KEMC378KSS04 KitchenAid Microwave Oven Combo - Instructions

The only difficult part of this repair was figuring out how to get the oven door off. Most instructions advise you to flip the hinge locking clips, then lift off the door. But this oven does not have hinge locking clips. What it has is holes in the hinges, just behind the hinge pins. To get the door off, you need to open the door and insert some 3/16' pins in those holes, then close the door and lift it off. I almost got this right the first time, but I used 1/8" pins, and they didn't work, too small. It took me a long time to figure out to use bigger pins. Once the door is off, it's just a few Philips screws to work your way down to the glass. There are 4 layers of glass in this door.

By reversing the way I removed the door hinges from the frame, per the reinstall instructions. I called the 800# and they emailed me a diagram, but the hinges depicted were different than mine. When my back feels better, I'll keep trying.

I am not a big do-it-yourselfer, so maybe I might have found this more difficult than expected. When I first looked at the oven before ordering the part, I saw a couple of screws and it seemed like an easy task. However, I found that I had to remove to whole door first, which was actually easy. Then I started to remove the case. Then I removed several layers of a puzzle. Oven door had 3 pieces of glass and 3 metal brackets. The installation video was for a completely different oven. Although I got out the broken glass easily, I had difficulty reassembling. The oven diagram for the parts was even deceiving. I had to involve my spouse and after an hour of cursing everything, we finally managed to get the thing back together. Whoever designed this oven must have been a deranged German scientist. However, everything is back to normal and I probably saved a couple hundred bucks for a repairman.

I did some research on blogs and identified the thermal fuse as likely culprit. Ordered part from PartSelect.com, but had to call the 800 number because the parts diagram doesn't show this fuse, just the thermostat. The fuse is located on the back of the oven, so it must be removed from the cabinet, but that wasn't a huge project. There are a bunch of sheet metal screws holding the top and back covers that must be removed. The fuse is held on by two screws and has two wire connections. Getting the stove out and disassembling is the hard part, but not really difficult if you take your time. I used a foot stool that was about the same height as the bottom of the oven and just slid the oven out on a piece of cardboard. Make sure you turn the power off before starting.

I was able to convince a local mechanic that he could do this after watching it done four times. The most difficult part was unscrewing and taking out the oven to get to the back. He suggested since this has happened everytime I used the self-cleaning feature, that I cut a hole in the wall for easier access (tongue-in-cheek). The most difficult part was dealing with the extended warranty service plan - this is covered, but they could not find a technician to do this. Then I found out they don't pay mileage so who would want to come out to a rural ND ranch to repair an oven?

Once the door was secured with hinge locking pins which I made out of cut off 16 penny nails,I removed the door , layed it on a soft padded piece of vinyl and proceeded to remove the inside top cover which was secured with phillips screws on the top and sides. I was then greeted by 2 sheets of glass before I could get to the front glass which was the one that cracked.These sheets of glass were secures with slotted metal frames which also required removing several screws and braces. I was then able to remove the cracked glass and replace it with the new glass panel. Then I had to reverse the steps to assemble the door which was fairly easy since I made a diagram of the steps when I disassembled the door (this saved me alot of aggravation since my memory isn't what it used to be. The door was fitted into the frame of the oven and once the hinges were in place I removed the pins and closed the door. It was at that point that I got a kiss from my grateful wife. End of story.

Unscrewed the old thermostat took off the conectors then replaced with new one, and screwed it back on.

1. Unplug the power cord from the wall socket. 2. Remove the 10 screws holding the bottom cabinet cover in place. The bottom cabinet cover will swing down allowing acces to the inside ofe the microwave. 3. Remove the connector from the turntable motor. 4. Use a T15 Torx driver to remove the 2 Torx screws holding the motor in place. 5. Remove the motor. 6. Reverse the process using the new motor.

Broke again - same spring - 4th time, maybe 10 years old. Last break/fix was October 2010, so got just a little over 2 years out of a new one. Only me and my wife, so not like it's 5 wild kids and their friends attacking the door. Just a bad design, it seems. But, see my earlier instructions - every time this happens, I order new part, print out my old instructions, wait a day or so for part to arrive (really quick this time - asked for 3-5 days delivery, got part in just 1!!! Way to go PartSelect!!!!), then repair in 25-30 min.

Turned the circuit breaker off, removed trim and the oven screws, pulled oven out, and placed on a stand in front. Electrical cord was just long enough without disconnecting. Removed the back panel, installed the old thermostat with the new one the same way. Used the same phillips screwdriver for the operation. Installed the oven using reverse order. Turn circuit breaker on, back in business. Prior comments definitely helped me a lot. Thanks.

This site helped me diagnois the problem rating the suggested problem as a 99% chance cause of the problem. Ordered the thermal overload safety thermostat and it arrived in just two days. Repair was quick and easy once getting the oven removed from the cabinet. (It's very heavy so have some assistance or a sturdy stand to set it out on.)#2 Phillips scredriver and needle nose pliers were only tools needed. Overall, an easy repair for anyone.

I followed the step-by-step instructions from Steve on the part select videos posted on Youtube.

I followed these instructions put in by a fellow customer. These were very helpful. Just make sure the glass is finger print free before you put it all back together. My time was 30 minutes end to end. =========================== The first thing I did was to remove the oven door by releasing the two latches on the hinges (by hand). I then raised the door toward the vertical position and lifted up. The hinges slide out of the oven housing. I laid the door, inside face up on my island counter top. This ensures that none of the parts will fall when disassembling the door. Next I unscrewed the screws 4 top and bottom and four on the inside face. This releases the frame from the front housing. Lift the frame off the door, exposing the glass pieces. Lift off the broken inside glass and place the new piece in the glass retaining housing. Replace the outside frame and replace all screws. Take door back over to oven and slide hinge bottoms back into slots on oven. Rotate to horizontal position and flip latches back to locked position. Total time was about 10 minutes mainly because I was curious how the door was constructed and I poked around while it was disassembled

To remove the oven door, you have to slide 2 small nails into the holes in side of the hinges. When you then close the oven door, the nails force the hinges out of the oven box, and the door comes off. Lay the door on a cloth face down, and remove the phillips screws around the perimeter. The door comes apart in layers, with more screws and layers of glass inside. Lay in the new glass, and reassemble. Carry the door over to the oven and push the hinges in hard at the bottom. Lay the door flat to remove the nails. Close the door. Job done.

I found several posts about Whirlpool/KitchenAid ovens having this problem and most of the time this required a replacement of the thermal fuse. Other than the large number of screws to remove the oven and the sheet metal coverings, replacing the fuse was mostly about waiting to get the part. If I had a local dealer with the fuse, I probably could have been baking Deep Dark Chocolate Cheesecake that same evening. Even so, this particular repair should be left to those familiar with doing moderate-level handyman type repairs. You have to make sure the breaker is off and beware of the sharp edges on sheet metal. Fortunately, the fuse was easy to find using online documentation for my model. Part Select was very helpful when my original order did not arrive. Their customer service was great!