MSX22GLC RCA Refrigerator - Instructions

This is a sibe-by-side refrigerator/freezer that needed a new lower hinge set for the fridge door.

First I removed everything from inside the fridge door, closed it, then loosened the top hinge bolts with an 8mm socket on a 1/4-inch ratchet. Using an 8mm nutdriver, I removed one bolt and loosed the other just far enough to be able to lift the hinge and swing it out of the way. (These bolts are long. The nutdriver is faster than the ratchet but you need a ratchet or a wrench to first break them loose.) Then I just lifted the door off the bottom hinge and set it aside.

The plastic lower front grill was covering the lower hinge but that grill is just held at the ends by spring clamps -- popped off easily so I could get to the hinge bolts. Again, 8mm bolts, just remove & replace hinge. I also had to replace the upper half of the door closer cam, which is screwed to the bottom of the door, being careful that the holes lined up: cam, shim, door holes.

Now the tricky part was lifitng the door back on the lower hinge. (It helps to have an assistant at the bottom to locate the hole for you.) Once the door was up, I swung the top hinge over, ran the two bolts in finger tight with my nutdriver, checked & adjusted the spacing* of the fridge door and tightened the bolts. This was all very easy! (*^_^*)

*On a side-by-side, you'll want the door to be straight up & down with a consistent gap top to bottom with the freezer door. The hinge has some slack for adjustment by positioning the door, then tightening the bolts. You'll see what I mean.

refridgerater side warming, freezer warming
Appliance
General Electric Refrigerator

Model
TFXW20R

Level of Difficulty
Really easy

Time to do repair
1- 2 hours

Age of Appliance
More than 10 years

Tools
Pliers
Nutdriver
Screw drivers
Dilver From Milton, KY
Dec 05, 2011
0 out of 1 people found this instruction helpful



First I diagnosed the problem being a defrost timer as the symtoms are the same as the heater elements. I installed the timer and it worked great for about a week until the frost build up on the evaporator became too much again and then the symtoms returned. I then checked the heater elements and found that both were bad PLUS two clips to the elements were corroded. I then ordered the 2 heater elements. There is more than 1 heater element. Make sure you measure the length of each and then use the graph picture with "Parts Select" on the new ones before you order. There is about a 2" in length difference. Also one comes in a kit with thermostat and wires. Wrong for me. I really wanted that unit as I needed the harness for the bad terminals but it was the wrong heaters and it also came with a new thermostat. Luckly I did not order that one but did order a new thermostat to make sure I did not have to go through this ordeal again. When the parts came I had already replaced the terminals and was ready to go when FedX came. Just make sure you check your heaters before just buying the defrost timer as it may keep you from going back to redo your repair. Just doing your home work before ordering may save you much time in your repair. "PARTS SELECT" was one day on both orders and I just ordered standard shipping. They are great to do business with.

Found burned Defrost timer contacts.

Poped out with screwdriver the old swithch and unplugged the two wires. Plugged in the wires to the new swithch and pushed it back in the hole where the old switch was before.

Removed top hinge and electrical connector (freezer door has ice and water dispensers) then had to turn off water supply to unit and disconnect the hose to the door and remove the spring protector from the hose -- this required removal of the compression fittings in the water line so spring would come off of the tube. Then removed bottom hinge from the door and used saw to remove the rivet that had held the cam to the hinge, used a nut and bolt to attach new cam. Put other cam (used two) in the hinge and replaced lower hinge unit on the door. Then reattached both hinges to the refrigerator and lined up the door put the spring protector and compression fittings back on plastic tubing and reconnected the water supply and electric fitting, turned on water to unit and prayed there were no leaks. Prayer was answered, the water dispenser worked properly and the ice maker filled with water so I then replaced the hinge cover on top of the unit and the grill at the bottom and had a pepsi. A few years ago I had replaced the cams on the other door which had no water/electic connections and was a much simpler job.

Condensor Fan not turning. I thought it would be an easy fix. I thought I could pull off the shroud and fan assy - no joy. Too many copper pipes and lots of tubing in the way. It took 90 minutes to remove and 30 minutes to install. The BIG hint here is to loosen the shoud, pull it back as far as you can and then remove the nut that holds the fan blade in place. THEN you can remove the motor. Get the new motor back into the shroud, get the blade back on and then tighten the shroud back up.

