GTS16KBMW General Electric Refrigerator - Instructions

Took out old put new in. Watched a u tube, no problems

after watching how easy it was to get to the evaporator fan motor on u-tube, I took out the motor to inspect it......the motor had about 1/8 inch shaft end play and a slight amount of play on the shaft, the rubber grommets looked OK.....I then put it back together......since the motor was the only moving part in this location I figured it had to be the part making the noise, so I ordered a motor and 2 grommets …...the replacement motor also had 1/8 inch end play on the shaft, but no play on the shaft....I installed the new parts and it has been a week now and no noise.....SUCCESS!...….the shaft on the motor protrudes from the motor, and the fan is mounted about 1 1/4 inch away from the bearing in the motor and the fan is unsupported, so I ASSUME that the slight amount of play on the shaft caused some harmonics which caused it to make noise some of the time, but not all of the time......

a-ok. no problems

removed cover over fan, four screws. removed two screws ,that holds fan in place,removed two more screws that holds fan in bracket,then reinstalled

Remove power from the unit. With short length #2 Phillips loosen and remove the two(2) screws on the control panel located center top of the refrigeration area. Slide the control panel back about 1/2 inch and allow it to dangle from its wiring harness. Pinch the locking tab on the harness connector with one hand and use the other hand to separate the two sides. A little force is required. Remove the control panel from the refrigerator and shut the refrigerator door. Examine and note the routing of the temperature probe (Silver colored flexible wire) take a picture for later reference. Remove the old and replace with new unit. route temperature probe like the replaced unit. Reverse the steps and reinstall the control panel. It is a good idea to also purchase and replace the defrost timer.

To remove the temp sensor.2 Phillip head screws not remove the cover inside fridge .the temp control knob cover.removed that and unplugged switch.installed new switch.reinstalled cover.

Snapped end cap onto bar and installed bar onto freezer door.

I considered going to an appliance parts store but found the part very easily on the internet and had it within 2 days. I am very busy which was very helpful.

Replaced temp controller

Inspected freezer because food was not freezing, getting cold, but not freezing. Noticed fan was not blowing air, but making a little motor noise, like it's trying to turn. Removed cover panel, and found the fan blade rubbing on the panel, fan shaft was worn out and very loose, wobley. That told me the fan needed to be replaced. Found part on the GE Partselect website and ordered the parts via the website order process. This was easy. The parts were shipped quickley and were at my front door the next day. Couldn't believe it. The actual process was very easy: Remove cover, remove bracket holding fan motor, remove and replace motor, re-assemble parts. About 20-25 minutes from start to finish. Freezer is working like it's suppose to.

Removed the door by removing the two screws holding it on. Do not try to do this repair with the door attached. Easily removed the old gasket. Getting the new one on the door was EXTREMELY difficult. I couldn't do it. After 90 minutes, I gave up and called my appliance repairman. When he arrived, he and I worked together to get the new gasket on the door. It took 2 sets of hands to do this. It still took us about 40 minutes. My repairman had a few choice words about the design of the system holding the gasket on the door. Ditto for me. So the cost of my repair was doubled because I had to pay the repairman to help me attach the new gasket. I should have just bought a new fridge.

I found instructions on the web about how to do this repair, so I ordered the part with confidence. But the instructions simply said "pull out the old switchlight". That was actually somewhat difficult as the clip on the side intended to hold the part in was stubborn. I eventually used a utility to slice off the clip. From that point, it was just a matter of plugging in the new switchlight , which was very simple.

Replace temperature control. That fixed it. Also, removed plastic bag obstructing air vent in freezer which added performance. Fridge works good now.

It just unpluged and the new one plugged in. Simple. The part was reasonable and arrived very quickly. It sure is nice to have a light in the frig again.

The video that was attached to the part order was good, but not exactly the same as my unit. One thing I recommend is that you cover up the drain below the evaporator coil with a piece of paper and tape it down, because as I was putting the motor back I dropped a screw and it fell down the drain. So I had to go buy a new screw.
Give the cost of a repair man coming to fix a refrigerator that cost only $450 to begin with, doing this repair was well worth my time. (But I also had another refrigerator to move things to and could take my time and wait while they replaced the faulty part they shipped me.)

My husband did the repair in 45 minutes and said it was very easy. The video made everything plain and simple.