GCE21IETAFWW General Electric Refrigerator - Instructions

The internal water line was leaking. I could not find any repair parts for my refrigerator but the GE 5/16 water line was the same size. I purchased 6' of tubing and two unions. Make sure the clean and square. If possible, make the cuts in a spot where you can use the pliers and wrench to tighten the union. I cut approximately 2' out of the existing line and replaced it with the same length of new line using the 2 unions, one on each end. Took about 5 minutes.

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!

I used the screwdriver to pop out the broken door switch and physically pushed in the next one. 2 Minutes maybe!! On the bezel light, I unscrewed the old one and screwed back in the new. Also, I had to pop and unpop the light cover. Make sure you move it side to side not up and down pop out.

found the correct bulbs, the hardest part.
un screwed old bulb.
Screwed in new bulb.
Waa La,
There was light.

The three bulbs would then remain on, so I loosened them to keep them off. I didn't know that the cooling system also would stop when the door was open, so for two days only the side freezer was operational. When I discovered that, I hot glued the switch button off, while I searched for a replacement part. The replacement part was an exact duplicate. A simple prying out of the old switch - using a screwdriver, and the reconnection of the two wires connectors to the new part, and clicking back in place ... done. Seriously, it took two minutes.

removed and replaced grill, really easy.

Take off all , then install.. following the version..

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.

remove back panel inside fridge freezer side, everything frosted, unplug and used a hair dryer

1. Took out defrost heater and the bottom and tested (per this site) tested OK.

2. Then looked at the defrost thermostat, it was swollen with the top coming off. so i new it was bad
3.clipped and stripped the 2 wires, spliced in the new one with wire nuts and sealed them with silicone. All better

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.

Very easy novice could do

Removed broken switch with plastic scraper (press tension latch on bottom), moved two wire terminals to the new switch and pressed the new switch into the hole.

Removed icemaker from freezer, remove covers allowing access to dispenser. In the next step I removed the auger and broken shield as one assembly. With assembly out of icemaker it was a simple task of taking the broken shield off of auger and putting the new one on. Reassemble in reverse order as removed.

Removed the lower 2 drawers, lower front grill, rear lower compressor cover. Removed the 2 water lines from the quick connects and screws from the water tank. Pulled lines through the hole in the right rear of the refrigerator and removed tank. Then reversed steps to install new tank. The upper plastic tank cover has 2 buttons on top that are really screws with a plastic cap, these are easily removed with pliers.

took the back off and defrosted with a hairdryer. disconected the part pulled the part out cut the wires. put the other part on and instaled it. put it back together and it seems to be working just fine. thank you