ARB2117BB (PARB2117BB1) Amana Refrigerator - Instructions

Removed ice maker, then rear panel of freezer compartment. Removed old evaporator fan, cutting tie wraps as required.

Replace evaporator fan assy, paying attention to wire harness routing and secure harness with tie wraps.
Reinstall rear panel of freezer compartment. Re-install icemaker.

I called a repair man from a pretty large name to come out and take a look. He found out in about 10 minutes that it was a bad capacitor. The quote he gave me was $75 for the part and $175 labor. I tried my best not to laugh and tell him no thank you. He did have to charge me for him to show up, which was only $98.
So I used what he told(minus the "scrap it") and opened it back up. Although he had left wires everywhere and the broken pieces laying inside, I thought it was enough for me to order the part. PartSelect was very easy to navigate and ordering was a breeze. Took about 4 days to get the part and I ordered in the X-mas craze. Fixed it in about 15 minutes.

First step, call the repair man. He listened, and then said to get a new refrigerator, since this one is 28 years old and the repairs could amount to a significant part of the price to buy new. Even if he fixed this, it could develop other problems, yada. So we went out to buy and discovered nothing suitable that would fit in that slot of our kitchen! We'd need new counter top and cabinets to fix this problem! So we went to the Internet and searched to find the likely source of the problem and the parts schematic at PartsSelect.com. Yah! We ordered the part, and then found we had no idea how to install it. Sooo, back to the Internet, and eventually got some good clues - it goes in the kick space under the front, and just plugs in, once you can get to it by removing the bracket that holds it. Working underneath a refrigerator is not complicated but it's awkward. The form of the new timer was not exactly the same, but it does function correctly. We have no experience whatsoever with appliance repair, so pretty amazed at our success. This old Amana looks very good inside and out and is now working perfectly again. If it lasts a few more years, we will be thrilled to have spent $15 to save $500. We can always buy new later on.

Research on the internet showed the problem was either the defrost thermostat or the defrost timer. I decided to replace both.

1. Emptied the freezer into an ice chest

2. Removed shelves, some of which were held in with screws.

3. Removed freezer back panel.

4. Replaced freezer thermostat, very simple, one clip and two wires.

5 Replaced all removed parts. Put food back in freezer

6. Removed and replaced defrost timer from underneath front of fridge, screws were awkward to reach.

7 No more heat around outside of freezer

Just replaced the switch, but unfortunately that was not the problem; nor was it the bulb....so I am back to square one.
But Parts Select is a great place to order from. Thank you.

followed the instructions provided and that's it!

Very simple. Matched female plugs with respective male color coded prong; pushed together then inserted unit in slot of freezer sidewall and rotated into position...job done.

I removed the panel in the back of the freezer and found the evaporator to be a complete block of ice. I defrosted it with a hairdryer. Following advice from the Partselect web site, I measured the resistance through the defrost heater. It was about 30 ohms, so I decided that it was OK. Next, I advanced the defrost timer manually with the compressor on until it turned off. The defrost heater did not operate. I concluded that the problem was the defrost thermostat. After installing it, the freezer worked properly.

Overall, replacing the ice maker wasn't too bad but it wasn't nearly as easy for me as it seems to have been for some. In my case, the fridge was an Amana and the ice maker was mounted in such a way that disconnecting the power connector was difficult. The ice maker had to be completely dismounted before any access to the power connector was even possible. The short power cables made it very difficult to get the ice maker into a position where I had a good view of the power connector enabling me to see how to release it. The only other challenge was the cup that the water line goes into. The replacement ice maker did not come with the right cup - the instructions said to replace the provided one with the old one. No instructions for this procedure were provided and it looked to me like it might involve significant disassembly, something I wanted to avoid for fear of breaking a plastic part on the new ice maker (something I had already done when disassembling the old ice maker). So instead of replacing the cup, I modified the new one to match the old one. This involved removing a cutout on one side and covering a hole on the other. Installation of the new ice maker went fine and the water leak problem was fixed.

R & R Icemaker Assembly. Took out 3 screws and unpluged Icemaker & replaced with new part. very easy and the service from PartSelect was fantastic.
Very Satisfied,
Ron Martin

Because the refrigerator worked (38-40 degrees) and the freezer only got down to 29 degrees, I thought that the freezer thermostat had gone bad. Changed it out but results are the same.

It turned out the water valve was not the problem but I think it works a bit better with the new one. I had replaced the main part of the icemaker inside the freezer which had lost the smooth finish in the ice tray. It worked for awhile but quit.
What had happened was the large approx. 1/2 inch tube going from the back of the refrigerator to the icemaker tray became plugged with ice. It was difficult to get it out due to the ice but once I did it was easy to melt it and put it back together. All's well that ends well and avoid the cost of a repair call. Working great now.

It was so easy!

Thanks for the rush to my home on the part.

I just unscrewed the plate that locks in the light switch (screwdriver) and unplugged the old faulty part and plugged in the new switch, screwed the cover back on and I was done!

Easy!

And I am not Mr. Fix-it!

Had to disassemble ice maker to install part. . .

We removed the old switch, unplugged it, plugged the new one in and it was easy to do. But when we tried to put the switch back in we had a very hard time doing it. Eventually got it in, but if it had not been for the difficulty we had getting the new switch to snap in to place, it would have taken under 5 minutes.