ZSGS420DMDSS General Electric Refrigerator - Instructions

Let me start by saying, I usually hire something like this out but figured I would give it a try. The install was fairly straight forward, however it would’ve been nice if the instructions would have been more useful. Instructing me to remove one screw to release the auger and solenoid enclosure wouldve been nice. There were 3 other screws that I didn’t need to remove and they were the ones holding the auger in place, which made assembling that much more difficult. Once to enclosure was removed, and the solenoid was exposed, it was a seemless process. I would however, recommend paying attention to or taking a picture of the connections on the solenoid. I was lucky to remember or got lucky. Regardless, I was able to complete the project successfully. If I had to do it again, I believe it can be done in 30 minutes or less.

First, turn off power - since I did not want to pull the refrigerator out on my wood floor I tripped the circuit breaker to that circuit and opened door to make sure interior light was off (ensuring power was off). This unit has a bottom freezer, I took out all shelves, ice maker and all parts in the way of accessing back of interior of freezer section. Removed back plastic section by removing one screw in middle top of back panel and prying it out. This was a bit difficult as it was in there a bit tight but once the plastic warmed up it pulled out ok. This revealed the compressor section and temp sensor that was attached to the copper coils with of all things - a zip tie! In pictures of this that I looked at on various web sites the sensor was on a metal bracket attached to the coil so it made me wonder if tf the factory took a shortcut? I cut the old sensor wire, stripped the two wires 1/2", and connected them to the new sensor wire with butt connectors, I put some silicone into the ends of the butt connectors to prevent moisture from entering into connectors and wrapped the connection in black electrical tape. I then "attached" the sensor to the coil using a zip tie, put the plastic back piece back on, inserted everything I took out and put power back to refrigerator. It's been 3 days and temp of refrigerator is stable, ice maker not clogging up, and compressor not running all the time! So far so good.

The only difficult part was not knowing which parts had to be removed to gain access to the flapper to replace it. It appeared as if the frame around the control panel would have to be removed as well as the door handle; we tried but were not able to remove the frame. It turned out that the panel just popped out with the frame in place. Once we had access to the flapper, it was easy to replace it. The repair fixed the problem.

Use small putty knife to cut internal sealant on ice maker door trim piece. Then you can easily remove it.

Replaced flapper. Followed the video. The lamp caused the removable plastic bracket (which supports the control panel and the ice chute) to fuse with the plastic frame in the door. Eventually broke the fused plastic, removed the bracket, and filed the rough broken plastic before reassembly.

We had problems with the ice dispenser chute building up frost from condensation freezing due to the flap not closing properly. It would clog up completely and often. I had already replaced the flap and spring years ago but it didn't help much. I Googled this problem for my model and found a video detailing how to check and change the solenoid. Sure enough, the solenoid was completely corroded and crumbled in my hands as I removed it. I ordered the replacement part and made the repair myself. The video was perfect in describing. If your refrigerator is well used as ours is, you'll be shocked by the buildup and cleaning that will be necessary as you make this repair. I ended up taking much more of the dispensing assembly apart so I could clean it with warm soapy bleach water. Be mindful as you disassemble or take photos / videos with your smartphone to help put it back together. It took longer to clean than replace the solenoid. Also, be careful if you have an island or other cabinetry close by. If you have to pull the refrigerator out to unplug it, the handles can chip granite edges or the top corners can scratch wood work. We have cherry cabinets that surround ours. I chipped the edge of the granite when I pulled it out and I scratched the wood as I pushed it back in place. Minor repairs but can save you some frustration. Good luck!

The trouble with DIYers is that they don't have very much experience with and the benefit of several repairs on the same appliance. So they must rely on their mechanical abilities and the youtube help of Steve. So they must resort to eliminating the variables as their diagnostic approach. In my case I was unable to find the exact description of my problem, so I began with what seemed like the most likely and the least expensive replacement. So after I had replaced the water valve, the micro switch and the main board I finally found the problem was the water filter by ordering and installing a water bypass valve which I did not have readily available at the start.

The only tricky part was removing the front panel. Releasing the latches required considerable force. The best tool I found was a "jack knife" type Allen wrench set, using the medium size wrench, which fit into the release hole and upward pressure did the trick. The rest of the job was very easy.

