Successfully removed the micro door, ordered and recieved the RH spring and now I'm stuck. Micro / Oven is installed next to a wall and I cannot feed the RH spring into the hinge on the right side because the wall is in the way. Can I slide the microwave out to get a better angle at threading the spring into place?

I should have taken a video of this.
This is the second time the spring broke. It lasted about 3 years.
I replaced the right spring (number 4452396 RH SS models)
Th unit is a Kitchen Aid kbmc140hss03 free standing SS Microwave Convection combination oven.
Very simple Took me 20 Minutes to do.
Here are the steps to replace either spring.

1. Open the door. On the right and left side of the oven there are side trim pieces with retaining screws located 3/4 of the way down exposed when the door is open. Remove them push the trim down and pull out from the bottom.

2. Keep the door open and undo, 2 screws that hold the front door. [top portion of the door from inside.] Hold on to the door by the handle and pull it up and out. Caution if you don't hold it will fall to the floor.[pic 1 from evo]

3. Now remove the Vent from the bottom by removing the mounting screws on either side.

4. Once the skin and side trims are removed, it will expose a plastic shell. Raise the reaming door shell, but don't latch it. On the bottom of the door there are 2 U shaped clips, do not remove them. Locate the 2 screws that hold the plastic shell and remove them. Look up from below. [pic 7 from evo).

5. With the plastic shell removed, the torsion spring(s) are exposed can be replaced. If it is the right spring start threading it in on the right side first. Look at the left spring to see how it is installed The Left spring would be done oppositely.
I added the aluminum tape for safety shown in evo's last picture.

6. Reverse steps 50 to 1.
Your Done.

The Kitchen Aid Factory service tech said it would be $345 to replace the Right and Left springs. Only the right one was broken. He said they only came in a pair.
I told my wife to throw him out of the house. He then came back and said he could knock $50 off. I told her again to throw him out of the house.
Of course he wanted $95 to tell us that the spring was broken, And of course we told them that the right spring was broken when we made the service call. Long story short he got $0.
Got the spring on amazon and had it in 2 days.

Whirlpool 4452396 Microwave Door Torsion Spring

http://www.amazon.com/gp/produc...00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

$27.53 + Tax Delivered

Thanks for explaining steps and the pictures.
Mine is Kitchenaid Superba microwave on top and oven on the bottom.
Model number KEMS378GSS2.
The torsion springs are 4452398 for both left and right ones.

One suggestion for others: while you replace the springs, which is the most challenging, I removed the microwave glass window so that I can use 2 pliers without the fear of breaking the glass. Just remove the top aluminum tape, and the glass will slide upwards easily.

Your two springs should be fastened together with a tie wrap because when they break, they almost always break the outer door's assy glass, which is more than $200 dollars to replace. I followed your instructions and successfully replaced both of my visitation springs. I would like to identify a serious safety issue with the door.

Replaced both torsion springs and still the door falls open. Stainless Steel Model.


I ordered the two correct torsion springs (WP4452396 and WP4452395) for the SS model of my KBHC109JSS03 microwave. The RH side, blue tipped part is noticeably beefier than the LH side. The springs that were in the microwave had been replaced with the wrong ones by the previous owner (yellow tip) and they were not properly supporting the door. I though I had the obvious fix by using the right part numbers, but I was wrong.

After replacing BOTH springs with the right parts, the door still falls (albeit a little slower than a freefall) but still basically falls to the point that it feels like it isn't supported at all. Without the front panel on it has a lot of resistance to opening/falling, it seems like the SS front plate is just too much. I have seen a lot of forum posts claiming the same issue after replacing springs and some suggested using the "medium" strength spring from another model, in place of the LH spring. Does anybody know about this potential fix?

Is there a beefier RH spring or even a beefier LH spring that can support this heavy SS door? Using legit Whirlpool parts didn't seem to be the fix I had hoped for.

For the time being, I actually took the weaker spring and cranked it around clockwise with a vice and a beefy wrench, to get some pre applied torque on that spring. It basically did get the door to open slower when I rotated the spring hook side ~250 degrees and then installed it (that was not very fun to install) but I'm afraid now that I will be over stressing this spring and just waiting for a failure. I taped everything and used zip ties to hopefully avoid the glass breaking when the spring breaks in the future.

Any advice on this old microwave? Its funny to watch my family open it now and freak out when it doesn't just instantly fall with full weight. We used it this way for over 5 years since we moved in! Old habits are hard to break.