36360942000 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.

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, I removed the old gasket by ripping it out of front,

Second, I cleansed the rust (no idea how that get there, maybe it's a cheap fridge)

Third, I took some boiling water from the water boiler and dip the new gasket in it to "smooth" out the gasket and make it more "pliable" (really, it didn't seem like much happened, nonetheless, I did it to make sure I don't have to struggle if it comes to that)

Forth, I slap the new gasket in the top corner (inner edge closes to the fridge) and work across then down. But somehow after everything is accomplished, the gasket at the bottom appears bulged so I re-did it from the bottom up. and double checked on the firmness by checking with a flash light w/ the fridge closed (I made sure I did this near night time lol)

Lastly, I did love to thank PartSelect for shipping it out so quick. I ordered on Sunday, they shipped it on Monday and I received it on Tuesday morning at work. Incredible speedy service that even RadioShack overnight service took 3 "overnights" to recieve.

Removed 2 phillips head screws to remove ice maker (could have just loosened them)
Pulled fan off of shaft
Removed 2 phillips head screws on motor bracket , disconnected three motor wires & removed motor.
reversed process to install new motor & fan blade.
Space was a little tight for two hand and arms, but do-able.

first remove the one screw holding the cover over the defrost timer, grasp the timer and unplug from the male plug end. insert the new timer. replace the cover and the one screw. plug in the fridge enjoy.
my old fridge was 30 years old and i had to replace the timer many times.

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.

Based on the symptoms I assumed the thermostat was faulty and replaced it. However, that did not correct the problem so I use a hairdryer to try to clear the vent to the freezer and dusted the coils underneath the unit. Still no luck. Next I pulled the back panel off of the freezer are to check the fan but it was working just fine. However, the coils by the freezer fan were packed heavily with ice so I thawed the ice. That worked.

Removed the back cover of freezer to acess the coil. Turned the timer to defrost and checked the voltage across the heater. Didn't have any. Stayed on the common side of heater and measured on both sides of thermostat and one side didn't have any voltage. Shorted the thermostat wires together and heater started working.

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.

We took the old seals off, T\they really just peal off, and replaced with the new ones.We were not really sure how they went on, because there really was no instructions with the seals, but we figured it out. After we really figured it out and got started, it was pretty easy. The only instructions that come with it is how to prep the seals before they go on.

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

Removed screws (4 total) that hold everything together. Removed broken pieces; slipped two new side pieces in place, replaced the screws; put entire frame into place, glass shelf on top, drawers in place: Done!!

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