PSS26MSWS General Electric Refrigerator - Instructions

I had looked at videos on you tube,it looked simple enough. I mostly do my own repairs so I gave it a shot. the job went well,if you do not fix things around the house don't try to do the repair,find a handyman in your neighborhood to help you out,cheaper than calling a refrigeration man. It is not that hard to do.

1. Removed the back panel of the fridge to get access to the inlet water valve.
2. Removed black poly water line from valve (pull back on white ring where line is attached and pull the line out)
3. Removed the inlet tube from top-back of fridge (where it goes into the ice make). use putty knife to get under the sticky white gasket beneath the black oval housing and pull the tube out form the back of the fridge.
4. Replace the water line with new part taking care to properly seat the line into the the bottom water valve and pushing the water tube into the hole for the ice maker.

Note: Be sure to take off the protective covering from the white - sticky grommet and push to adhere to metal on fridge.

to be safe - use a bit of clear silicone chaulking round the perimeter of the grommet and push to tighly bond the water inlet tube to the fridge.

The reason for this - is that if you do not get a good bond using the white - sticky gormmet alone - you may have the water tube inside the ice maker freeze up.

Also once the new water line is installed be sure to secure the line to the metal back of the fridge - so the line will not move. some fridges come with metal hose clamps to do this - otherwise use duct tape

I Googled G.E. refrigerator water dispenser slow
There was a UTube video where the guy described the issue I had. Plus step by step instructions on repairs. Sure enough, I had the same issue.
Repairs were simple.
Shut the water line off, removed water line , drained the water out, after loosing the water tube from the control valve, I pulled the valve out a little so I wouldn’t get water in the electrical connections. Pulled 2 screws out of the bracket where the lines go into the refrigerator. From the inside, I removed the water filter cover, removed the filter, 2 screws holding the filter head in place. Pulled lines and filter head out. The u-tube video was very good. 2 things I did different was I pulled the control valve out a little so the water wouldn’t get into the electrical connections. The other, I used a nut driver to remove and install the filter heads

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.

I disassymbled the cover bucket bottom from the bucket ice dispenser then found that the auger helix dispenser had broke thru the bucket. It seems the auger nut got cross threaded, this provided a problem to remove the auger. the only way to remove because the nut was wedged was to cut thru the bucket to the auger. The easy part was replacing the cup drive which was the problem along with the auger nut.

Freezer section defroster heater was inoperative.
turned off the refrigerator by turning the right knob in top rear refrigerator to 0.

Used hose on a vacuum sweeper blower side to feed warm air into the bottom rear section. Removed the top plastic panel behind the ice maker to allow air flow to exit through the fan to defrost the freezer coils.

Placed a flat oven pan into the area beside the vacuum hose and sponged up the melted frost water. After 30 minutes, water ceased to drain.

Removed freezer shelves, and 5 screws on rear freezer wall. It took about 2 minutes to remove the heater & braw assembly at the bottom of the coils. 2 screws have to be removed and wires just clip off and back on again. Replaced the 2 screws.

Replace rear coil wall cover and turn on the refrigerator to 5 to 7 and replace cover and shelves.

Handle just snaps on.

The replacement frame arrive fast and as ordered. Used the two rollers from the broken bin frame to install on the new frame. Also the glass shelf does not come included, so transfer that from the old bin frame.Total time of replacement was less than 5 minutes.

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.

used prior reviews, was good, I was not sure how to remove fan blade. It just pulls off.
space is tight but every thing went ok.

This was a great opportunity to clean the bottom 3 shelves. I unplugged the frig.,disconnected both water lines, unscrewed water tank, pulled water lines out, put new tank in and pushed new water lines in and connected them, and plugged frig. back in. I grabbed my glass to get a drink and feeling proud but no water. I thought about this for a while and came to the conclusion that the freezer was set to 9 and the water had frozen in the value in the door. I dropped the temp. in the freezer from 9 to 3 and after about 2 days the water worked just fine. I emptied the ice because it was clumped into one big piece. I heard the ice maker going to town all day long. I called for ice later and the motor that dispenses the ice was humming and no ice was dropping. I thought about it and could not come up with the answer so I called tech. at GE and he was no help. So I solved one problem and now I have another that I don't have an answer to. My last attempt is to remove the motor housing to see if gears are jammed or something else.

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 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.

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.

I took out the old bins just as when you take them out to clean them. And then I replaced the bins with the new ones.