ECF23KGTEWW General Electric Refrigerator - Instructions

Followed the video showing how it was done. Took me longer to go to the basement and shut the water off and on, than it did to replace the valve

Looked it up on You Tube and basically followed the very simple instructions. Two minor differences: 1) I took the old gasket off while the door was still attached to the fridge. And 2) because it was a side-by-side freezer/ fresh food, I didn't have to take off the freezer door at all and the fresh food door was only attached at the top with 2 screws covered by a hinge cap. So I undid the screws and lifted it off the lower pin. We put the door on a table handle down and slightly off the table edge. Inserting the v-shaped rubber part of the gasket into the groove was easy- pinching it together with my fingers with a little hammer tap at the corners. Reinstalled the door and voila. 27 minutes!
Most of my DIY projects take twice as long as expected. Much time is spent taking off the old part then not as easy as expected to replace the new part. This was a breeze!

removed and replaced grill, really easy.

For troubleshooting, I took off rear panel inside of the freezer compartment & determined that icing of the coils was not the problem & it did not apprear to be a defroster malfunction. All components appeared to be working properly except the compressor would not turn on and only room temperature air was being circulated by the fan. After narrowing the probable causes down to a faulty Main control board by reading as many similar posts as possible,I ordered the new control board. When it arrived the following morning via UPS(less than 24 hours!), I unplugged the wiring connections attached to the old board, (which was somewhat different in appearance), and then gently popped the circuit board off of the plastic retainer studs by pushing in the little retaining clip part of the studs in with a small screwdriver so the board could be released easier as I pulled outward. I popped the new board on the studs by gently & evenly pushing with a larger hut driver over the studs until it was locked in, being careful not to damage or over stress/bend the board. I placed the wiring connecters onto the pins on the board.....every connecter had a different amount of pins so improper connection was not possible. I placed the ground wire connection of the new board between the metal cover plate @ an adjacent screw location to ensure grounding to the back of the fridge sheet metal. I plugged in the refrigerator and was quite relieved when I heard the compressor start up after a second or two! Within moments the temp began to fall until it reached the proper temp in both compartments. Success!

I first called a GE repairperson. The diagnose the problem and told me the main control board was shot and the double outlet water valve needed replaced. The estimate for both parts and repairs was $850.00. I thought the estimate was high so I did some research on-line and discovered I could purchase the parts myself. When I researched the part, a short video popped up explaining how to install the part. I watched both video's and did exactly what the guy in the video said and was able to repair my refrigerator/freezer myself. The total cost for both parts was $200.00, I save $650!!! Amazing. I ordered the part on Saturday, and was told it would take a week to 10 days to receive the part and the part showed up on my door steep the following Tuesday. I'll never call a repairmen first again. I'll research the issue through partselect.com and try to fix the problem myself. I am not technologically or mechanically sauvy and have spent thousands on repair bills in the past, no more will I do that.

I took the ice drawer out and turned it upside down. Then removed two philips screws holding the drawer front on. Then with a small straight edge screwdriver pry out the sides to release the locking tabs and remove the auger and crusher assembly. Then on the end of the auger remove the e-clip, slide the auger out and remove the broken part of the crusher dispenser and replace with new. Easier than it sounds. Parts Select was great to deal with. Had my parts in two days.

The problem was both the valve and a frozen slug of water in the supply line located inside the door. After replacing the valve, I turned the freezer to a setting of 1 and in about 30 hours, water flowed out the tap.

Removed the back cover over the control board, and made sure that the board was the same. It didn't look exactly the same, but figured that it was the same, just updated. Took out the board, moved the wires to the new board and reinstalled. Plugged it in and it came on, so I reinstalled the cover. Seems to be working to this day.

The repair did not go exactly the way it was described in the YouTube video, but basically it was similar. After unplugging the power cord, emptying the freezer, removing the shelves and the ice reservoir, I removed the ice maker assembly by unscrewing a Philips head screw and unplugging the power connector. The connector had little retaining tabs on each side that I pried open with a straight blade screwdriver. Then the ice maker lifted right out. Next I removed one screw holding the auger motor assembly, unplugged the power connector, and lifted out the assembly. This where things got difficult. After flailing around a bit, I removed the panel on the back wall of the freezer below the evaporator fan assembly, exposing the evaporator coil. I saw that the fan assembly was attached with two screws at the top and two screws at the bottom. The top screws were easily removed, but when I removed the bottom screws, which were situated in very tight quarters, I DROPPED BOTH SCREWS DOWN BEHIND THE EVAPORATOR COIL. Be prepared with a magnetic nutdriver so this doesn't happen to you. I could not retrieve the lost screws, but fortunately it appears that the top screws hold the assembly securely enough. The assembly was loose, but it was still attached by a power cord that I could not disconnect. I removed the tracks on the side walls for the ice bucket, and then I could maneuver the fan motor assembly just enough that I could reach over the top of it, grab and pull off the old fan blade, and slide the new fan blade onto the shaft. Reassembly was straightforward, replacing each part (except two lost screws) in reverse order to disassembly. After getting everything put back in and plugging in the power cord, I was amazed at how quiet it ran.

