KSSS48MBX01 KitchenAid Refrigerator - Instructions

At age 65 I have never attempted to repair a refrigerator, until now. It took longer than needed because I did not read these articles carefully. Please note that when you open the door and the light blinks twice, waits a second and blinks again, the optics are working fine. I ordered an emitter and receiver when I didn't need to. I sent it back, the money was refunded, and ordered the ice maker. I replaced the old icemaker by removing three screws and slipping it out of its holder.

Here is how I found out I needed the new ice maker. I took the supply line apart that runs down the back of the refrigerator. I blew through it without any trouble. This told me that the line was not frozen within the refrigerator. I put the supply line back together, and jumped the solenoid that was connected to the supply line at the bottom right of the refrigerator. My model is the side by side, so it has two solenoids. The solenoid that runs the water to the dispenser in the door was always running, so I knew if there was a problem it would be with the ice maker solenoid. So, how did I jump the solenoid. Kids, don't try this at home. I disconnected the wiring harness to the solenoid by pulling it straight out. Then I took the female end of an extension chord and placed a twelve two electrical wire with the ends stripped into the positive and negative slots. I then jumped the solenoid. Water ran to the ice maker, but there still wasn't any ice made. Since the optics and the solenoid were working it seemed to me that the ice maker wasn't doing it's part. There are easier ways to check the solenoid in this forum, but this worked for me. I saved a lot of money and the parts got here quickly.

Our unit is a built-in unit so first had to remove the decorative cover panel to expose the internal on/off switch. Turned off the circuit breaker. Disconnected the wires (simple pull-off/push-on). Removed the old switch which meant clipping the plastic tabs holding the switch in position. Inserted the new switch by simply pushing it through the opening being sure to have it in the same alignment ('off' to the back of the unit.) Reconnected the wires making sure to have a white ground wires on the left and the black 'hot' wires on the right. Turned the circuit breaker back on. Turned the switch on. Now it runs.

Just replaced the switch, but unfortunately that was not the problem; nor was it the bulb....so I am back to square one.
But Parts Select is a great place to order from. Thank you.

I wasn't sure what the problem was, but the ice maker seemed simple and on-line resources suggested the control and motor assemblty was at fault. I searched the internet and Partsource had great diagrams which I could match to the part in hand. The price was right (way less than the local stores) so I ordered it.
I unplugged the unit from the power in the freezer, but unplugging the entire refrigerator works too. I pried off the white cover on the front of the ice maker, which snaps in place top and bottom. There are three screws holding the contoller (the entire front piece), remove them, pull off the controller and push the new one in place. You may have to turn the blade shaft to line up the notch on the shaft to the motor. Then reinstall the three screws, The screws go into plastic so it is easy to cross thread them, so be careful, I actually think I did with no ill effects. Snap on the cover and repower the unit. Done. Simple and quick.

First, I removed the two screws that hold the metal grille on the bottom front of the refrigerator, under the doors. I removed the grille panel. The drip pan rests on two tracks directly under the coils. There is a small spring clip that needs to be pushed upward to allow the drip pan to slide forward. I removed the old drip pan, and slid the new one all the way into place.
I then replaced the bottom front grille using the screws on each end.

Icecubes came out half-way, and refrooze. I figured out, that the melter does not work (HEATER in the icemaker) Voltage measured 105V no load. Studied the Internet, and folloved an advice: shorted the back wire and the blackwire with white stripes.these go to relay contacts. It seems, that the relay contacts are no good on Infrared receiver boaed. I turn off manually the icemaker, when needed

Looking at the ice maker it is pretty cut & dried as to how to remove the unit. I took out the ice tray and just started removing all the mounting screws. The same for the mold ice tray & heating element. I was just sad that you did not have just the heating element separate from the mold ice tray.

The on-line video and the hard-copy instructions with the replacement part made it very easy. Just loosened the 2 upper screws and took out the bottom one. Eased the ice maker out a bit and disconnected the plug at the back (power was off). Checked the replacement part had exactly the same wiring harness - it did. Fitted the bail arm from the old one. So simply did the same process in reverse. So 15-20 minutes after I started, the job was compelete. It takes a while for ice to start coming, but it did, and after 24 hours I threw out the ice and started again to make sure the ice came from fresh water.

