CSK22GAXAAD Hotpoint Refrigerator - Instructions

This was a 15 year old great working GE regrigerator. Refrigerator was not cooling properly, though the freezer worked great. Using flashlight, examined cam riser which was clearly broken. YOU MUST ORDER TWO GASKETS AS BOTH WILL BE WORN. After removing all food from the door, taped plastic sheet over the open space to keep food somewhat cool Removed top hinge cover and screws on top of door and lifted door out of bottom bracket placing it flat on kitchen island. Unscrewed hinge elements including old broken cam and shims form the bottom of the door and fit in the new cam. Unfortunately one of the shims was broken, so I used a thin plastic black washer from the hardware store which was big enough to fit over the pin on the bottom of the refrigerator itself. Screwed all the parts back together. Be VERY careful to note how you removed them in the first place...mabe take a digital foto or two. This was kind of tricky to remember. Then used a hammer and chisel to break off the rivit holding the bottom hinge elements on the refrigerator. Sawing with jigsaw didn't work that well. The rivit came right off. Then used a flat head screw, lock washer and nut instead of a reivit and attached the new second cam riser. You are now done with the new parts. Simply reattached the door and it closed like new. Had a simultaneoius problem with a faulty defrost heater in the freezer which also had to be replaced and which was really easy to do. About an hour max. This was the real cause of the refrigerator not cooling properly. But that's another story.

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.

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.

First i removed the lower cover below doors . Then placed a 4x4 under the door to be fixed to keep it in place. Removed screws from hinge support on unit to remove cam Removed outside screw on door and loosened other to allow other cam to be removed . Always buy two cams if one is broken the other cant be in very good shape .The door will work like new with two .

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.

1. Put all perishable food into ice chest. Empty door shelves.
2. Remove top hinge cover with Philips screwdriver.
3. Supporting door, remove top hinge attached by two hex screws.
4. Lift door off bottom hinge.
5. On bottom of door, unscrew the hex screw holding the broken plastic cam.
6. Loosen the second hex screw enough to free the broken cam.
7. Replace the cam and tighten the hex screws making sure the opening of the cam lines up with the hole under the door.
8. Snap off plastic grill at the bottom of the refrigerator.
9. Remove bottom of the two hex screws holding the bottom hinge tot eh refrigerator body.
10. Loosen the second screw enought to rotate the hinge upsidedown. Tighten the screw again.
11. Now the rivet bottom is exposed so as to facilitate drilling it out to remove the broken cam.
12. Loosen the hex screw again and turn it back rightside up. Reinstall the bottom screw and tighten both of them.
13. Using an appropriate size bolt, lockwasher and nut, install other new cam.
14. Reinstall door reversing steps 1 to 4.
15. Don't forget to return the food to the 'fridge, by the way!

After reading the stories here, I purchased one door closing cam. After getting into the problem area, I realized I needed 2 cam, so I put the door back together and ordered another cam. If you have this problem, buy 2 cams.

First, I was glad I read other posts on this repair as I would have only purchased one of the replacement cams when I needed two! I removed the top door hinge with a screw driver (cover) and small socket set for the door hinge. I then removed the door and removed the bottom hinge (socket set). The bottom hinge had a small rivit that held the bottom cam in place. I used a hack saw to cut off the rivit and replace the cam and secured it with a small machine bolt and nut. I then laid the door on its side and removed the top am from a bracket attached to the bottom of the door. I relaced the cam (second one) and reinserted the screws. I reattached the bottom hinge and then placed the door on the bottom hinge pin. I then held the door in place while inserting the top hinge pin bracket into place and retightening the top screws. I replace the cover with a screw drive which was the ahrdest part in trying to find the hole the small screw gets inserted into. DONE!

Like the rest of the other statements it was easy with 2 2X4 pieces of wood to block the door up. The other suggestion about buying two of the pieces was a good idea. Once I took off both the top and bottom pieces they were both worn out and it was easy to replace them both at the same time. The door is working good again and shuts on its own.

I was set to buy a new magnetic seal to hold the door closed, when I looked it up on PartSelect I saw the recommendation that the problem might be the door closing cam.. I check it with a mirror and sure enough the cam had broken and the door sagged about 1/4 inch. I then followed the instruction and removed the top hinge, lifted the door off and replaced the cam. I did need two and the one attached to the lower hinge had to be drilled out and a new screw and nut attached to hold the cam. It was simple to do, I would recommend selling the door closing cam be sold in pairs with a #10 1/2 inch long screw with lock nut.

just shelf incerted into slots

outstanding delivery response, ordered and it was delivered the next morning

This one is a no brainer… One Phillips screw on top to pull top door hinge trim. Two nuts and the top hinge is free. Then pull the door… it helps if you unload all the crap in the door bins. Remove the remnants of the door cam and that leaves a pop rivet. Put some vise grips on the head and use a hacksaw to remove the lower part of the rivet. Then pop-rivet the new door cam in place. If you don’t own a pop-rivet tool, I guess you could use a 10/32” screw and nylock. Plop the door back on and you’re done. Took all of about 15 minutes.

Watched the video very good. Thank You

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.