EV171NYMS05 Whirlpool Freezer - Instructions

We had a refrigerator that had no ice maker at all, but it had the wiring behind the freezer panel and the wiring for the solenoid valve at the bottom of the refrigerator. The installation went easy for me, but I do not think the average homeowner could handle it. There are always little variations from model to model so some of the diagrams were not quite the same as my unit. But all the necessary parts and hardware were there and the install went fine. its crabnking out perfect ice like crazy.

I completed the ice maker installation but the bracket the automatic water valve was attached to in no way would fit my Whirlpool fridge. The one showed in instructions sent with the ice maker was different than the one Partselect sent me. I had to grind both sides of the bracket off and just hot glued it to the spot where it was supposed to go. I can see how this could be a real issue for some.

I cut the plugs off and bought male and female wire conectors and crimped them on the wires and pluged them together.

Installation went smooth - only three hex-head screws (one below unit and two above. After removing 3 screws, unit comes loose in your hand but is still connected by a plug leading 4 wires to a connector visible through a slot in back panel of freezer compartment. New unit goes in easily (making sure spout from pump that protrudes from back wall fits through opening on icemaker) but there's not a generous amout of wiring harness and the 'female' of the electrical connection is recessed and loose inside a cutout in the rear panel so you can't get a good grip on it nor can you feel if it plugs securely. I plugged new unit into connector and then secured it with the 3 screws, waited the 12 hours per instructions, but no ice. Removed unit and guessed that the plug had not seated fully (not plugged in.) I took a short piece of a wooden paint stirrer and put it on back edge of plug and tapped it into place so it seated fully. Immediately, the pump cycled and water came from the filler spout, so I surmised that it was now properly plugged in - it began making ice in a couple of hours and has operated perfectly ever since. Lesson learned is to make sure you get the electrical connector fully in place - mine did not 'snap' or 'click' into place and I wrongly assumed it was plugged in correctly.

My husband tackled the job....but before this repair he had to replace ours at home so he had some experience at it....although...on this fridge he had to hook up the water line and all...but basically was not too hard...and the ordering of the part and delivery was excellent...

Whirlpool refridgerator, parts were not exactly the same,but did fit. The electrical hook plug was perfect. Old ice maker had wear marks in channels. Installed new ice maker. Pump still didn't operate after letting ice box get down to normal temp. Replaced pump. Had to use hose permanentely attached to new pump. Removed old hose and clamped new hose at top and outside refrigerator with existing clamp. Let the freezer get back down to normal temp. Ice maker operated perfectly.

Removed door. Laid door down on a table. Unscrewed all screws around outside of door. Removed plastic cover back of door underneath cover was filled with heavy ice apparently from condensation. Cleaned and dried back of door really well. Replaced with new seal. Reinstalled door. New seal works perfectly.

I unplugged and defrosted the freezer ( good excuse to give it a good cleaning). I then removed the hex screws from the door under the gasket. Because this attaches the door panel to the freezer, it is helpful to have two people for this task if you have a full size upright freezer. We then removed the panel, cleaned the door, and fitted the new gasket in place. If your gasket has kinks in it, either throw it in the dryer on low for a few minutes or use a hair dryer to smooth them out. We then added a few screws around the center point of each side to hold the gasket in place, secured the corners, and replaced the remainder of the screws. We used a small cordless drill. The gasket will be hard at first, so I duct taped the freezer door shut with a few pieces of tape and turned the unit back on. A repair guy was going to charge me $350.00 for the job, but I did it for free with the cost of the gasket. This site is the least expensive place I found anywhere, and shipped very quickly!

replaced old one installed new one