GT21A83V Admiral Refrigerator - Instructions

I noticed that the refrigerator was having trouble maintaining temperature. Thought it might be time for new one until I found out that a new frig was $5k to $7K. Just happened to notice that the light switch didn't look quite right (was not sitting sqaure to the door). Once I pressed it it came loose. I then realized the the lights were staying on (50 watts of heating). Replaced the switch and the frig started working like new.

I pried the old one out with a screw driver and pushed the new one in. I expected instructions in the box it came in but there were none.

Popped the old one out with a kitchen knife and popped the new one back in. It tool less than 15 seconds!!

My owners manual said to unplug fridge from elec outlet, use a kitchen knife to gently pry off the switch plate
(manual had a pictoral example), unclip the two wire, replace with on new switch and replace the switch. Close
door and plug back in. Open door to check that the lite
works. Walla! It did. Thanks!

Sincerely, Ron Marshall, Billings, MT

had it done by my husband, I did not do it

Please bear in mind I am 65 years old & it was harder to get up & down off the floor then to change the switch. Was very easy - watched video, unplugged unit. I used the putty knife at the right front corner to work loose, when it came loose had to loose the left side a little. The unit pulled out easily. detached the wired that had a single plug with 2 prongs on it. Attached the plug, pushed new switch into place. There was no way you could place wires on wrong prong. When done, plugged refrigerator back in & checked if working. I CAN SEE THE LIGHT and the food in the freezer now. Thank you for making an easy repair.

Ordered the entire seal kit for repair and seal of the basket and hub. One of the challenging tasks was to pull the drive bell off. If you crack or break it, no big deal, you won't reuse it but to make it simpler, use whats called a wonder bar or flat bar and use the hex head bolts in the base of the basket for leverage and work on opposing sides of the bell and it will slowly come up off the shaft instead of using a drive bell tool you'll only use once.
Once you pop that off, take the front panel off and lift back the top to expose the entire interior and exterior basket. remove the bolts in the interior basket and pull out to expose the exterior basket. Now, you need to get that honkin hex nut off the transmission output shaft which was probably the hardest part of the job. Here's the trick to get that off. Grab an 8 inch pipe wrench, reinstall the two hex bolts back into the hub assembly you just pulled out to remove the interior basket but leave them high enough to get the flat bar between them to stabilize the hub and use the pipe wrench to remove the giant hex nut. Once this is done, its all down hill.

i used a hair dryer and nut driver

I tried to remove the old light switch using a putty knife and a hammer. It was hard to compress the plastic tabs to pull it back through the hole, but all of a sudden, the lights came on. I guess banging on the switch freed-up the contacts. The new switch is now a spare part in case I need it.

ordered the parts. The bar took awhile to come in. The bar was too long for the fridge, so I had to hack of the end of it, then slid it into the two retainers I had put into the fridge.

tried installing the gasket on the unit. after fighting that for awhile, I removed the freezer door. after that, things went a little better. if your not mechanicly inclined.... I would advise you have it done by a service man.

We tried repairing with a new switch which was very easy to install but it didn't fix the problem.

This is an easy fix, simply remove and replace. What I was impressed with is that a how to video was provided along with my part. I wish all manufactures would offer this, the video was easy to understand and you had a good view of the operation. Thanks, a job well done.

Removed old broken plastic retainer clips and slid new ones into the retaining bar then lined up the prongs on the retainer clips to the holes in the door liner and pushed into place. They will snap in and lock in place. Make sure the curved section of the clip faces inward toward the shelf and the long ears on the plastic clip slide into retaining bar. If the retaining bar is bent or the ends are curled under you may have to reshape it back with some needle nose pliers or if bent too badly replace the aluminum bar as well as the clips. Hint: For an easier install you can snap one clip into the door liner first, then slide the bar over it. Then line up the other side and push the clip into place.

1)pry out the old/defective light rocker switch with a screw driver (flat head) and pull out the cables 2)unplug two connectors at the end of light rocker switch 3) connect new light rocker into two connectors 4)push the wires inside and put back new light rocker switch