36358042896 Kenmore Refrigerator - Instructions

I bought the GE Refrigerator about 4 years ago for about $1500. The defrost Heater failed about one year ago. Then I called local repair guy, he replaced the Defrost Heater and charged me about $250. Now it happened again. I think we should try it to fix it by myself. I found the parts from partselect.com, it costs me $50 with 2-3 days shipping. After it replaced, it works fine again.

Note: Symtom: cannot make cool air, Frozen area with frost on the wall. Regeriator "leaking water" on floor since iced food started to melt...

Solution: open the cover of the wall inside of frozen zone, use hot water to defrost it gradually. removed the failed Defrost Heater and replaced it with new one.

Note: after you defrost the area inside of the wall, your refrigerator will work normally without the Defrost heater without any issue about week while you are waiting for the parts coming.

I propped up the door with 2x4 and shims to be level with the freezer door. Then removed the 2 screws holding the hinge to the main unit. Then removed the 2 screws holding the cam washer to the door.
Replacement was the reverse of disassembly. Be sure to tighten screws almost tight until both pieces are located correctly then fully tighten. Lift up refrigerator door slightly to remove shims and wood block.
I did the replacement myself but was nervous that the door would fall off the block and shims. I recommend having another person hold the door closed during the process.

removed broken bin , slid new ice bin in closed door. I bought the complete part.

My son did it , and showed me what he did when he was finished.

I ended up needing to order a new ice maker because the one I had is discontinued. I'm a 65yr old grandma and I did it myself!!!! The hardest part was finding the tool to loosed the nuts. I took the old one out and just put the new one right in it's place. Easy as pie.

Unplug refridge then loosened two bolts holding old ice maker. Lower then unplug and removed. Plugged in new harness and tightened two bolts to secure new ice maker. Plug in frig and wait for ice.

removed 2 - 1/4" screws and 2 phillip screws to take off the evap cover, then 2 phillip srews to take out the defrost heater assembly, replaced and put everything back together. no problem.
I GOT THE PART SO FAST THAT I WAS SURPRISED TO SEE IT THERE!

When I got home I pulled the refrigerator away from the floor, checked all the water lines for leak evidence, and then took the back panel off to check everything behind. The water valve was leaking at the hose insert locations. I turned off the water, spent less than 5 minutes disassembling the valve from the rerfrigerator, and got online to buy another one. The part arrived several days before expected, and it took me less time to install the new part than it did to take the old one out. Now all I have to do is repair the floor damage I caused when pulling out the refirgerator!

I ordered two switches, replaced both with a knife in 10 minutes. Interior light works, thanks.

I emptied everything from door compartments.I removed the top cover of the door pivot with a phillips screwdriver. I removed the two screws that that hold the pivot bracket with a 8 mm socket. Lift the door off the bottom pivot bracket. Remove the old bottom pivot bracket with an 8mm socket and replace it with the new cam bushings.You must replace both bushings on the bottom of the door and on the bracket that mounts to the base of the body of the refrigerator. Reinstall the door and screws .The doors should be level with each other if they are installed properly.If not check the freezer door .The bushings may be worn on that door also.

I found instructions on the web about how to do this repair, so I ordered the part with confidence. But the instructions simply said "pull out the old switchlight". That was actually somewhat difficult as the clip on the side intended to hold the part in was stubborn. I eventually used a utility to slice off the clip. From that point, it was just a matter of plugging in the new switchlight , which was very simple.

Propped the door up with wood so we could change it without removing the whole door.
Removed &Replaced the cam and bracket quite easily. It did require 2 people, one to help hold the door while the other did the work.

First, I removed all items on the door shelves and the shelves themselves to reduce the weight of the door. The door came off by itself because the bottom hinge had broken. Then I placed the door horizontal on the kitchen floor to have easier access to the bottom of the door. I had a piece of blanket under the door to prevent any scratch. I then removed two screws holding the door closing cam and shim and replaced them with the new parts. Next, I removed the base grill to have easy access to the old hinge assembly on the refrigerator itself. All I had to do was grab it firmly at either end and pull it forward. I replaced the hinge assembly with the new one. I removed the cover on the top hinge assembly and removed the two screws that secured that hinge (I was not able to put the door back without removing the top hinge assembly). All down hill from this point. Time to reinstall the door, aligning the bottom of the door cam over the hinge assembly and setting the door down on it making sure the door sets on the hinge assembly cams. To the top of the refrigerator. reinstalled the top door hinge assembly and cover (I had to make sure the door was standing straight vertically before I tightened the nuts), I also put a small amount of white grease into both the top and bottom hinges.

I had to defrost the freezer again before I could even start the replacement We unplub the old wiring harness took out two screws removed the old heater put in the new one replaced the srews and reconnected the harness we were done.

First I diagnosed the problem being a defrost timer as the symtoms are the same as the heater elements. I installed the timer and it worked great for about a week until the frost build up on the evaporator became too much again and then the symtoms returned. I then checked the heater elements and found that both were bad PLUS two clips to the elements were corroded. I then ordered the 2 heater elements. There is more than 1 heater element. Make sure you measure the length of each and then use the graph picture with "Parts Select" on the new ones before you order. There is about a 2" in length difference. Also one comes in a kit with thermostat and wires. Wrong for me. I really wanted that unit as I needed the harness for the bad terminals but it was the wrong heaters and it also came with a new thermostat. Luckly I did not order that one but did order a new thermostat to make sure I did not have to go through this ordeal again. When the parts came I had already replaced the terminals and was ready to go when FedX came. Just make sure you check your heaters before just buying the defrost timer as it may keep you from going back to redo your repair. Just doing your home work before ordering may save you much time in your repair. "PARTS SELECT" was one day on both orders and I just ordered standard shipping. They are great to do business with.