Hi Folks,

Are there any instructions/hints/how-to's about replacing the refrigerator and freezer door gaskets on the listed frig?

(Amana ARB2205CW bottom freezer model)


Thanks very much

LL

so a girl can do it???!

Last night, I replaced the gasket of the bottom freezer drawer on my Amana refrigerator. It was actually harder than the explanations on this forum. It took me about 2 hours.

When I took my new gasket out of the package that it was mailed in, it had been folded and was all twisted. There were wrinkles in the area where the actual magnetic seal occurs. I tried to use a hair dryer to smooth out the wrinkles but the hair dryer just wasn't getting hot enough. I decided to install the gasket anyway hoping that the wrinkles would just get stretched out.

First I had to remove the drawer which is explained in the Amana manual. I had to remove two screws on the side the the drawer slides and then lift out the hanger for the door. Pulling out the old gasket was really easy but when I tried to push the new gasket it just wouldn't go in under the lip and I was afraid that it would get torn if I pushed it in with a screwdriver.

So I had to remove all 20 or so screws that hold the white plastic retaining liner in and hold the lip of the gasket. Then I had to slide a flat head screw driver in to lift up the liner and break the gluing effect of the expanding foam insulation used during manufacturing. Once I could freely lift up the liner about 1/4 inch, I was able to push the new liner in. The wrinkles were still there, which would have prevented a good seal. Fortunately I had a heat gun which I tested first on the old gasket. This worked wonderfully after the gasket was fully installed and did not melt the white plastic liner.

Once the gasket was installed and all 20 screws were tightened, I discovered that the door had been twisted a little and the left side of the drawer would hit first leaving a gap on the right side. By pushing on the right side some time it would stay but often it wouldn't. So I loosened the screws that hold the door on to the metal hangers that attached to the glides and then twisted the door while I tightened those screws.

The final fix was to tighten the leveling screws so that the top of the fridge leans back. This is recommended in Amana's instructions but had not been done for our fridge. This causes gravity to pull the drawer closed.

I don't mean to scare anyone away from doing this repair but it ended up being harder than I thought.

I found a recommendation to put the new gasket into the clothes dryer for 5 minutes to regain normal shape after shipping.

Worked like a charm and the plastic that slips into the groove was soft and easily slipped into place. It was harder to get out the old gasket than install the new one. Took less than 5 minutes once I cleaned all the crud off the bottom where stuff had been spilled over the years.

Paul