8198549 KitchenAid Ice Maker - Instructions

Over a period of weeks I watched my fridge grand to a halt. It was...saddening. I felt helpless, there was nothing I could do and I wasn't prepared to pull in a repairman. Upon it's departure from being affective (broke) I made up my mind to purchase a new one!! Flash-forward five minutes n the internet ...motivator by high costs, I altered my thinking and visited You Tube for a fix-it video. After a quick search I came across a clip that took me to the heart of the problem. It was THAT easy. Wow!! I followed the instructions and quickly learned the failure had to do with a small, light weight fan that's role was to pull heat from the condenser--it had ceased to work. While waiting for the part, I let a small fan blow on the condenser to dissipate the heat. The fridge roared to life!! Like a charm!! When the new fan body arrived I placed the blade from the old fan on it and installed it (the fan did not come with bolts and the holes were not threaded) using sheet metal screws. It immediately came started performing again and has been doing a superb job ever since. I easily saved $800 in costs going this route!!

Removed the back lower cover, behind the fridge. Uncliped the wiring. Removed the motor, (3 Screws).I did check the new motor before removal of the old one, to verify the older motor was the problem. After removal of the fan & motor. Removed the fan and placed it on the new motor, three screws later, plugged up the wiring, (I didn't changout the wiring, and the Refrigerator is good as new.

Unplugged the refrigerator then removed two vertical screws on the very back back of the control panel (the ones with the washers). Do not remove the four other vertical screws in the panel. The front plastic plate on control panel snaps off and there are two horizontal screws under the plate. Remove them and the control panel will drop down allowing access to the light switch. Unplug the two wires (one black and one white) from the old switch. Discard the old switch, snap the new one into place and reconnect the two wires. Snap the front plastic plate back into place, plug in the refrigerator and you are done! Problem solved with a new $16.00 switch and saved at least $75.00 or more from an appliance repair call. Thanks Part Select!

Simple, remove water reservoir (2 screws). Remove pump cover (1 screw). Remove 2 screws on bracket holding pump and unplug pump. My wiring was somewhat corroded and it took a bit of pulling to unplug. When you replace with new motor make sure to snap in new plug snug or it will not start up. Reassemble and away you go.Making ice no problem.

1 Turn off ice maker and drain water reseviour (cap at bottom of reseviour) 2. Remove internal ice storage door to give you more working room 3. Remove water resevious (two screws on either side of reseviour) and disconnect plastic tubing in reseviour 4. Remove cover shield at top that covers the ice cutting mechanism (two screws at bottom of cover 3. Remove cover shield covering pump (1 screw) 4. Remove small plastic tubing on side of pump (this part is a little tricky) 5. Remove the three screws holding pump to unit (one at back and two on the side (one in front of pump and one in back of pump) 6. Disconnect power supply to pump 7. Remove pump and replace

The thumbscrews that hold the cutter grid can only be removed by using a needle nose pliers , you cannot turn them by hand. The electrical connections for the grid and level sensor can be removed by pressing the front side of the connector while pulling down. Re-installing the cutter grid is in reverse to the removal, just follow the instructions. But be aware that all wiring remains outside the grid perimeter when reconnecting. One other thing: While you are at it, remove the lower outside panel to expose the evaporator coils which need to be vacuumed. Replacing these parts is tricky. I had to remove the door then loosely install the upper retainer bracket for the lower panel so I could slide the upper edge into that bracket before installing the lower screws. I used an ice pick to line up the holes while using a blade screwdriver to push the panel in its place to install the retaining screws. It took me about a half hour after I figured out what to do.

Pulled refrigerator away fom wall. Removed cardboard cover at back bottom to reveal fan motor.The space available to remove the motor from the bracket is very limited, so smaller hands will be a plus! Tried to get a nut wrench on motor but there was hardly enough room. Finally was able to use a socket set to remove bolts. I would suggest you spray a solvent on the motor mount bolts and seat them in the new motor first. It was near to impossible to get them started in the mount, without seating them first. The electrical clip that connects to the motor fit on the new motor, so I did not have to splice any wiring. This made the job a little easier. Finally, replaced cardboard cover and moved refrigerator back against the wall. .

