Kenmore refrigerator - icemaker not working

[Brandon McCombs]

Hello,

Our icemaker stopped making ice in our Kenmore refrigerator. We only have an icemaker, which is located in the bottom freezer; no water dispenser. So we just have a single valve at the bottom right rear corner of the fridge.

I've checked the tube going into the back of the fridge into the icemaker to ensure it wasn't clogged with frozen water. It's clear. I recently swapped out the water inlet valve itself. Still no change. When I turn on the icemaker I can hear a whirring noise every few seconds. It's coming from the icemaker but I don't know what is causing it. Apparently the valve wasn't at fault.

Is there some other mechanical or electrical component in between the icemaker unit and the water inlet valve? I see a cluster of wires coming out from the back of the icemaker inside the freezer that use a Molex connector to connect to the back of the fridge from the inside. Not sure where those lead though.

The icemaker is definitely getting power because the light is on and I hear the whirring noise.

Any ideas?

thanks Brandon

[gfretwell]

There are a couple of sites out there that have trouble shooting guides but basically you start by shorting the two ports closest together in the middle towards the bottom and start a cycle (they have the picture) Then go from there.

That is a Whirlpool ice maker and the only difference between part numbers is the miscellaneous screw on parts. They are about $45-60 on the net. I have 2 fridges with them and my daughter and father in law have 3 more between them. I just keep a spare on hand. Usually you can fix it with a "head" tho. (the brown plastic base on the end and all the attached parts.) I have had very little luck fixing the head.

[Pointer]

Last week had a similar problem on a GE. Removed the food, turned off the freeze and put a hair dryer as close to the ice cuber maker as possible for about 15 minutes. Restarted and water began to flow and cubes made.

[Fred McKenzie]

Brandon-

I think the noise you hear may be the mechanism trying to dump a load of ice. If so, it will not fill the tray with water until the cycle is completed.

If yours is like mine, it has moving "fingers" that go between stationary fingers, to push the ice out into the tray. Take a close look and see if one of the fingers might have bent, and is caught on one of the others. If so, you may be able to un-bend it.

The mechanism may relax with the power off, making it easier to un-jam.

Also, check to see if the front cover of the mechanism pulls straight off. There could be something obviously broken inside.

Fred

[Norminn]

I'd like to hear the secrets of how icemakers operate....ours has worked, probably, 3 months out of the 12 months we have owned our Frigidaire (it came with the house we bought). I don't remember what we did that got it going after it quit the first time....went through the troubleshooting in owners manual and looked up a video about the same. This time, we had a power outage in the neighborhood that lasted for about two hours....when the power came on, it started working and is still working. It has a water dispenser on the door, and the water flow is puny. Have changed the filter, which had no effect.

[Stormin Mormon]

I've had to replace a bunch of those icemakers. Not sure what it is, why, but they do go bad. Typically three screws, and the wiring harness. The fill valve and tube don't have to get replaced, the ice maker slides out from under the fill tube.

[Stormin Mormon]

The valve at the other end of the tube may be bad. Those "self piercing" valve have given people trouble.

[trader4]

The basic process is water freezes and when a sensor switch at the the tray detects it's cold enough that the water is frozen, it starts a heater that warms the tray a bit so the cubes will come out. After a couple mins, the motor turns the fingers and pushes the cubes out, the heater shuts off. Then it fills the tray with water and the cycle starts over. It's all driven, including the timing, off the one motor. At least that ones I've seen work that way.

Also, the common replacement ones, you can get the whole thing for like $70 or so. Of course fancy models may have their own way of doing things and costs. I just had the ice crusher motor on my 3 year old KitchenAid go bad. I was expecting the worst, that it might cost $$$ to replace God knows what. But turns out the motor, which it most likely is, isn't hard to replace and can be had for $75. Sometimes you get lucky.

[TimR]

Yup. Have done that fix twice.

[DerbyDad03]

Other have already suggested some troubleshooting ideas, so I'll just throw out this fact about my ice maker.

The circuitry is set up so that the ice maker turns off when the freezer door is opened. They do this to prevent the ice maker's dump cycle from running when you have the ice tray pulled out.

In my freezer the ice cube tray is a drawer at the top of the freezer. If you were slide it out and the ice maker dumped, it would dump the cubes onto the floor of the freezer. Therefore, they simply de-energize the ice maker whenever the door is open.

I mention this so that you'll be aware that if your's is designed the same way, you can't expect normal operation with the door open unless you fool the fridge into thinking the door is closed.

Good luck!

[Norminn]

I used one of those many years ago. It was easy to install, but I wonder if it is as easy to replace....can a replacement got into the same hole made by the original? That is probably our next step.

[Norminn]

Here is a link to a Youtube I initially watched for our Frigidaire problems....partselect has a gazillion Youtube videos, so perhaps you can find the solution there. Let us know :o)

[Stormin Mormon]

Yes, if you're very careful.

When I worked for Sears, we were taught to drill a small hole, and then put the piercing valve over the drilled hole.

[Stormin Mormon]

Somehow, the URL didn't come through.

[Norminn]

Brief senior moment there, apparently :o)