3639637284 Kenmore 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.

When I did the repair,fortunate for me, a nice repairman was fixing my dishwasher. He said to put the new gasket in the dryer, while I removed the old one, to make it pliable and aid in sealing. I pulled the old gasket out of the retainer clip, cleaned around the area and snapped the new gasket into place(push the raised part into the groove). The repairman said that food residue, especially at the bottom, caused a sticky glue-like film to form. He also advised to put smear vaseline on the new gasket and wipe it off to leave a film. This would aid in sealing and keeping new the gasket from sticking.

Unplugged refrigerator.Checked that new gasket was the right size for freezer.Opened freezer door and lifted inside edge to access screw's. Loosened top screw's and screw's half way down each side and pulled gasket out. Installed new gasket into slot where old gasket was and tightened screw's across top and the first couple down side's.Lifted edge of old gasket and loosened screw's holding remainder of old gasket in place and finished removing old gasket.Finished putting new gasket in slot and tightened remaining screw's. The reason for only doing gasket half at a time is to keep the door square and not getting out of shape. If new gasket is warped when removed from shiping box run under hot water or soak in hot water until more flexible.

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

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.

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.

Found burned Defrost timer contacts.

Simple install. .

While the switch did last for 9 years, the design is poor due to the failure mode. The failure should be to fail off or not able to turn on the lights which would be inconvenient but would not warm the refrigerator contents. Arcing at the contacts eventually caused the switch to "weld" closed. It is not obvious that this is occurring so it took some time to recognize why the temp inside the ref was high while the freezer was OK. Replacing the switch was easy once it was recognized as the problem. All that was required to replace the switch was to remove the screws holding a fiber cover and then pulling off the aluminum cap which covered the switches. Unplug the switch an squeeze the keeper on the switch to release it and pull down. Pop the replacement switch in place and plug the wires harness back in. All in all it took much less time to replace than it has to write this up. T Pope

The existing light switch was very hard to remove. I ended up having to grab it with a pair of pliers and pull it out. Once it was out, it was very easy to put in the replacement and it seems to be working fine.

After I bought what I thought I needed for the repair. I asked a friend to come over and look at it. He changed the
the light socket and put the same light bulb in and it works great. I am returning the light switch but decided to keep the light bulb.

Getting on the internet was so easy. This was really very simple. Thank you for making what I thought would be a big ordeal into something very simple.

Paulette Johnson

as described, I used a thin screwdriver to wedge in and pull down existing, broken switch. I was able to pull it down about a 1/4 inch, but wasn't quit able to disegage it until I gripped it with pliers. I then pulled it out, unplugged the old switch, plugged in the new switch, and carefully tucked the wires back into the fridge and snapped the new switch into place.

10 minutes total.

Remove two screws that hold top hinge of freezer door. Remove freezer door, use socket wrench to unscrew pin in top of refrigerator door, and remove that door. Remove two screws that hold bottom hinge and replace hinge with new one. Then replace refrigerator door and install top pin into top of door. Then set freezer door on pin and reinstall top hinge with two screws.

Remove the fridge door and put it on the floor. Being able to apply lots of pressure helped get it into the tight groove. The corners were the hardest part. This requires strong "man" hands!

Unplugged frige, removed top shelf, pulled broken fan blade off. Replaced with fan blade just purchased from PartSelect. Very simple repair. Orderd and recieved the right part.