Once I determined easier access to the fan motor, I removed the three fan motor screws that held the motor on place. After removing the motor I remove the fan blade assembly held by one nut and reattached to the new motor. I then reattached the new motor with 3 new screws which were provide and reattached the power cord with the cord clip and began reassembling the icemaker housing, then moved the unit back in place which was installed under counter. I could do this repair in less than 45 minutes now that I have done it once. I saved several hundred $ from the original estimate and the parts were delivered in 2 days after I ordered online. This is definitely a DIY project!!

I determined the pump was not working by running the ice maker. After it started a cycle, I could fell the underside of the cold plate to insure it was indeed cold, but no water was flowing.
First, be sure the water pump electrical plug is in., it releases by pressing together the tabs at the ends, not sides.
To replace the pump, turn off the water supply and cover the drain hole at the bottom of the ice bin so you don’t drop parts down it. The screw-plug at the bottom of the water tank or a quarter will do.
Remove the water tank below the pump by taking out the thumbscrews at both ends. You can then see the hose at the bottom of the pump. If it is off, that may be the problem.
To remove the pump, pull the fill hose to the left out of the slot and bend it behind the pump to get it out of the way. Unplug the electrical connector and the pump hose. There are three ¼” hex head screws, teo on the side wall, one in back. The middle one is the hardest to access. I used both a nut driver and a socket wrench with a 4” extension.
When installing the new pump, be sure to plug in the electrical connector, the discharge hose at the bottom and position the fill tube as you found it. Forget any of these and nothing works. Re-install the water tank, replace the drain plug and turn on the water supply, in that order.

1. Unplug the refrigerator. 2. Remove the back cover at the bottom of the refrigerator. 3. Remove the two screws holding the vertical black bracket the fan is mounted to. This allows the bracket to move easily. The bracket does not have to be removed. 4. Removed the four screws holding the fan bracket to the vertical bracket. 5. Unplug the power connector from the fan motor. 6. Remove the entire fan bracket assembly from the refrigerator. 7. Remove the 4 screws holding the fan motor to the fan motor bracket and unmount the fan motor. 8. Remove the nut holding the fan blade to the fan motor and remove the fan blade. 9. Reverse the process, mounting the fan blade to the new motor, screw the motor to the bracket, screw the bracket to the vertical bracket, screw the vertical bracket to the refrigerator and plug the power connector back into the motor. I did not have to use any of the extra mounting hardware or electrical hardware provided with the kit. It might be a good idea to purchase a new fan blade with the motor kit, the fan blade can get pretty grungy. I cleaned the fan blade with some degreaser before remounting it.

Remove inside door trim plate. Then removed three screws that held in the light assembly. The only difficult thing was reconnecting the temperature adjustment rod. After replacing this rod you must slide the temperature control slide to midway and this hold the rod in place while reinstalling the light assembly. If I were to do it again it would probably take me half as long.

Insalled fan motor,problem went away. Thanks

Fan was barely rotating. So unplugged, removed back cover, removed fan and motor from frame work. Removed fan blade from motor shaft. Spun motor shaft which seemed fine. Pryed off back cover of motor to find a large but dry felt washer and a helical capillery slot formed into the motor shaft for carring oil from felt washer to the bearings. Added 30 wt motor oil and some 3in1 oil to felt and reassembled motor, fan and frame work. Plugged in power chord after getting rid of dust and dog hear on coils and is working like new.

We guessed what the problem was and we were extremely fortunate that we guessed correctly. The part was not technically difficult to install just a little awkward to get to. My husband had no trouble although he did take the machine out of it's space and lay it flat on the floor. One benefit of this process was being able to clean some of the areas that are almost impossible to get to when the motor is in place. It was well worth the extra shipping charge to get it before the weekend.

Follow the instructions already submitted by others. As mentioned be sure to place towel inside to cover the drain. My 3-wire electrical connector also had some corrosion build-up so I had to remove the bracket holding the connecter cut the 3-wires and install a new connector. Not a big deal, you are just working in a small enclosed area. Pulling the entire unit out and either elevating or tilting back helps with the access. Be sure to check drain connection in the back of the unit when putting back in place. Having a headband light helps for entire repair.