MSG20GWSCWH General Electric Refrigerator - Instructions

First of all, It was Christmas and no extra money to pay a repairman.
i got on the computer and started looking for a parts breakdown for an older GE side by side.
I finally found it and located the part I thought we needed.
I looked at several parts dealers and yours had the best price.
anyway it arrived in just 2 days. My son helped me remove the door and we put the new part on and I just saved the cost of a service call.

Thank You

Door needed to be supported before hinge assembly was removed. After replacing broken cam doors aligned and doors closing properly.

Thought I would only need one when I looked at the picture of the parts. Decided to order two just in case and after taking it apart both were broken. Needed two.
Took the top door bracket off and lifted the door off of the bottom bracket. Re-assembled cams, put a little white grease on all moving parts, placed the door into bottom bracket and installed top bracket. Adjusted top bracket to make door line up with edge of refrigerator and all is well.

I removed two screws at the top of the door, lifted the door off. I got lucky: the broken cam was the one on the door (easy to remove), not the one on the body of the refrigerator (tough to remove).
There is a shim which was also broken - no way to know that ahead of time. I bent a 5/8" lock washer flat and it served acceptably as a shim.
It would be helpful if PartSelect.com could include with its listing of the cam, the fact that (1) the shim will probably be needed, and (2) there's a very good chance that you'll need TWO of the cams as well.

removed top plate and raised the door off. I removed the L bracket from the fridge then noticed the part was rivited onto the L bracket. I cut the rivit and replaced the cam and used a small bolt and nut to sdecure it. Replaced the L bracket, the door, and the upper support. Only problem was the surprise rivit

I was amazed the part arrived the next day the installation was simple.

Buy ( 2 ) cams !!!! removed hinge cover and hinge on top of the door, ( 2 screws )...lift door off of the bottom hinge and lay door on the floor, remove broken cam on bottom of door with nut driver, ( 2 screws ) , install new cam..... remove the bottom hinge off of the front of the refrigerator with nut driver, (2 screws ).... saw rivit off and remove old cam, install new cam and secure with new bolt and nut,... reinstall hinge back on bottom front of refigerator.....replace door back onto the bottom hinge.....install top hinge back onto the top of the door....replace hinge cover......done !

Followed step-by-step instructions in previous post. Note that there are TWO approaches, both of which work.

Option 1) Order TWO cams (PS297995), drill out the rivet holding the frame's cam, and replace it with a nut and bolt. (See post on 07/19/09.)

Option 2) Order the entire hinge assembly (PS290199), which includes the door's cam and an assembled frame hinge and cam. (See post on 10/29/08.)

We opted for Option 1 which was pretty easy. Option 2 would be even easier and take less time but costs about $9 more.

Thanks to previous posters for excellent instructions!

Pay close attention to how you disassemble everything. You might even want to take a picture. I taped all the screws right where I unscrewed them, to make sure they were replaced in the right section. Also use the picture diagram that on the computer.

We taped the door with 3 pieces of duct tape, then put boards under it. Used socket set to remove cam and then cut off rivet so we could just use a screw to keep in place. . . Just for your information, I ordered 2 cams, and was glad I did as I need 2 to make the repair. . . Didn't read about this online or on order recommendation. The cams go 1 up and 1 down thanks for the installation repair stories, it inspired us to "do it ourselves " and we saved about $75 to $100. 00

remove the 'pop-out " frame around the door recess, you pry the flexable seal from around the ice despenser, have someone hold the unit with the wiring, remove the one screw that holds the door recess, and replace the new one. reverse the procedure. remember to unplug thr frig. first

I removed the broken shelf that I had duct-taped in place until the replacement arrived. I simply slipped the four little notches (2 on each side of the shelf) into their appropriate slots and--voila!--my new shelf was installed!

The disassembly and reassembly was straightforward but the parts diagram was very helpful to help you get it back together. Make sure you get the convexity of the clip that retains the clear plastic barrel to the auger pointing in the right direction. The metal plate that that comes out with the assembly seems to rust as fast as the auger, so you should just order that when you order the auger. I did not replace the plate so I cleaned it and painted it with epoxy paint before I reassembled.

The solenoid in the dispenser was overheated due to the control board failure. After I rerplaced the board I found the heat had distorted the plastic crank and jammed the solenoid action. The plastic crank was easy to replace. Now after expending approx. $75 everything works normally!

Had to take front panel off dispenser area. Then remove components and install new part. That was easy part. Problem was getting components back into front of freezer. Seemed like something was blocking it from going all the way in. Had to remove small amount of insulation and "jiggle" components and eventually fell into place.