36348252896 Kenmore Refrigerator - Instructions

I knew that the compressor was cooling because the freezer was half-working. The back wall was frozen-up and found that the iced-up coils where blocking the air circulation. So even if the fan was running, there was no air circulation. Hence the deforst cycle was not working.

Removed guard at bottomof frig. Located timer & performed tests. Manually rotated timer motor until defrost cycle start. Watched timer for several hours. Timer did not come out of defrost.. Rotated timer more until compressor started. Cooled fine several days then started to get warm again. Manually defrosted and started compressor again. Ordered part. Followed wiring diagram on timer for push on lugs. Frig now back to normal operation.

This is such an easy fix!
1-Unplugging the fridge and emptyi it. Remove all shelves.
2-remove the 2 screws at the top of the back panel with a 1/4 inch nutdriver. You'll have to tilt ithis panel forward and sideways to get it out.
3- DO NOT CHIP AT THR ICE COVERING THE COOLING COILS? Replace one shelf and rest a hair dryer on low heat on the shelf.. Plug the drain hole at the bottom with a rag so all the melted ice water doesn't flood the floor under the fridge. Soak up the water with a rag and bucket- this should take 20-30 minutes.
4-Remove the red and blue power cables from the element. Only 2 philips head screws hold the defrosting element in place. Once it's out you can tell it's burned out because it looks black like a burned out lightbulb.
4-Plug in the red and blue power cables to the new unit. You will need to reroute the blue power cable because the new unit has both power connections on the same end.
5-Replace the cover panel by sliding it in at an angle and replace the 1/4 inch screws.
6-Replace the shelves and plug in the fridge.
That's it!

The most difficult part of the repair was the melting of the ice and preparation. I did change a single element heater for a dual element heater, which required a little manual flexing of the sub-frame, but it assembled with little issue. I was lucky, I did not have to splice the extended harness connection. Rerouting my existing gave sufficent length.
Not sure if the single elements were changed for dual, but it did have the same PN as the unit I replaced.

I removed the top hinge by removing three screws, I then lifted the door off the bottem hinge and set it aside. I then removed the two screws holding the bottom hinge,removed it and installed the new part. I removed the broken part from the door by removing one screw-installed the new part and set the door in place and reinstalled the top hinge. The door is now properly aligned and working like new. I spent as much time writing this as I did on the repair

I followed the easy instructions included with the replacement part I ordered. I removed the back of the freezer, unpluged the broken heater and replace with the new heater. The heater just plugged in, very very simple. I put the back panel bach on with the two screws and it perfectly. Not back for a girl!

1) The large drawer is first removed from the guide that remained on the side wall.

2) Removal of the light shield from the rear of the glass shelf to facilitate glass shelf removal by lifting the rear edge of the glass and remove it.

3) Unscrew two phillips head screws holding the remaining pieces of the plastic guide to the interior side panel of the fridge.

4) Examine the replacement guide and insure that the nylon guide and stop parts are clicked into place. If unsure, look at the guide on the other side to ensure that both are present and completely seated before installation of the replacement guide. (These usually fall out of the guide during shipping and should be in the bag with the guide!)

5) Once the guide is outfitted with the nylon guides, secure the new guide with the two phillips screws and DO NOT over tighten, remember you are dealing with plastic guide and steel screws going into a steel cabinet.

6) Re-install the glass shelf, followed by the light shield and finally the large drawer which should slide out smoothly to the stop and back closed without any drag.

7) A successful installation usually includes giving the drawer and glass shelf a good cleaning that probably could be done to the entire fridge side of the unit.

After easily finding the lower hinge here through Google, I paid about $30 w/shipping and had the part in 2 days. My Hotpoint fridge was made in 1987, but it still runs well...why not fix the door?

Part repair couldn't be easier. No instructions needed...just empty the fridge door of food, remove top hinge, replace bottom hinge and plastic bushing, and reverse order to button everything up.

PartSelect.com did a great job supplying a high-quality replacement hinge for my old fridge, and it's got a new lease on life now!

Removed shelves and light bulb cover. Then removed the two screws that hold the back wall of freezer compartment in place and removed cover. Thawed ice jam with hair dryer. Removed the two screws holding heating element in place and pulled element out far enough to disconnect the two wires. Reconnected wires to new element and put everything back together.
Installation instructions which came with new part were accurate and very easy to understand.
It took about 30 minutes total.

I had done this repair almost exactly 2 years ago. I also read in this forum about a guy who said he had to do it every 2 years... bad part design.

However, GE has replaced the original single element with a dual element, and that is what PartSelect sent me. I had to splice one wire, but the instructions were clear and it went like a breeze. Oh, and the part arrived less than 3 days after I ordered it with standard shipping. Way to go, guys! Thanks!

At first the part appeared to be too large because of the change from one heater to two heaters in the replacement part. It was necessary to push a copper refrigerant line back out ot the way about an inch or so before the part would fit properly. This might take a little courage from the do-it-yourselfer, but it moved easily and seems no worse for the move. Currently the fridge is working well(two weeks) with no buildup of any frost on freezer panel as previouly noted. Overall experience was just fine. Makes d-i-y guy look good!

I would recommend removing the dor first as I had to do this after fighting with the drawer to get it out.
There is a cap on the hinge that has one screw, then two nuts and the door is off. From there the drawer rails are easily replaced.

The repair itself is super easy. The heater harness comes with instructions that is easy to follow. The only issue I encountered is that my refrigerator had 1 heating element and you will get one with 2 heating elements. Because of this, the new connectors are on 1 side. Since my old heater had 1 connector on each end, 1 wire is too short if you route both wires the same way as before. The kit comes with an extra wire and directs you to splice the short wire and attach the extra wire with the included connector. I figured a refrigerator with a spliced wire is not a good combination so I rerouted the short wire to the other side along with the other wire. This allowed me to connect both wires without using the extra wire.

1- youtubed the potential diagnoses, 2- resourced and ordered parts, 3- removed old socket, installed new one :-)... My fridge is an older fridge and could've used a screwdriver for eyeglasses. Plug and play easy... YAY!

Ordered part came in 3 days. Removed plug and rear cover. Pulled off old fan . Installed new fan by pushing it on to shaft. Plugged unit back in to check operation, installed rear cover. Done. Part fit perfect. Thanks to this site you folks are great !