Remove front cover did not remove wires remove ice and water unit took off flapper put new one on 5 minutes back together

Watched some videos on youtube after typing in : refrigerator noise, and my model # (in search bar.) Found a video after determining my problem of a gentleman from partselect replacing the evaporator motor. Pretty simple job from video so I went for it ordered parts from them( I fixed the inlet valve on my dishwasher bfore with partselect before). I would call the job easier than it looks. But you need common sense and simple tools and some experience with nuts and bolts and wires. There is one bolt tucked up high under ice maker you may need a right angle nut driver or 1/4 right angle ratchet.(video pointed out). Thanks for video and quality GE parts. I now have a quiet kitchen and great room, with just a low db constant white noise like new.

just watch video simple

Remove ice maker and all of it's accessories in order to remove the panel covering the fan. Don't drop the screws!
Unscrew the lower fan bracket. You will see the lower red rubber grommet. Hold fan motor with one hand and push the fan off the shaft and into the compartment above. Then remove the round retainer thing below it by holding it and pulling down on the motor assembly. Install new grommet on upper part. and put it all together.
REMEMBER where the fan is on the shaft. It has about one inch of shaft placement. I put mine so that most of it was above the hole that the fan goes into and about 20 percent showing below the sheet metal.
Also check to see if your fan is damaged. Mine was not.
This refrigerator has been awesome! I have had many issues but have been able to fix all of them for the last 15 years!

Bent the motor bracket down, then using a rat tail file, elongated the holes in the back panel of the refrigerator to secure the fan in the "centered" position. This was a problem that was with the refrig. since it was made. The parts involved were perfect. NO problem at all installing them.

Part attaches to metal plate near crushing fingers which attaches to ice holding bin. Remove about 6 screws total on each side of plate. You must disassemble the auger & other parts so you can reassemble it in the proper order. Not many parts but i always take pics to cut down on time. New part is at the other end of the auger and acts as the holde of the auger shaft. Picture a crankshaft with a bearing on each end so the auger rotates between new part and the other end of auger shaft. That's it.

1. The fill tube assembly is located on the left side of the compressor compartment on top of the refrigerator toward the back of the unit.
2. Remove the front grill from the compressor section and turn off power to the refrigerator.
3. In the freezer section, remove the ice maker cover, ice holding/feed tray, and the ice maker assembly.
4. It was necessary to use a small hair dryer to unfreeze ice inside and around the fill tube so that the fill tube could be pulled down from the grommet.
5. The grommet, which is located on top of the freezer unit next to the compressor, having been in place for many years, was difficult to remove both because of the difficulty of reaching the grommet in the narrow space between the compressor housing and the outside body of the refrigerator and the grommet fitting so snugly into the mounting hole.
6. To remove the grommet, I carefully used a set of small plastic pry tools (available at an auto parts or hardware store) to slowly unseat the grommet from the refrigerator and then used a twisting motion while pulling up on the grommet to remove it from the housing.
7. Clean around the hole in the freezer housing carefully.
8. For my model refrigerator, the new grommet piece is slightly longer than the original piece, and while the original fill tube is plastic, the replacement fill tube is made from metal and is slightly longer than the original fill tube.
9. Due to the different sizes of the new parts, it was necessary to shorten the length of the new grommet so that it would seat properly into the hole in the compartment. I also had to reuse the old plastic fill tube so that the fill tube would properly fit inside the ice maker assembly. It is probably possible to trim the metal fill tube with an appropriate cutting tool if the old tube cannot be reused.
10. If you are going to trim the new unit, carefully measure the old grommet and trim the new grommet to match the size of the original, then insert the new grommet into the hole in the upper cabinet section. The fill tube can than be inserted into the grommet from inside the freezer compartment by sliding the fill tube into the hold inside the freezer compartment and seating it by feel into the grommet. However it is also apparently possible to fit the fill tube into the grommet first and then insert the fill tube and grommet from the top of the refrigerator where the hold inside the compressor space is located.
11. If replacing the poly tubing between the water valve assembly and the grommet (a good idea if the tubing is old), it is simpler to attach new poly tubing into the grommet before placing the grommet into the mounting hole. A small hose clamp can be used as well to secure the tubing in the grommet attachment point.
12. Mount the ice maker in the freezer compartment making sure the fill tube sits inside the plastic piece at the back of the ice maker that collects the water from the fill tube.
13. Replace the ice collection/feed component.
14. Replace the ice maker cover.
15. Turn on the unit and test the ice maker to ensure there are no leaks in the new parts.