CTX18AJBR Hotpoint Refrigerator - Instructions

I applied some tips learned by reading other reviews. So before I started I grabbed my trusty vise grip pliers and a small screw driver. I locked onto the switch actuator, the part that the refrigerator door pushes in, with the vise grips and pulled on it just hard enough to get the screw driver inserted in the right side to push in the catch clip so the switch could be pulled out further each time the catch clip was depressed to the next detent. Then I used the screw driver on the left site to encourage the switch past the detents on the left and very quickly the switch was out of the mount. The wires from the refrigerator pulled out with the old switch. I unplugged the old switch from the wires and plugged in the new switch and shoved the new switch back into the mount, wiggled it a couple of times to make sure it was secure and the job was done. Once I applied the vise gripes at first, the whole job took less than a minute.

My husband put on the defrost timer. At first I thought the part was not going to fix the problem. After about 5 hours my refrigerator was still warm. I went to work and when I got home that evening my refrigerator was cooling and down to 28 degrees. So if you replace this part wait at least 12-24 hours. Give it time to stablize. My husband says it has to go through its cycle. It works on a 24 hour timer. My refrigerator is working fine and this has saved me alot of money. My husband says, once you put on the timer you may have to use a flat screwdriver and turn the small dial clockwise one click to start it. He removed the kick grill and replaced the part. Dont forget to shut breaker off to replace this part. Turn power back on and start the timer. We are so happy that we now have a working refrigerator.

popped off front grille, removed 2 screws for bracket, then had to remove one screw for timer. unplugged old timer, reversed procedure, all works.

unplugged refrigerator. removed light bulb from old socket. unsnapped old light socket and pulled it out just enough to diconnect the electrical plug that plugs into the socket . discarded the old socket and plugged in new socket. snapped in new socket into refrigerator. i watched how to do this simple procedure on you tube and decided to do it myself. easy easy easy

The old fill valve was leaking water at a very low rate, sort of like a dripping faucet. Water was then freezing up in the fill tube and funnel areas, eventually causing the fill tube to push out of the grommet and allowing it to leak into the freezer's rear coil compartment. This resulted in a large icicle forming on the left side of the coils and defrost thermostat.

In addition to low icecube production, I also began to see excessively warm defrost cycles, due to the defrost thermostat being iced over. (Telltale signs--1.Ice cubes melted/frozen into a massive block in the bottom of the ice bucket, 2.Soggy frozen food boxes and soft icecream, 3.Water accumulating under the crisper drawers in the refrigerator.)

I ended up replacing the fill valve, which is about a 10min job, and also had to remove the icemaker and interior rear cover from the freezer compartment to de-ice the coils. This was a NECESSARY step as the freezer is not able to defrost and clear this amount of ice on its own. I used a small hair dryer, being careful not to get it wet. If you tap on the ice to break it up, don't use anything sharp. Just let it thaw--

My circa-1992 Kenmore fridge (363.9711780) does not show up at Sears Parts Direct anymore, but it's a GE unit, and in my case the parts were all listed in the owner's manual using GE "WR" part numbers.

Good Luck!

when the ice maker runs through its cycle, you should be able to hear the solinoid valve open, letting water into the ice maker. this was not happening for me. you can dissconnect the plug on the valve and put the two probes from a multimeter in the plug and set for AC volts. when the ice maker runs its cycle, at the end you should see the meter jump as power is applied to the valve then turns off. this means you do have power to the valve so the valve is defective. turn off water supply to the valve, disconnect the water supply tube to the valve, remove the screw holding the valve, disconnect supply tube to icemaker then hook up supply tube to bottom of valve, screw braket back to refrig, install suppy back to valve, turn water back on and check for leaks and your ice maker should be working properly again.
these guys were really fast on delivery too!

Unplugged the refrigerator and turned off the water to the ice maker valve. Removed the water line at both ends (small crescent wrench). Removed the cover from the water valve area (two Phillips head screws). Removed the valve (two screws - small nut driver) and pulled off the two electrical connections.

Installed the new valve with the reverse procedure though the holding screws didn't line up with the existing holes in the refrigerator metal frame. I let it go with one screw holding ... didn't have a drill with me to make a second screw hole.

Replaced the old water line (from the wall to the valve) with a steel-reinforced hose.

Cut the female metal connector from the old water line up to the freezer and it fit nicely into the push-in outlet from the new valve. Turned everything back on and waited for the ice maker to cycle.
To my dismay, the leak had been coming from the plastic line that goes from the valve up to the ice maker. It had split, spraying water. Replaced that and everything works fine.

Lesson learned: Don't assume water near the icemaker valve actually is from the valve or its water connections. Watch the whole system cycle a couple of times to see what's really happening. Glad to have a new valve but the basic problem was the icemaker tubing.

Unplugged refrigerator, removed three screws to take out part, disconnected the wires and removed bad unit. Removed fan blade from old unit and attached to the new unit. Attached wires, placed the new motor back in. Plugged it back in, within 20 minutes panel between freezer and refrigerator was cool to touch.

First turned off power and removed top shelf.
Then I used a flathead to slowly pry the switch out by the two sides. You just anlge ita bit and it slideds out easily. Then I disconnected the wires from the old switch, connected the new one and installed the new switch by snapping it back into the cutout.

The defrost timer was very easy to replace. Two screws and one electrical bracket and that was it. The defrost thermostat required the removal of the freezer shelves and rear panel. A philips for the panel screws and a slotted screw driver to wedge in-between the side and rear panel. The rear panelcame right out. The defrost thermostat is very accessible simply mounted to a metal bracket on the evaporator coil. My only problem was the new thermostat did not include instructions or a picture of a correct installation. The old thermostat did not seem it was installed correctly and it wasn't. It was simply hanging away from the evaporator coil, sort of out in space. Seeing the "V" shape on the new thermostat and metal mounting bracket configuration it was simple to see that it was suppose to fit snug against the evaporator coil. In addition to using the provided twist-on wire insolators I soldered the two electrical connections leading from the frig to the new thermostat. Reverse the above procedure and the job it finished. Now running better than new.

Look were timer was located, in my refigerator is next to the dial to ajust the temperature. used a screwdriver to get panel off. replaced timer then used a straight screwdriver to advance timer to turn on compessor . monitor temperature . checked out.

Removed items from freezer, removed 2 nuts from ice maker and set ice maker aside. Pulled old fill tube from back (no tools). replaced with new fill tube. Removed old valve at back of ref. installed new valve kit and reconnected plastic line. placed clamps on plastic line to insure no leaks. No more leaking and ice maker works great. No ice cubes freezing together.

The valve is not a direct replacement,seems they
are not available,had to bend mtg. brkt. so valve
would mount in same position and cut off screw
type pressure fitting so could slide discharge
tube into new type connection, no instructions
come with replacement valve,asked several
places for info wanted to be sure before cutting
off end of discharge tube. Now valve shuts off
but water still in base of refrigerator must be a
leak in inlet tube behind freezer compartment.

Poped out with screwdriver the old swithch and unplugged the two wires. Plugged in the wires to the new swithch and pushed it back in the hole where the old switch was before.

Condensor Fan not turning. I thought it would be an easy fix. I thought I could pull off the shroud and fan assy - no joy. Too many copper pipes and lots of tubing in the way. It took 90 minutes to remove and 30 minutes to install. The BIG hint here is to loosen the shoud, pull it back as far as you can and then remove the nut that holds the fan blade in place. THEN you can remove the motor. Get the new motor back into the shroud, get the blade back on and then tighten the shroud back up.