3638400482 Kenmore Refrigerator - Instructions

I was set to buy a new magnetic seal to hold the door closed, when I looked it up on PartSelect I saw the recommendation that the problem might be the door closing cam.. I check it with a mirror and sure enough the cam had broken and the door sagged about 1/4 inch. I then followed the instruction and removed the top hinge, lifted the door off and replaced the cam. I did need two and the one attached to the lower hinge had to be drilled out and a new screw and nut attached to hold the cam. It was simple to do, I would recommend selling the door closing cam be sold in pairs with a #10 1/2 inch long screw with lock nut.

This one is a no brainer… One Phillips screw on top to pull top door hinge trim. Two nuts and the top hinge is free. Then pull the door… it helps if you unload all the crap in the door bins. Remove the remnants of the door cam and that leaves a pop rivet. Put some vise grips on the head and use a hacksaw to remove the lower part of the rivet. Then pop-rivet the new door cam in place. If you don’t own a pop-rivet tool, I guess you could use a 10/32” screw and nylock. Plop the door back on and you’re done. Took all of about 15 minutes.

Watched the video very good. Thank You

Easy

Please note that I did this repair 2 times before and it was very easy, it took me longer to get the stuff out of the refrigerator door.

But this time the existing upper and lower cams broke, and the lower part of the door was making contact with the screw that holds the lower cam to the lower support bracket damaging the head of the screw.

Now I could not use a screw driver and I had to use a wrench and a vise grip to hold the round screw head (not easy), and then replace the screw and nut.

I had to insert 2 flat washers under the lower support, to separate the door an additional 1/32 from the ref. base to accomodate the fact that the door gasket had lost its regular shape in the lower part of the door (I discover this when I dismounted the door).

Then I removed the damaged cams, replace them with the new ones and now it is working ok.

Manny

I learned from previous descriptions. Most important is there are two cams so order two. Second is that the door can be blocked from the bottom so the door doesn't have to be unloaded if you are careful. Remove the vent cover. Raise the door as high as possible while closed then block it from dropping down. I used wooden blocks. Remove the lower hinge and bracket on the bottom of the door. Put everythng back and you're back in business. A kit with both cams, spacers, and screws with diagram would have been nice to have.

Thanks to the stories on PartSelect my wife and I knew what to expect. The biggest hassle was sawing off the rivet that's on the hinge on the refrigerator (my wife volunteered for that job). When we got everything back together the door worked a lot better, but still wouldn't close without a little push. In frustration and running out of time, we put the stuff back inside the refrigerator door and that did the trick! The weight was enough to allow the door to close on its own.

I used a block of wood to hold up the door. Then unbolted the lower hinge from the fridge. That is when I found out that it was fine and it was the upper half of the hinge that was broken (worn).
So I unbolted the upper hinge (mounted on the bottom of door) It uses the same part. So I installed the part on the upper half of the hinge.

I wish somebody would have told me that you need 2 of these for each hinge. The bottom one was in good shape, lucky for me.

There was what seemed to be a half chewed up washer under the refig. door. The door wasn't closing all the way. DING!! Something was wrong!!

I looked up your schematic for the refrig door and decided what piece might have broken. It was a good guess and the part showed up a few days later.

I wedged up the refrig door to take the tension off the lower bracket. Then, just took off the bracket and replaced the broken door closing cam.

1. I removed the top door hinge.
2. I removed the door and laid it flat.
3. I replaced the cam attached to the bottom of the door. This was very easy.
4. I removed the bottom door hinge and had to remove the brad that held the second cam. This went well as I was able to saw it with a hacksaw.
5. Replaced the second cam with a bolt and nut.
6. Replaced the door and top hinge.
7. Remember to order two cams when you do this repair.

I first removed all of the door contents. I then removed the door from its mountings by removing two screws at the bottom bracket. With the door lying on the floor I then removed the two screws holding the door cam assembly in place. I inserted the new door cam, then reversed the process replacing the four screws.

Why don't they just tell you that you have to buy 2 cams. I have now replaced the cams on both doors. The other door broke about 4 years ago. Fortunately the first time I read the user commetns or I would've bought just one. It is a quick easy fix. The longest step is drilling out and replacing the rivet. Everything else is done with a nut driver.

Replaced the old cams with new ones, door works perfect now.

Thought I would only need one when I looked at the picture of the parts. Decided to order two just in case and after taking it apart both were broken. Needed two.
Took the top door bracket off and lifted the door off of the bottom bracket. Re-assembled cams, put a little white grease on all moving parts, placed the door into bottom bracket and installed top bracket. Adjusted top bracket to make door line up with edge of refrigerator and all is well.

Remove screw at hinge cover, top of door.
Remove two screw/nuts at hinge and remove hinge while holding door in place.
Lift door off of lower hinge
remove two nut/screws at bottom of door and replace closing cam. Be sure the pivot pin hole in the cam is lined up with the hole in door.

Next drill out rivet holding cam to lower hinge on the refer. Install cam with a pan head screw and nut (to replace rivet). It will help if you remove the plastic grille cover at the bottom of the frige.

Set door back on the lower pin and shut so the the magnetic strip holds the door in place. Re-install the upper hinge loosely. Adjust the door for an even gap and tighten the screw/nuts. Re-install the cover.

A very easy fix.