molded plastic reservoir was originally used and the fix is to replace the original tank with a coil of plastic tubing.

You can see a 'reservoir repair kit' for a Whirlpool refrigerator at the following link. Other manufacturers have them as well.

It is a solenoid. You can read about how they work at this link.

How do I test a water fill valve?

If the water valve is getting power when it should be dispensing water but isn't, it may now be defective. It the valve is not getting power the problem is likely elsewhere. It may also be possible that there is now a blockage in the water dispenser tubing like from being frozen.

There may be multiple causes responsible for your symptoms each which needs to be looked into.

Dan O.

- Appliance411.com

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