59679142991 Kenmore Refrigerator - Instructions

first thing i thought was the condenser was plugged so pulled out and cleaned with shop vacum backwards so it became a blower not a vacum cleaned it good and put together. wife noticed cracking noise inside freezer. took all freezer food and shelfs out. took 1/4 inch hex nut screws out and found complete condenser solid ice. did some research on internet and found parts select stories. i buy passed thermostate and hooked heating coils direct which then thawed condenser. checked timer by turning of and it worked fine until i got part and installed.

Very easy to order from parts select. Took seconds to replace.

Repair went well,took about five to ten minutes to disconnect the power from the fridge removed the defective switch installed the new one ,reconnected the power,,,and Let there be light and there was light!

Unscrewed the old handle, cleaned the area, and screwed on the new handle. Simple, and took just a couple of minutes. Our kind of repair!
The handle is now whiter than the rest of the fridge, but (1) were just happy to even find a replacement handle so we could switch it out and (2) no longer worried about it breaking and our having to purchase a new refrigerator just for that reason, when this one is still working just fine. Thank you, PartSelect! (We have referred friends to you :-)

Removed broken handle and replaced with new one by inserting 2 screws. Just took about 2 minutes and is a great improvement!

First of all I want to thank Michael from Carlisle,PA and this site for publishing Michael's info on the wiring specifics on the new 3 connector Start Relay ( WP2262185 ). The original relay only has 2 connectors The 2 orange wires which are combined to one female connector need to be clipped and separated each to its own connector. Refer to Michael's blog as to which wire goes to which connector on the Start Relay. I replaced the Run Capacitor, Start Relay and Overload just to be safe. The Start Relay was the actual culprit.Thank you for an excellent website!

Refrigerator door was removed and placed on a set of "horses". Fastners were loosened about 3/4 thread length. Old gasket removed. New one installed. It was necessary to use a "hair dryer" to take out shipping kninks.
Used a piece of 1 1/2 inch sheet styrofoam to seal the door
opening during the process so as not requiring emptying the
unit.

The freezer door was a bit more difficult. This one was done in place. The Styrofoam sheet was cut down and fit in this opening as mentioned above. Inner door panel was removed to reveal heavy ice build up inside door. This was allow to melt and removed along with the fiberglass insulation. New fiberglass insulation was installed and the door reassembled.

In general everything went quite smoothly. Fit on both gaskets was really good.

First time refridgerator repair, I was lucky this was not that bad of a job.

Removed food from freezer, took off ice maker by removing three screws, removed back panel by removing six screws. Once the back panel was removed, the fan assembly could be viewed while powered up. It was not spinning and air was not moving above or below the fan. I removed the electrical connections by hand (with the 'fridge powered down) and removed the fan assembly by removing the two screws adhering it to the back of the freezer section. I replaced the fan assembly and had some difficulty because the new unit shipped by partselect had the electrical connections on the opposite side than the original assembly. The wires were barely long enough so I was able to make the connections and subsequently attached everythng in the same manner it was removed and the fridge works great.

Loosen bolts, remove gasket. Replace gaskets then tighten bolts.
The gaskets new were very out of shape when they were delivered this made it very difficult to put them back on. Even after warming them up with the hair dryer.

The refrig seemed warm so I checked the temp of some liquid with a thermometer. Readings were above 60 degrees and I knew food would spoil soon. I vacuumed the dog fur off the cooling coils underneath the machine to see if that would help. Nope. I realized cold air from the freezer was not reaching the refrig. The fan was working but no cold air was coming out. I figured a blockage either in the air duct from the refrig or in the return duct to the freezer. I didn’t see any blockage in the refrig section. I took everything out of the freezer and removed the back wall. The cooling coils were completely frozen solid with frost. Being a frost free machine, I knew there were heaters that were controlled by a timer that melted this frost away periodically and that this cycle was no longer working. I found a schematic on the web, maybe your site, and educated myself on the heater circuit. The circuit consisted of a timer, thermostat near the coils, and a cal rod heater all wired in series. The timer was easy to get to and being a mechanical device I figured it must be the culprit. I ordered one online. I checked its operation and it worked fine. Realizing time was short, I hot wired the cal rod around the thermostat and rotated the timer to its heat position. The frost melted quickly and I put the freezer back together and ordered a thermostat. I canceled the timer order. When it arrived, I installed the new thermostat and it has worked fine for the past month. A little colder than usual as I don’t yet have the settings back to where they were. I have checked the operation of the old thermostat. It’s supposed to close at 30 degrees and open at 45. I have done a continuity check on it by putting it in the freezer, letting it cool down, take it out, let it warm up and it seems to work fine. So I have doubts if I really solved the problem. Wire connections were tight and not corroded. Maybe the timer was hung up on debris that I freed by cycling it. I don’t think this is the end of the story.

I was told to order the run capacitor and the technician thought it would repair the refrigerator; but it did not. The appliance technician had to take the run capacitor off and install what he called a "hard start" and the refrigerator is operating right now.

At first I thought the fan motor was vibrating the back panel of the freezer. Nope! It was the evaporator motor itself, with worn out bearings creating an off balance fan. Most of the time was spent on removing and replacing the frozen food before getting at the back panel to expose the fan. It was good to find and toss out a few treasures we had forgotten about down there. It's good to have someone with long arms for this job, as the fan is on the back of the freezer, and you are sitting on the floor to begin with. Thanks PartSelect.

unscrewed old handle and screwed in new one, whalaa. thank you.

I simply removed the old switch by gently pulling down on the old switch with a screwdriver. When it was about half way out I just gently pulled down on the old switch and it popped out... I removed the two connectors attached to the old switch by pulling on the connectors with a pliers...I tried using my fingers but wasn't able to pull the connectors off so I used pliers. It worked perfectly.. When pulling off the old connectors, make sure you attach the new switch to the same tabs on the new switch... It was very easy to do and took under 5 mins.....The light switch works perfect....P.S. You should unplug the frig while making the connection just in case....Safety first....!!!

Emptied freezer. Removed ice maker. Removed screws and back panel. UNPLUGGED POWER CORD. Unplugged wires to motor. Removed motor housing and replaced with new one. Reversed procedure to assemble.