36337400790 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.

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.

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.

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.

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

All repairs made in freezer compartment.

MAKE SURE YOU UNPLUG THE REFRIGERATOR BEFORE WORKING ON EQUIPMENT

Removed ice tray.
Removed bottom cover, 2 screws.
Removed center cover, 2 screws.
Removed backside cover, 4 screws.
Removed fan assembly from back wall, 2 screws.
Disconnected wires from defective motor, old fan blade was cracked spinning freely on shaft.

Reversed the order for re-assembly.
Plugged in refrigerator, now working great.

Make sure you buy the rubber grommets that supports the motor, I did not and did not notice the old ones were worn out. A vibration is coming from the new motor after repair because I used the old grommets. These should be included with the new motor.

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.

First unplugged frig. Took off cover to fan, then bottom & back panels in freezer. Unplugged the fan to the wires & marked them so we would know how they went back. Unscrewed the frame that holds the fan, laid the old one next to the new one so we could tell how it went. Only took a few minutes to do this, then put it back in the same way we took it out. Plugged frig. back in & it took off. Very happy with this. Runs like a new one.

easy as 1.2.3 remove and replace before even thinking. just to let you know i also do this for a living but it is one of the most difficult thing when you have to stop and fix your own

I had to call for a appointment for repair with GE Appliance because I thought then it . .was something electrical. The technician came out & checked everything out, turned out it was not electrical, The technician went out to his truck got a light bulb from his truck, put it in & it worked. It cost me $121.00 for trip charge from GE appliance for a light bulb that worked, your light bulbs were defective twice. Very disappointed with your products, cost me alot of money for a good light bulb thru GE appliance

Unplugged the appliance for safety. Removed two 1/4" screws that held the assembly in place. Carefully removed the wire guard that retains the glass shield. Unscrewed old light bulb and replaced with new part. Reversed the steps after cleaning glass cover.

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.

i have a friend that had a big side by side refrigerator . he had repair man after repairman come and look at it. one thought it was the overload relay in the back and another just said it was compressor problems. this went on for over a month. after all of this and no one able to fix it he went and got another refrigerator . being the tinker with stuff kind of person i am i said i will come and get the old one to keep him from having to haul it off (he agreed). well i did my home work and tried a few things messing with it. tapping on the thermistat resetting the defrost timer and it dawned on me that that the fridge would run great if i wiggle a wire on the thermistat and reset the defrost timer. so i get on the internet look around for the parts. come to find out they were realy cheap. the day they get here i break out with a screw driver and a nut driver and take the cover off. i take the old parts out and put the new ones in in about 15 minutes. i wiped the inside of the frige clean and pluged it back in. well in no time flat this thing was cooling like a northern blowing through in january. then it dawned on me that i have a 27 cubic ft frige that i didnt pay any thing for (well the 65 bucks i spent on the parts) and it runs great. what a deal.

after getting the big side by side fixed up and running like a champ i realized i have a refrigerator in the garage that my parents gave me a couple of years ago that only ran for a couple of months. well i get brave and decide to try my luck with the second one. due to it sitting up for so long and the humidity i had to do a little more work to it. i replaced a few wires, changed out a couple of connections, put a thermistat , a defrost timer and a evapmotor in it this thing also ran like a champ. i cleaned it up real good ran some steel wool over the outside and sprayed a couple of coats of enamel on it and it looks brand new.

so to end this story i spent about 140 bucks and i have two refrigerators a big side by side ice and water despensing refrigerator in the house and a 17 cubic ft refrigerator in the garage (the wife was happy simply because i had a place to put beer and bait).

if i would have went and purchased both of these refrigerators i would have spent about $1400 for the side by side and about $450 for the other one. man what a bargin, so from now on even if it seems a little dificult i dont get rid of any thing until i give it a good look over and see if i can fix it. i saved a total of $1700 (minus tax).

This is a built-in unit. Remove the external bezel at the top of the unit. Reach through the unit and unplug the frig. On the compressor unit, you'll see a vertical metal panel. Remove the metal panel and the timer is right behind it. Remove one wire at a time and switch it to the new timer. Remove timer and replace with new one.

Just an added comment, GE Service wanted to put an "ice kit" into my unit. The full repairs would have cost $1,000. While I described how to replace the defrost timer, the problem was the tray heater. But that's another story.