Turned off the refridgerator. Took everything out of the freezer compartment & put into ice chest with pleanty of ice on top. Removed 2 screws holding the ice maker in place & placed ice maker aside. Removed shelf. Removed one screw on back plate, pushed up on the holding tabs at the top of the back plate & removed the back plate. Removed 3 screws holding the motor bracket in place along with the 3 wires. Installed new motor & used the wire extensions provided due to the electrical connections on the new motor being on the opposite side. Had to bend one wire tab down to clear the motor bracket. Turned refridgerator back on to ensure correct rotation on the fan. Reinstalled back plate & ice maker & shelf. Waited 30 minutes before putting food items back in freezer compartment.

While the switch did last for 9 years, the design is poor due to the failure mode. The failure should be to fail off or not able to turn on the lights which would be inconvenient but would not warm the refrigerator contents. Arcing at the contacts eventually caused the switch to "weld" closed. It is not obvious that this is occurring so it took some time to recognize why the temp inside the ref was high while the freezer was OK. Replacing the switch was easy once it was recognized as the problem. All that was required to replace the switch was to remove the screws holding a fiber cover and then pulling off the aluminum cap which covered the switches. Unplug the switch an squeeze the keeper on the switch to release it and pull down. Pop the replacement switch in place and plug the wires harness back in. All in all it took much less time to replace than it has to write this up. T Pope

Simple job, empty the door shelves, remove top hinge, lift door off bottom hinge, remove bottom hing. The reassembly is the reverse, with a little cleaning along the way and a little white lithium grease on the hinge pins and cams.

Moved all items from door storage into refrigerator shelves. Removed top hinge cover held by single screw and top hinge plate held by two bolts. Lifted up door to clear bottom hinge pin and removed door. Covered open front of refrigerator with plastic wrap to keep cold in refrigerator with door removed. Laid door on kitchen counter top and removed bottom hinge assembly held on by two bolts. Replaced upper cam located on bottom of door and screwed the hinge assembly back on to bottom of door (helps to keep the three plates in same sequence and note the position of cam). Drilled out the rivet that holds the lower cam to the bottom hinge pin. Removed old lower cam and and replaced with new cam and secured to lower hinge assembly with pan head screw and nut (instead of rivet). Replaced door back onto lower hinge pin and secured upper hinge pin with original bolts. Placed cover on upper hinge assembly and secured with original screw. Removed plastic wrap from front of refrigerator and moved the items that originally were stored in the door back to provide weight needed for door to close properly. All done and the door works like new, and all in less than 45 minutes. Would have been a more difficult job without the pioneering of people on this site. Thanks to all!

I inspected the hinges and found broken cams and door stop on the bottom hinge. I found the parts list for the door and ordered the parts I thought I needed. I found that I did not look at the parts list for the body of the unit and missed a key item and that required me to order another part that made the repair. I should have dug a little deeper before I placed my order and it would have been even easier. I was amazed at the speed I received the parts I needed. I ordered the hinge pin mid-morning and the part was on my porch the next afternoon.

The existing light switch was very hard to remove. I ended up having to grab it with a pair of pliers and pull it out. Once it was out, it was very easy to put in the replacement and it seems to be working fine.

Remove back cover, exposing fan motor. Turn off power, remove nut on fan blades. Remove fan carefully, do not bend. Unhook wiring harness. Remove three screws that hold the motor on the back frame. Remove old motor, install new. Carefully, reinstall fan blades, hook up wiring, and your ready for tryout. Also do some cleaning while your there. Clean old fan blades with hot soapy water or contact cleaner. Everything runs better clean!

After figuring out how to remove the old broken clip, replacement was easy. Had to use a small putty knife to open the release on the bottom underside of the clip(between the clip & the refrig) . By looking at the replacement piece it was easy to figure out.

I used the same steps as described in other descriptions listed here. Since I was changing the hinge assembly on the freezer side the difference I discovered was that there was a nylon water hose inside the hinge assembly that I did not at first know how to remove. I finally called a repairman I happened to know and following his instruction simply snapped the hose loose where there was a connector and placed a cloth under it to catch the moisture that drained. Having done that, the rest of the assembly went just the same way as the other instructions listed here said that it would. Door now functions like new.