3638580611 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.

Same problems as already described .... door would not close, plastic bits on floor, angry, ready to throw-out 15 year old “dog” and blow at least $1,000 on a new appliance!

This repair is dead easy. Remove the two bolts holding the top hinge and lift off the entire door. Don’t be surprised if the original Riser Cam has virtually disintegrated, mine was a wreck. Remove two bolts that retain the old flat metal “shim” and fiber “gasket”.

Fit new Riser Cam and re-use old shim and gasket. Replace door on dome-shape bottom hinge mount and then re-fit top hinge.

If in any doubt order new shim and gasket along with the new cam riser. Or, do as I did, and “manufacture” either of these parts from scrap material found in the workshop ....

After reading the stories here, I purchased one door closing cam. After getting into the problem area, I realized I needed 2 cam, so I put the door back together and ordered another cam. If you have this problem, buy 2 cams.

First, I was glad I read other posts on this repair as I would have only purchased one of the replacement cams when I needed two! I removed the top door hinge with a screw driver (cover) and small socket set for the door hinge. I then removed the door and removed the bottom hinge (socket set). The bottom hinge had a small rivit that held the bottom cam in place. I used a hack saw to cut off the rivit and replace the cam and secured it with a small machine bolt and nut. I then laid the door on its side and removed the top am from a bracket attached to the bottom of the door. I relaced the cam (second one) and reinserted the screws. I reattached the bottom hinge and then placed the door on the bottom hinge pin. I then held the door in place while inserting the top hinge pin bracket into place and retightening the top screws. I replace the cover with a screw drive which was the ahrdest part in trying to find the hole the small screw gets inserted into. DONE!

This was a 15 year old great working GE regrigerator. Refrigerator was not cooling properly, though the freezer worked great. Using flashlight, examined cam riser which was clearly broken. YOU MUST ORDER TWO GASKETS AS BOTH WILL BE WORN. After removing all food from the door, taped plastic sheet over the open space to keep food somewhat cool Removed top hinge cover and screws on top of door and lifted door out of bottom bracket placing it flat on kitchen island. Unscrewed hinge elements including old broken cam and shims form the bottom of the door and fit in the new cam. Unfortunately one of the shims was broken, so I used a thin plastic black washer from the hardware store which was big enough to fit over the pin on the bottom of the refrigerator itself. Screwed all the parts back together. Be VERY careful to note how you removed them in the first place...mabe take a digital foto or two. This was kind of tricky to remember. Then used a hammer and chisel to break off the rivit holding the bottom hinge elements on the refrigerator. Sawing with jigsaw didn't work that well. The rivit came right off. Then used a flat head screw, lock washer and nut instead of a reivit and attached the new second cam riser. You are now done with the new parts. Simply reattached the door and it closed like new. Had a simultaneoius problem with a faulty defrost heater in the freezer which also had to be replaced and which was really easy to do. About an hour max. This was the real cause of the refrigerator not cooling properly. But that's another story.

Removed icemaker from freezer,
Removed 3 screws from cover plate, and removed screw securing main gear, removed gear.
Pulled back cover plate to expose switches and mechanism.
Removed screw holding switch to remove switch, and installed new switch.
I should have taken a pic of the cover plate, the interior mechanism and the wiring as I went along. It would have saved me 45 minutes in reassembly. Also, as luck would have it, I reversed the wiring on the switch. So off was on, and I had to remove it, switch wires and re-install.
But it works!

Removed the top hinge cover held by one screw. Removed the top hinge held by two screws and them lifted the door up and off the bottom hinge. Laid the door on the floor and replaced the cam piece from the kit on the bottome of the door. That required removing one screw and losening another. Removed the lower hinge (two screws) and replaced it with the new one in the kit. The lower hinge includes the other cam piece. Lifted the door onto the lower hinge and then replaced the top hinge and cover.

Like the rest of the other statements it was easy with 2 2X4 pieces of wood to block the door up. The other suggestion about buying two of the pieces was a good idea. Once I took off both the top and bottom pieces they were both worn out and it was easy to replace them both at the same time. The door is working good again and shuts on its own.

Removed four screws at bottom of door, while someone held the door in place replaced the upper cam (there are two) applied some silicone plumbers lube between the mating surfaces and tightened it up. Works like new bottom cam was only slightly worn. P.S. Remove everything from the door first.

My husband took out the old icemaker in about 5 minutes. The new icemaker was a perfect fit even though the refrigerator was >10yrs old. The only difficult part was the plug extension that was needed so that it would fit into an older appliance. The part was included, it just made the cord about 3 inches longer than it needed to. After working with it for about 20 minutes we were able to fit it on the back side of the icemaker. Now it works great!!

The plastic door closing cams had broken after 17 years of use. It was tricky figuring out how the new cams fit as the old ones had disintegrated. Also you need 2 cams - not one. I first ordered only one. A detailed parts diagram would have helped. First unscrew the top door mount cover and then the top door mount. The fridge door then lifts up and off the lower door mount. Next is the hardest part - drilling off the old pop rivet which held the lower cam. The lower door mount had to be removed to get at the underneath of the pop rivet, and a bench vise was handy to hold it as I drilled off the old rivet. Then you need small stainless steel nut and bolt and split washer or lock nut to replace the rivet. Next unscrew the old upper cam from the underneath of the fridge door and replace. The large hole in the cam goes through the door hinge pins. The two plastic cams should interlock in a way that makes the door swing close. Anyway, now the door works fine.

BUY TWO CAMS! Just like the others, both of the cams were shot. My husband & I did this ourselves & have NEVER attempted appliance repair before.
We propped the door up high enough to access the bottom hinge piece on the fridge & removed using socket. Removed the cover from the top hinge. Slid door down off the top hinge in able to get to the cam on bottom of door. Replaced this cam 1st in order to get door back on while worked to get the old cam off hinge. As others posted, this is rivited on. Used grinder to grind off rivit & hammer & punch to punch out. Attached new cam with bolt & nut found in our tin of leftovers. Inserted hinge into door & reattached to fridge. DONE! Not hard at all & didn't even argue the whole time.

Removed door off hinge , remove bottom hinge, drill out rivet, lift off old cam & replace with new cam ,add new 1/4' BOLT(NOT SUPPLIED) to location where rivet was, reinstall bottom hinge & door ,check alignment, works perfect.

Thanks

Placed blocks under the refrigerator door to take weight off the lower hinge pin. Removed the hinge by removing two screws into the refrigerator and two screws into the bottom of the door itself. This allows the hinge to be removed so the old nylon "closer" pieces can be removed (the one attached to the refrigerator has a rivet holding it in place so that has to be drilled out and replaced with a 3/16 inch bolt and nut). After re-attaching the nylon "closer" to the refrigerator side of the hinge and placing all the shims back in place, I re-attached the hinge to the door first, then the half hinge to the refrigerator. Had to line up the holes, tighten the screws and presto, the door closes like it was new again.

The freezer door side is more difficult as there are wires and a water line to work around.

I blocked the door up with one 2X4 Then removed the lower hinge, installed the closing cam. Then I found that I needed one more closing cam that I didn't order the first time. This other one mounts to the lower section of the door and both cams set together. Re-ordered another cam. When it came in I installed it. Between ordering both parts I had them both in three days. The best to Parts Select
I now know where to buy my parts if needed again.

Thanks
Bob
Sandusky, Ohio