TFG20JRXDWW General Electric Refrigerator - Instructions

The repair went well could have completed the job in 20 minutes if I had a selection of small nuts and bolts to replace the rivet that had to be drilled out. Also buy 2 of the door closing cams Part # PS297995 one goes on the bottom hinge of the refrigerator door the other on the bottom of the refrigerator.

BUY TWO CAMS! Just like the others, both of the cams were shot. My husband & I did this ourselves & have NEVER attempted appliance repair before.
We propped the door up high enough to access the bottom hinge piece on the fridge & removed using socket. Removed the cover from the top hinge. Slid door down off the top hinge in able to get to the cam on bottom of door. Replaced this cam 1st in order to get door back on while worked to get the old cam off hinge. As others posted, this is rivited on. Used grinder to grind off rivit & hammer & punch to punch out. Attached new cam with bolt & nut found in our tin of leftovers. Inserted hinge into door & reattached to fridge. DONE! Not hard at all & didn't even argue the whole time.

Removed door off hinge , remove bottom hinge, drill out rivet, lift off old cam & replace with new cam ,add new 1/4' BOLT(NOT SUPPLIED) to location where rivet was, reinstall bottom hinge & door ,check alignment, works perfect.

Thanks

Placed blocks under the refrigerator door to take weight off the lower hinge pin. Removed the hinge by removing two screws into the refrigerator and two screws into the bottom of the door itself. This allows the hinge to be removed so the old nylon "closer" pieces can be removed (the one attached to the refrigerator has a rivet holding it in place so that has to be drilled out and replaced with a 3/16 inch bolt and nut). After re-attaching the nylon "closer" to the refrigerator side of the hinge and placing all the shims back in place, I re-attached the hinge to the door first, then the half hinge to the refrigerator. Had to line up the holes, tighten the screws and presto, the door closes like it was new again.

The freezer door side is more difficult as there are wires and a water line to work around.

The plastic door closing cams had broken after 17 years of use. It was tricky figuring out how the new cams fit as the old ones had disintegrated. Also you need 2 cams - not one. I first ordered only one. A detailed parts diagram would have helped. First unscrew the top door mount cover and then the top door mount. The fridge door then lifts up and off the lower door mount. Next is the hardest part - drilling off the old pop rivet which held the lower cam. The lower door mount had to be removed to get at the underneath of the pop rivet, and a bench vise was handy to hold it as I drilled off the old rivet. Then you need small stainless steel nut and bolt and split washer or lock nut to replace the rivet. Next unscrew the old upper cam from the underneath of the fridge door and replace. The large hole in the cam goes through the door hinge pins. The two plastic cams should interlock in a way that makes the door swing close. Anyway, now the door works fine.

At first, I noticed the refrigerator door didn't close at the same level of the freezer door. I started to adjust the hinges and noticed a chewed up black 'washer' at the base of the door hinge. Ppartselect.com was awesome, in that I easily found the schematic of my fridge, and the part I needed. Ordering was a snap, and it came to the house pretty quickly.
Installation, first raise the door up as high as you can, then scotch it with wood blocks (closed door). This takes the pressure off the bottom hinge you must remove.
Taking the hinge off is a snap, but then the problem presented itself. The old door closing cam was riveted to the hinge. I couldn’t get the old one off! I ended up taking it to the garage and breaking out the Dremmel tool with the abrasive cutter (the one that will cut through nails. I ended up cutting off the rivet. This was a pain.
I then found a small nut/bolt and put the new piece on, then put it back into place and removed the blocks. Works good as new. The toughest part by far was getting the old cam off… but there may be some easier way to get the rivet out that I’m not aware of.
Good luck.

I placed books under the door until I had enough to hold the door up about 1/2 inch higher then when it is closed. The books and the magnetic gasket will hold the door, JUST DON'T TRY TO OPEN IT TILL YOU'RE THROUGH. That's about how high the cams lift the door when opened. I removed the two screws holding the door stop. Then removed the two screws holding the lower hinge pin.

It takes two of the cams

and the bottom one is riveted to the hinge. I used a grinder to grind the rivet so I could tap the pin out holding the cam. Put the new cam on and put the pin back in. I didn't put a new rivet, just gravity should hold it. I put the second cam on the hinge pin and one of the screws on the door stop holds it in place after you slide the hinge pin back into the door and replace the screws in the bracket then the door stop.
Make sure your lower door gasket didn't get damaged while the cams weren't working because the door wasn't being lifted up when opened.

Same problems as already described .... door would not close, plastic bits on floor, angry, ready to throw-out 15 year old “dog” and blow at least $1,000 on a new appliance!

This repair is dead easy. Remove the two bolts holding the top hinge and lift off the entire door. Don’t be surprised if the original Riser Cam has virtually disintegrated, mine was a wreck. Remove two bolts that retain the old flat metal “shim” and fiber “gasket”.

Fit new Riser Cam and re-use old shim and gasket. Replace door on dome-shape bottom hinge mount and then re-fit top hinge.

If in any doubt order new shim and gasket along with the new cam riser. Or, do as I did, and “manufacture” either of these parts from scrap material found in the workshop ....

took top bracket off--then removed door--took
bottom bracket off bottom of door and replaced
door closing cam and reasembled---a piece of
cake

I blocked the door up with one 2X4 Then removed the lower hinge, installed the closing cam. Then I found that I needed one more closing cam that I didn't order the first time. This other one mounts to the lower section of the door and both cams set together. Re-ordered another cam. When it came in I installed it. Between ordering both parts I had them both in three days. The best to Parts Select
I now know where to buy my parts if needed again.

Thanks
Bob
Sandusky, Ohio

Please note that I did this repair 2 times before and it was very easy, it took me longer to get the stuff out of the refrigerator door.

But this time the existing upper and lower cams broke, and the lower part of the door was making contact with the screw that holds the lower cam to the lower support bracket damaging the head of the screw.

Now I could not use a screw driver and I had to use a wrench and a vise grip to hold the round screw head (not easy), and then replace the screw and nut.

I had to insert 2 flat washers under the lower support, to separate the door an additional 1/32 from the ref. base to accomodate the fact that the door gasket had lost its regular shape in the lower part of the door (I discover this when I dismounted the door).

Then I removed the damaged cams, replace them with the new ones and now it is working ok.

Manny

I learned from previous descriptions. Most important is there are two cams so order two. Second is that the door can be blocked from the bottom so the door doesn't have to be unloaded if you are careful. Remove the vent cover. Raise the door as high as possible while closed then block it from dropping down. I used wooden blocks. Remove the lower hinge and bracket on the bottom of the door. Put everythng back and you're back in business. A kit with both cams, spacers, and screws with diagram would have been nice to have.

Replace the flapper and this solved it. The video provided was excellent and allowed me to do this repair myself.

Under the control panel there are three small holes. Insert ballpen or small flat screw driver on both outer holes to push a tab lock that holds the control panel in place. Then pull out control panel and three set of wires will be exposed and disconnect wire connectors (connectors have different sizes so you wont get confused in reconnecting). Unscrew four screws on each corner that holds the ice dispenser assembly (a part where you push your glass against to dispense ice or water. The flapper is exposed and easy to replace.

Turn off power
Remove operator faceplate by pullling out on outer lower corners
Disconnect wire connectors from circuit board
Remove four screws from dispenser and pull out dispenser assy
Replcae Door ASsembly
Put everything back in place
Power up
Job Done