maytag refrigerator door seal

[mvnative]

sorry if this has already been answered... didn't see it in the forum.

what's involved with replacing the fresh food inner door seal?  one site suggested that just a screwdriver was needed.  would be using part  AP341702.

thanks.

Model MTB2456DEA

[JWWebster]

Replacing a rubber doorseal can be a real chore. I like to remove the door and place it on a picnic table or equivelent. I use my cordless with a magnetic quarter inch nut driver. It can be agrevating and time consuming.

[JWWebster]

The seal has a flap that goes under the liner. The best way to do it is remove all the screws under the seal. the liner will then be loose from the door. I go ahead and place the seal on the liner and lay this on the door, with any luck the seal replacement will go smoothly. If you are worried about removing the door don't be. The top door comes off easily with the removal of the top hinge. Then the main door comes off after the center hinge is removed.

[mvnative]

thanks a lot!

[BrntToast]

i do gaskets different

i remove the old gasket from the top and 3/4 down the side

install new on top and half way down sides

then remove old other 1/4 down sides and on bottom and reinstall the rest of the new

this way the liner does not shift

i do this with the door on the fridge

[Repair-man]

Me, too.  No need to remove the door with this method, and cuts repair time down to about 20 minutes. Less if you use a cordless driver.

[mvnative]

thanks for the tips, everyone.  should be getting delivery of the part shortly.

[JWWebster]

Very interesting. I guess I am old school. When I had my appliance parts shop I was always getting guys bringing the doors down for my help. Seems they couldn't get the gaskets straight. Some of them were repair guys that just didn't feel like messing with it. Some of them doors can be a bit tricky.

[BrntToast]

the other trick is if the gasket is sent to you in a tiny little box all folded up i dump it in hot water right away and hang it on the wall with stainless screws to stretch it back to square

[mvnative]

status update...

just finished the replacement.  couldn't really do the door-removal technique, as it was a full fridge.  taped some paint drop plastic over the opening.  a magnetic socket/nut driver would have been really helpful, as JWWebster suggested.  used a socket and extension by hand, since the screws were all barely hand-tightened down.  the flap part kinda sagged on the bottom part.  taped it to the door... see if it'll tighten up with the cooling.

the seal came in a fairly large box; just folded over a little bit, so the hot water treatment wasn't needed.

thanks for all the advice, guys!

[JWWebster]

Good Job Man! That is a tough job to get right.

[BrntToast]

the magnetic bit would have just added to the agrevation, maytag door screws are stainless steel usually(non-magnetic)

[mvnative]

this fridge's seal screws seemed to be magnetic.  put a magnet on the socket, but the screws more often went to the magnet, rather than stay in the socket.  of course.  used a bit of masking tape to some degree of success.  oh, yeah, the sagging seemed to be less today.  thought about the slots in the seal for the screws (rather than being holes).. meaning that the seal could be pulled outwards some.  gave it a try, but it didn't seem to want to stretch out easily.  the replacement took about 1hr 5min.  *maybe* a magnetic nut driver, using the drill, and knowing not to tighten down the screw before getting the next part aligned would have saved me the extra 45 minutes...!