Whilrpool GOld - GS6SHAXMB00 - Ice Maker on the fritz

[ca_nimrod]

Good evening, It seems that the ice maker in my 8 year old fridge will not fill. Just stopped yesterday. I have filled the tray manually, and it seems to be freezing fine, and the discharge arms is spinning even though the ice is not hard yet. I will wait to see if it actually pushes out the ice cubes.

Any thoughts on why it is not filling> I have read many postings here and think I have it narrowed down to two things. A bad solenoid that is no longer pumping water, or a frozen/clogged feeder tube.

Are there any other thoughts?

Many thanks!


Model GS6SHAXMB00

[JWWebster]

If that water valve is dripping then that could cause a stalagmite in the fill tube. If that solenoid on the valve is open then yall could indeed have a bad valve.

[ca_nimrod]

For the past several months it seems that the ice machine was leaking water into the freezer (like it was overfilling the ice tray). That stopped at the same time I switched out my water filter (the filter light had not come on, but I switched it out anyways). The ice machine worked great until two days ago when it seems to have just stopped filling. I see no obvious ice in the feeder tube, but maybe it is in the tube further up.

One more issue. I added water to the tray, as others have done, to see if it would make ice, and almost immediately after the water started to freeze the spindle started to turn as if there was ice to push out. The first pass through the ice hadn't formed, but was slushy. For some reason the arm spun again, only this time it didn't get through the tray, and is now frozen solid. Is thawing the freezer the the only way I can get that unstuck?

This is getting more frustrating by the day! Thank you for all the help.

[UncleRodge]

Remove the icemaker from the freezer and thaw it out..... while you have it out, remove the fill tube and check for a blockage there.... check this post for testing an icemaker:

http://appliancejunk.com/forums/index.php?topic=55.0

[ca_nimrod]

Not sure how to remove the fill tube. When I try to pull any of it out from he ceiling of the freezer it gives a lot of resistance, and I don't want to pull too hard. Do I remove it from the back of the Fridge, after I disconnect it from the solenoid?

Also I have attached two pictures of the cube tray. It looks pretty rough, I am wondering if that is why it has stopped making ice. Maybe the machine can't push the cubes out anymore and it has simply stopped asking for water. Is there a teflon/plastic coating over the metal ice tray that is supposed to make the ice cubes slip out, or is that coating that is peeling off the mold retardant. It appears that quite a bit of it flaked off into my ice over the years... Hmm.

I think I am going to replace the entire ice maker tray mechanism now anyway, but I do want to check the line too. Any more help on how to do that is most appreciated!

[AJ]

Here is the service manual for your ice maker.
4322658A R-92 Whirlpool and KitchenAid Indoor Ice System - Ice Maker Service Repair Manual

I looked up your model number and takes ice maker # AP3182733

You do not need to remove the fill tube to check it or defrost it, I never have.

Just disconnect the tube from the back of the freezer and see if you can blow air through it.
If you can not blow through it and want to defrost it just take a hair dryer and blow some hot air up the tube from inside the freezer. It don't take much to defrost them if they are frozen.

[ca_nimrod]

I think I will try to defrost the feeder line and see if that is blocked. If it is I will follow the directions listed somewhere on this site on how to jump the controls and get the water to run. I have jumped the thermostat and the arm turns as expected so I think most of the icemaker is fine. If I can get water to run by jumping the controls I will simply replace the ice tray. Not too hard, I have already taken the whole thing apart. The connections for the heating coil were almost completely eroded away also, but the coil still got super hot. The copper circuitry inside the motor looked great (and shiny) so I think that is still OK.

If I can't get the water to run by jumping the controls I will likely replace the entire unit so I don't have to troubleshoot too much more. If that doesn't fix the problem, the last choice is to replace the solenoid/pump right?

Thanks!

[ca_nimrod]

OK so I jumped it properly and got water to run!!

I did clear out the feeder tube. It didn't have a lot of water to drain out, and it seemed a little hard to blow air through it. But I think the warm air did melt a little ice since water did start to drip out the other end as I blew on it, when it had not at first.

I will now let it freeze up and see if it will actually continue to fill and empty. If this does continue to work I will order the replacement mold.

I really hope this works!

Thank you for all the help.

[JWWebster]

Behind that main drive wheel is a copper plate. As the gear moves towards the end the copper on the outer edge comes into contacts with a probe much like a bumper car does at the fair. over time the copper gets black and instead of 7 secs of water yall get 20 secs of water and the mold overflows. Click pix to enlarge:

[JWWebster]

If you can carefully remove that gear and clean it you can get a few more miles out of it

[ca_nimrod]

OK so after thawing it out and jumping the thermostat. It only made on tray of ice and then stopped again. I thawed the unit out overnight and put it back in last night. It has made several trays of ice now and I think the mechanics still had some residual water in it and froze up.

I have removed the ice maker and am letting it thaw out and dry one more time. I will replace the tray and leave the mechanics alone for now. If the new tray doesn't consistently make ice I will start to look elsewhere. Better to spend $35.00, with the hopes of not having to spend the &140.00 for a whole new unit. If I do end up replacing the whole unit I will have a spare tray to put in after a few years wear out the other one!  Win - Win.

Thanks again for all the help here!

[ca_nimrod]

Replaced the tray a month ago. Ran it through several rounds of ice, and can now say it works perfectly!!! Thanks for all the help. Now on to my Washing Machine (Whirlpool Duet with F35/Suds error).

WHIRLPOOL Mold - Ice, part number: AP4365074