86861-P1116902W Amana Refrigerator - Instructions

After checking the water valves ordered new ice maker. received the part three days after ordering! Clearing out food, removing the old one and installing the new unit took under 15 minutes. Everything went fine.

I took a chance and ordered a switch that is next to the top of the door. looked for how to remove it easily done in ten minutes works fine last long time.

removed back cover, removed fan motor and replaced with new one. connected new power wires. worked right away

I removed the old ice maker and during the short disassembly noticed a burned out connection to the heater element that allows the ice to be broken free of the tray and dumped into the bin. Part Select had a new unit to me next day! I had watched their short install video, and read some of the user comments, already. Re-installing the new unit was a snap, and just as the video had described except for the mount bracket. The only thing that concerned me was that the new unit did not immediately do anything. I began to investigate and found that the flexible water "chute" connection had ice in it! I unplugged the refer, unscrewed the water filter and drained it. I disconnected the water feed on the outside back of the unit as well to make sure water could flow easily to the ice maker port. I filled the water filter with boiling hot water and replaced it, I plugged in the refer, and reprogrammed the date and time. Several hours later I checked the ice maker and it was -- making ice!

First turned off the water and unplugged the refrigerator and then removed the old ice maker by first removing the side cover plate and then next removed the ice level detector. Remove the screws that hold the ice maker in place and rotating it somewhat soas to gain access to the wires and then unplugged them. Next I had to modify the way the water comes into the new icemaker by adapting a CPVC street ell to fit into the hole on the side and then hook up the water supply. Installation is just the reverse of removal.

Order the part from the Internet on Sunday, it mailed out on Monday and I received it on Tuesday. I unplugged the fan then undone 3 screws that held the fan bracket to the refrigerator pulled it out unscrewed 3 more nuts and replaced the fan on the bracket and I cut the old wire plug off the old fan and with 2 wire nuts put it on my new fan. Replaced the fan and bracket back on the refrigerator plugged it in and it works like a new refrigerator.

After unplugging the appliance I needed to thaw a large ice buildup off the evaporator cover panel before I could even remove the panel. The freezer being on the lower part of the appliance has the evaporator mounted vertically and it was 100% encapsulated in rock hard ice. It took over an hour to thaw the ice and collect all the water with a shop vacuum, since the condensate pan began to overflow.
One thawed, I checked all wiring for good connection, checked heater, defrost thermostat, timer unit with multimeter. The defrost thermostat checked out fine after putting it into another freezer for a 15 minute cooldown, but I noticed a crack in the seal and suspected internal moisture and decided to replace that part. A simple plug in of two leads to the new part after clipping it to the evaporator, replacement of the panel, and the appliance was up and running problem free.
A workbench disection of the old part confirmed my assessment, it had internal rust and water and had failed causing the defrost cycle failure.

replaced the entire ice make - 3 screws and a squeeze -off connector and it's out. Reverse to re-install... except that the fill tube had iced up. To thaw the fill tube: unload freezer section (leave food in fridge, but keep door closed), remove ice maker. Boil water, dip drill bit (dull end) into hot water, swirl around, insert (dull end) into to fill tube. Depending on how hot you got it, maybe a tablespoon of ice will melt. Repeat many times - fill tube is about 14" long! Do not use anything sharp - you will nick the tube and ice will form causing you to repeat this procedure. Do not try to break the ice - let the heat work. It took me about 30 minutes to thaw the whole thing - it made a nive gasping noise when the final plug opened up. Re-install ice maker.

The refrig seemed warm so I checked the temp of some liquid with a thermometer. Readings were above 60 degrees and I knew food would spoil soon. I vacuumed the dog fur off the cooling coils underneath the machine to see if that would help. Nope. I realized cold air from the freezer was not reaching the refrig. The fan was working but no cold air was coming out. I figured a blockage either in the air duct from the refrig or in the return duct to the freezer. I didn’t see any blockage in the refrig section. I took everything out of the freezer and removed the back wall. The cooling coils were completely frozen solid with frost. Being a frost free machine, I knew there were heaters that were controlled by a timer that melted this frost away periodically and that this cycle was no longer working. I found a schematic on the web, maybe your site, and educated myself on the heater circuit. The circuit consisted of a timer, thermostat near the coils, and a cal rod heater all wired in series. The timer was easy to get to and being a mechanical device I figured it must be the culprit. I ordered one online. I checked its operation and it worked fine. Realizing time was short, I hot wired the cal rod around the thermostat and rotated the timer to its heat position. The frost melted quickly and I put the freezer back together and ordered a thermostat. I canceled the timer order. When it arrived, I installed the new thermostat and it has worked fine for the past month. A little colder than usual as I don’t yet have the settings back to where they were. I have checked the operation of the old thermostat. It’s supposed to close at 30 degrees and open at 45. I have done a continuity check on it by putting it in the freezer, letting it cool down, take it out, let it warm up and it seems to work fine. So I have doubts if I really solved the problem. Wire connections were tight and not corroded. Maybe the timer was hung up on debris that I freed by cycling it. I don’t think this is the end of the story.

Part received was what I needed. There was one issue--the 'feed' opening to receive water and direct it into the ice tray was a side feed and what I needed was a back feed. That means I had to do some exchanging of parts to make it work. That exercise took more time that the actual installation.

I made use of instructions for other users, see 'My ice maker has been shedding.....' and they were very helpful. The one problem not covered - the instructions that came with the new icemaker said to 'remove the bearing and inlet from the old icemaker and install in the new icemaker', but gave no instructions for how to accomplish this.

The old inlet has a square opening in the back and a u-shaped knockout in the side. The new one has a round opening in the side and square knockout in the back)

After several attempts to remove them, I gave up and used the new inlet with the knockout removed. I did not attempt to cover the side opening and it worked fine that way - no leaks.

I read the previous repair story and agree with the author that the screw behind the front piece was difficult to remove and re-install. If I had a magnetized nut driver I think it would have been easier. There were no installation instructions so I relied upon the repair experiences. The other two screws came out easily and I found the harness release easily and the harness was easy to reinstall.
I am not a good handyman but was able to install the new ice maker

There are basically three screws that hold the unit in place on the inside of the freezer. Removing them is relatively easy, and the unit is replaced with the same three screws. You do have to use the formed metal wire from your old unit, so don't throw it out! You also have to use the wiring harness from your old unit.

Pop off six mounting screws and the ground screw. Remove the fan blade and reattach. Reinstall. Save yourself big bucks.

Ice maker assembly required disconnection of the wire harness at the back of the freezer and the removal of 3 hex nuts. The assembly did not come with a new wire harness nor the rigid wire attached to the hinge that can be raised to stop production of ice. The wire harness was easy to disconnect from the old assembly by pressing in on a tab. The rigid wire attached to the hinge simply required pulling straight out of the hinge-hole (no need to twist, slide, or perform other contortions...it does require significant force to remove, but it does pull straight out). It was simple to attach it to the new ice assembly. Reinstalled the 3 hex nuts and wire harness plug and was good to go....after waiting several hours! I was worried at first because the unit did not immediately fill with water after I plugged the fridge back into the wall socket. However, after the freezer was cold enough, the water did run and I had my first ice dump within about 3 hours of finishing the installation. We have good ice again, and Partselect has excellent pricing and awesome delivery! I received the unit the day after ordering, and I had only paid the basic shipping! Thanks Partselect! Jeff