KBRS22KGAL2 KitchenAid Refrigerator - Instructions

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.

I think spent more time removing the frozen food and cleaning the bottom of the freezer compartment than actually changing the fan.

it came in one well constructed assembly, fan motor and bracket - an exact match for the existing part. I did not have an ice maker to remove so the steps were pretty simple.

1) Remove ice cube tray holder
2) Remove about 8 screws that hold the condenser cover plate
3) Remove two screws that hold the bracket (fan is attached to bracket)
4) Pull bracket away and remove two green ground wire tabs
5) Remove power connector
6) Clip wire ties from bracket that hold power cable
7) Remove old part
8) Reverse procedure

The old part had some built in wire tie holders that held the power cable away from the fan. I had no problem using a normal wire tie to tie it out of the way. You can probably just fed it around without a wire tie and achieve the same results.

All in all a real easy job. I'd say the job was easier than replacing a door knob, but harder than putting on new wiper blades.

Should be no problem for someone with average handy man skills.

inserted a knife between the switch and the plastic interior in order to pop the switch out.
then took off the 2 wires on the old switch put them on the new switch and reinserted the switch into the plastic interior.

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.

After unplugging the appliance I needed to thaw a large ice buildup off the evaporator cover panel before I could even remove the panel. The freezer being on the lower part of the appliance has the evaporator mounted vertically and it was 100% encapsulated in rock hard ice. It took over an hour to thaw the ice and collect all the water with a shop vacuum, since the condensate pan began to overflow.
One thawed, I checked all wiring for good connection, checked heater, defrost thermostat, timer unit with multimeter. The defrost thermostat checked out fine after putting it into another freezer for a 15 minute cooldown, but I noticed a crack in the seal and suspected internal moisture and decided to replace that part. A simple plug in of two leads to the new part after clipping it to the evaporator, replacement of the panel, and the appliance was up and running problem free.
A workbench disection of the old part confirmed my assessment, it had internal rust and water and had failed causing the defrost cycle failure.

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.

remove parts that were not need installed water valve , ice maker unit and hooked up water supply tested and it works fine. got the parts really quick Thank You

Followed the video instruction and it was fairly easy to install. Let the gaskets sit for a day to reshape itself. Started by loosening the screws then removal of the gasket was done. The only hard part was to align the Gasket evenly. Not removing the doors made the install a little more difficult for alignment.

unPLUGED THE REF. FIRST..I removed the ice maker, then i removed 6 screws that was holding the panel covering the fan assy. body and houseing on. then i removed the panel. after removing the panel i removed 2 screws that was holding the fan assy. on, removed the electrical wireing, then i reinstalled the electrical wireing, reinstalled the fan assy. replaced the panel cover,reinstalled the ice maker
pluged the unit back in and away she go

Most difficult part was finding where they hid the defrost timer. (it is in the left front under the fridge behind the kick panel.) just unscrew the two fastener screws from the front, tilt fridge up on one side, slide timer bracket back and remove. Unplug and remove timer from metal bracket. Replace timer and remount bracket.

Our refrigerator is about 29 years old. We were told once that a gasket repair would cost more than a new fridge. Not so. It cost about $230 for both the fridge and freezer gasket. We had some rust that had developed from not replacing them sooner around some of the screws. They had to be cut out and replaced with the next size up to hold well. We cleaned everything thoroughly including behind the door compartments. We took those off the door. The guy in the video doesn’t do that. We replaced our freezer insulation also as it had gotten wet and was completely frozen. Overall, it took much longer because of our neglect over the years and believing someone when they said to just buy a new refrigerator. We love this one again, as much as we did when we bought it. The gaskets fit perfectly and after taping the doors shut overnight, they seal extremely well. We are very pleased.

I took the cover off of the evaperator in the back of the freezer compartment and thawed the ice out with a heat gun. I then replaced the bimetal defrost timer I did have to change one connection as it would not plug into the harness.
I found the Defrost timer in the front of the refrigerator behind the filter cover at the bottom. Just one screw and a quick plug in and everything is working wonderfully. no more icing up

I left the new seal out in the sun to warm up, while it was warming up I took the door off of the fridge and laid it flat. I removed all of screws holding the plastic shelves in place, removed the old gasget fitted the new one and reinstalled the door.

Very simple fix, remove 3 screws, two connectors to the old switch