Take pictures of original setup in case you need to refer back and turn off power at the panel. Remove the White panel in the back of the freezer ( 16 screws). Unscrew two screws holding the motor / fan blade and remove. Remove the hot/neutral and ground wires and remove the motor/fan unit. You will have to use the old brackets as the new motor does not come with them so don't throw the old motor just yet. The brackets will have to be removed from the old motor by removing two 1/4 screws and placing the brackets onto the new motor in the same fashion. Once this is complete, just reassemble new motor in reverse order. since the fan has to fit into a tight opening and the mounting brackets have to line up to screw the whole unit in, I assembled everything lightly tightened and mounted the unit to make sure the screws lined up and the fan blade had clearance in the fan opening so that it did not rub. Since the bracket screws are not 100% tightened, this allows some wiggle room to adjust. Once everything is lined up, tighten all bracket screws 100%. Insert the wires and your ready to go. Reinstall the White panel and 16 screws. Motor has been working great since installation.

Our ice maker had been overfilling and causing a big block of ice in the bin for some time, but it finally stopped working completely. In trying to determine the problem, I read the comments on the PartSelect website from other customers and thought I needed either a new valve or a new ice maker. I replaced both because when I took the old ice maker out, it had a lot of mineral deposits in it and looked very unappetizing. The videos on how to replace the valve and ice maker were very helpful. Other customers comments on replacing the valve were also great. The only thing I would add is that after getting the parts installed and the water line and electricity reconnected, it takes an hour or so for the ice maker to to fill. I suppose there is a temperature sensor that won't fill it until gets down to a certain point. I am very pleased with the outcome of this project on our 28 year old refrigerator.

The ice mold has a coating on it. Over time the coating deteriorates. If your ice maker leaks water into the ice reservoir inspect the mold to see if the coating is compromised. If so, replace with new.

Remove the ice maker assembly. 3 small hex screws. Unplug power cord. Disassemble ice maker assembly. Remove ice mold/heater. Replace with new. Reassemble.

Had to disassemble ice maker to install part. . .

It was so easy!

Thanks for the rush to my home on the part.

I just unscrewed the plate that locks in the light switch (screwdriver) and unplugged the old faulty part and plugged in the new switch, screwed the cover back on and I was done!

Easy!

And I am not Mr. Fix-it!

Shut off water supply, removed old valve (two screws, 1/4' nut driver), disconnect electrical plug, remove water lines (adjustable wrench). Cut fitting off tube to ice-maker (new unit has a push-to-connect fitting). Replace water lines and electrical connector. Mount valve back on cabinet. Turn water back on.

The lining of the ice mold (Whirlpool) started flecking off (black flecks in the ice cubes), so I decided to replace the mold.
Loosen the two 1/4 inch upper nuts and remove the lower nut to remove the ice maker from the freezer. The hardest part was getting it unplugged. I used a small blade screwdriver to release the catch on the connector and pull it out.
Remove the ice maker front cover. If you have a skinny enough phillips screw driver, there are two deep set screws through two holes on the lower portion of the control module (otherwise, remove the three screws on the controller, unlatch the shut-off arm from the control module, and separate the controller to access the mold screws). Unhook the shut-off wire from the end of the tray. Unscrew the two screws holding the mold and remove the mold.
Remove the plastic hardware from the old mold and install on the new mold.
Attach the new mold on to the control module.
WARNING WARNING WARNING!!! The mold I bought already had the alumilastic on it for the contact point to the thermostat. When I installed it and tightened the screws, the alumilastic was dried out, didn't squash down, and dented the bi-metal thermostat on the controller, ruining it. I had to buy a new thermostat. Be sure to check that the alumilastic is pliable. If not, take it off and buy some fresh to put on there.
Re-install the ice maker. It took a while to get the first batch of ice because the ice maker was at room temperature and I had the freezer door open for several minutes. So the freezer had to get cold and the ice maker had to chill down. Once everything got cold, it started making ice again.