Unplugged ref.,turnned water off at wall and drained, removed back cover on lower part of ref. then removed screw holding water valve,unplugged both wires from unit,pulled the 3 water lines off,1 I had to cut, would not release,got new water valve,push 3 water lines in place,attached the 2 wires in place and screwed unit back on ref.and replaced back cover on ref. Then I got a hair dryer and thawed all ice that had built up behind and under ice maker in freezer,cleaned that mess up,turned water back on plugged in ref. All good ,repaired problem,old water valve was bad.

remove the front plate. use screwdriver to pry the cover off from the bottom of the cover, remove the wiring from the front cover.remove the 4 screws and pull out the shute. remove three screws from the solonide and replace . very easy fix. save yourself $100.00 labor.

The control board and access panel are on the back of the refrigerator, so you will need to roll/slide the refrigerator away from the wall to gain access to the panel. Be careful not kink the water line if you have an ice maker connection.
Unplug the power cord from power outlet on the wall.
On this model the control board is located behind a rectangular panel that is about 8" x 10". The panel is about 3 feet above the floor on the left side (as viewed looking at the back of the refrigerator).
Using a Phillips (cross point) screwdriver, remove the screws and the access panel cover. Look closely at the control circuit board and you will see 4 small white plastic protrusions sticking through the board -- these are the plastic posts that hold the board in place. There is a small tab that locks the board to the plastic mounting post. Use your needle nose pliers (or other small pliers) to compress the small tab on the post; and while squeezing, pull on the control board until it releases from the post/clip. Repeat this for each of the four posts and the board will now be free from the mounts.
Look at the plugs that connect the wires to the board and note the orientation of each plug. Each plug is a different size, so they will only fit into the socket of the correct size. On my refrigerator, there is one plug that is not connected to the board and is hanging loose, so don't get confused when connecting plugs to the new board - this one remains unconnected.
Firmly pull each plug from its socket on the board -- try not to pull by the wires. If you have a stubborn plug, grab it with your pliers and pull it out. There is a green ground wire connected by a screw into the refrigerator cabinet. Remove this screw and ground wire. (Note: on some models the green ground wire is fastened with a screw that holds the cover in place - just be sure to reconnect the wire when replacing the cover).
Insert all of the plugs into the new board -- be sure they are seated firmly. Reinstall the ground wire. Place the board over the plastic posts and push until the tab locks the board in place. Replace the cover.
On the sheet that comes with the refrigerator they instruct you to remove the lower panel on the refrigerator that covers the compressor motor compartment. They instruct you to look at the power cord connection to the compressor and to locate a green wire from a capacitor. If your power cord does not have a capacitor exactly like the one pictured, there is no need to proceed on this step. Replace the lower panel. If it does have a capacitor as illustrated, follow those instructions and then replace the panel.

Now plug in the power cord to the wall power outlet. Before pushing the refrigerator back into place you want to make sure it is operating properly. To make sure that there is no "Glitch" during start up, I suggest that you set the temperature control inside of the refrigerator to "OFF" and wait about 3 minutes. After 3 minutes, set the control to the desired temperature (about 37 Deg for Refrigerator and 0 Deg for the Freezer).
If the refrigerator is running, you are finished. Being careful not to kink the water line, push the refrigerator back into place.

I went to the internet and found parts select web site. Saw all of the possible fixes for my problem and read all of the other repair stories. My story actually became a journey that is still continuing. I first changed the water filter, but still no water at the dispenser. I next disconnected the coupling at the bottom of the freezer door that carries water to the dispenser and when the dispenser was depressed, water flowed at the coupling, but not at the dispenser. After reconnecting the coupling, I turned the freezer setting to 1 for 4-5 days, but still no water at the dispenser (possibly the line was frozen, but we had recently been away for a week and the water dispenser still supplied water at a freezer setting of 4). Now I am at the point of the journey into replacing parts one at a time to get water. First I ordered the dual water valve for the ice maker and water dispenser. I replaced this valve with instructions from Parts Select and still no water at dispenser. Next I ordered and replaced the switch at the dispenser lever and still no water. Next was the solenoid attached to the ice door, ordered, replaced and still no water at dispenser. I am now at the final part in this repair and that is the $132 circuit board. So I will be ordering this part soon and hopefully that will fix the issue.

1 opened door 2. pryed cover off from cieling 3.cut and stripped wires on 4. sodered wires from old wires to new sensor. 5 insulated conection.6 put cover back on. This did not fix the problem it was the control moduel.

just had to unscrew old one put the new one in