UPSDAVE,

Did you get this replaced yet?
I have done this before and helped others on another forum, but don't recall which forum it was.
That spring is a piece of junk and a terrible design.
I'm sure anyone that ones one of these has had it break at least once.

Let me know if you're still in need of help.

CHSDIVER

See UPSDave's post above. He has a link on where you can purchase the part. The price is reasonable. I would buy two.

Replacing the spring isn't very difficult if you're mechanically inclined.
You're basically removing a few screws, the front panel of the door is removed exposing only the glass part that's still hinged. The springs are exposed. Hopefully one spring is still in tack so you can see the orientation of how to put the replacement in. It's not very intuitive on how to do this part.

Below are some notes I've saved from a forum that used to be on another parts supplier's website but seems to gone now. Not sure what happened to that forum. It was very good. I've been contacted by several people on how to replace this spring. You are not alone out there.

I recommend you order both springs first and have them in hand before you take it apart. First time doing it will take about an hour. First you take the vent grill out between the oven and the microwave, then the screws that hold metal plates at the bottom of the door, then two screws on the inside of the door that hold stainless panel to the assembly, then the screws that hold the large black plastic filler, leaving you with glass door still attached to the unit. The hinge area is now exposed, which the spring is more of a torsion bar. There are two going in opposing directions. Click the spring in place, open and close the door a few times to make sure all is well and then reassemble.

If you do not have any distractions and put the screws in piles for where they go you should not have any problems. You never remove the glass or the seal so there should not be any seal issue.

My micro/oven combo was slightly differently, so I ran into a snag with the exhaust vent that comes out between the micro and oven. Had to remove a screw on that so I could slide it over to get to a screw for removal. The screw is on the inside of the duct, hard to get to, and unnecessary since the duct is help in place by the front grill.

Another snag I ran into was putting it all back together. The location of the screws is another design flaw in terms of support. The door seemed very flimsy in how the cover fits back, but that's the way it is.

Good Luck!

Glad you got it fixed with only minor collateral damage. You da man!
Perhaps you scored extra points with your wife or husband or well, whatever. You get the idea :)
I agree, Kitchenaid blew it on this design. The spring breaks at the bend, where the metal is fatigued when they bent it into shape. They should have redesigned this and offered the repair for free by their tech with an improved spring. They don't give a rat's butt about the consumer.
Our microwave has this problem in that it starts clicking during the defrost cycle. It's probbably some relay in the control panel area that cycles the high heat on and off. It's goes spastic sometimes. Not to mention sometimes the front panel goes into some funky state locking out the front panel buttons so I have to recycle the power at the service panel to reset it. This has happened several times since we've owned this oven/micro combo. As long as we can get at least 10 years out of this appliance I'll be happy. The overall design is okay. They just need to fess up on the parts they under-engineered and correct it. Enough complaining

Have a great weekend!

Shasta,

Fix it yourself. Just don't do it around meal time. Only a few steps to taking it apart. Lay a big towel on the counter and put all your pieces on it as you remove them. It's way easier than it looks.
Regarding the part number, I ordered P/N 4451009, Qty 2. No left or right. They were both the same for my microwave. They were $18.34 each plus $6.95 for shipping. Only one spring broke but I have a back up now. Good luck!

The model number on my Superba oven is KEMC308KSS01 and I just installed parts AP3137553 and AP3082257. The door still feels just as heavy. Did I not get the correct replacement parts?