3638400484 Kenmore Refrigerator - Instructions

1) I removed the icemaker and placed on work table.
2) I pried the front plastic cover from the control box to expose the front base.
3) I removed the three mounting screws from the base (it is not necessary to remove the screw in the plastic gear) and removed the front base. This exposed the back base
4) Using an ohmmeter, I was able to isolate a bad contact on one of the three microswitches in the control box (the one that was mounted to the back base). Replacing this microswitch solved the problem.

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.

Removed top hinge and electrical connector (freezer door has ice and water dispensers) then had to turn off water supply to unit and disconnect the hose to the door and remove the spring protector from the hose -- this required removal of the compression fittings in the water line so spring would come off of the tube. Then removed bottom hinge from the door and used saw to remove the rivet that had held the cam to the hinge, used a nut and bolt to attach new cam. Put other cam (used two) in the hinge and replaced lower hinge unit on the door. Then reattached both hinges to the refrigerator and lined up the door put the spring protector and compression fittings back on plastic tubing and reconnected the water supply and electric fitting, turned on water to unit and prayed there were no leaks. Prayer was answered, the water dispenser worked properly and the ice maker filled with water so I then replaced the hinge cover on top of the unit and the grill at the bottom and had a pepsi. A few years ago I had replaced the cams on the other door which had no water/electic connections and was a much simpler job.

Remove the two nuts holding the top of the unit to the side of the freezer using a 1/4 in nutdriver. Pull the unit out and unplug it from the back of the freezer. Remove all pieces of the broken stripper. The replacement part fits onto a peg on the back of the icemaker and into a slot. Bend into place and slide into position.

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.

Turned off the refridgerator. Took everything out of the freezer compartment & put into ice chest with pleanty of ice on top. Removed 2 screws holding the ice maker in place & placed ice maker aside. Removed shelf. Removed one screw on back plate, pushed up on the holding tabs at the top of the back plate & removed the back plate. Removed 3 screws holding the motor bracket in place along with the 3 wires. Installed new motor & used the wire extensions provided due to the electrical connections on the new motor being on the opposite side. Had to bend one wire tab down to clear the motor bracket. Turned refridgerator back on to ensure correct rotation on the fan. Reinstalled back plate & ice maker & shelf. Waited 30 minutes before putting food items back in freezer compartment.

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

I discovered the ice bucket missing from my rental unit at the beach. I was able to go online with my Blackberry, easily navigate your website using the model number to look up the part information , order it, and have it in place for the next renter.
Without access to a friendly user website, I would have faced considerable delay in getting this part.

I removed one screw to loosen the cardboard panel that covered the old valve and one screw to remove the valve assembly. I disconnected the two wiring connections and unscrewed the two water line connections. Replacement was really easy since the bracket was the same as the old valve. The down stream water connection was different for the new (push in) than the old (threaded) but I cut the old threaded connector off and figured out that the new push in connection was solid (directions would have really helped here) Reconnected the inlet tubing and electrical wires and replace the panel and it was done.

Simple job, empty the door shelves, remove top hinge, lift door off bottom hinge, remove bottom hing. The reassembly is the reverse, with a little cleaning along the way and a little white lithium grease on the hinge pins and cams.

just unscrewed the 3 screws, attached the rounded plug that came with the unit and screwed back only 2 screws. ice magic in about a couple of hours

Moved all items from door storage into refrigerator shelves. Removed top hinge cover held by single screw and top hinge plate held by two bolts. Lifted up door to clear bottom hinge pin and removed door. Covered open front of refrigerator with plastic wrap to keep cold in refrigerator with door removed. Laid door on kitchen counter top and removed bottom hinge assembly held on by two bolts. Replaced upper cam located on bottom of door and screwed the hinge assembly back on to bottom of door (helps to keep the three plates in same sequence and note the position of cam). Drilled out the rivet that holds the lower cam to the bottom hinge pin. Removed old lower cam and and replaced with new cam and secured to lower hinge assembly with pan head screw and nut (instead of rivet). Replaced door back onto lower hinge pin and secured upper hinge pin with original bolts. Placed cover on upper hinge assembly and secured with original screw. Removed plastic wrap from front of refrigerator and moved the items that originally were stored in the door back to provide weight needed for door to close properly. All done and the door works like new, and all in less than 45 minutes. Would have been a more difficult job without the pioneering of people on this site. Thanks to all!

I inspected the hinges and found broken cams and door stop on the bottom hinge. I found the parts list for the door and ordered the parts I thought I needed. I found that I did not look at the parts list for the body of the unit and missed a key item and that required me to order another part that made the repair. I should have dug a little deeper before I placed my order and it would have been even easier. I was amazed at the speed I received the parts I needed. I ordered the hinge pin mid-morning and the part was on my porch the next afternoon.

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.

My husband did the repair, and even though our refrigerator is roughly 20+ years old, he was able to adapt it to work in all the right spots and we now have ice cubes! I'm very happy we did not have to spend $2000 on a comparable refrigerator.