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Joined: 5/24/2009(UTC)
Posts: 25
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Our Jenn-air 4-door stand-alone refrigerator (model JFX2597AEM, similar to some KitchenAid and Whirlpool models) has stopped making ice, somewhat coincident with changing the water filter. I say "somewhat coincident", because it seems like it stopped making ice slightly BEFORE I changed the water filter (the ice bin was almost empty at the time I changed the filter).
The filter change light/message had been lit for several weeks by the time I got around to doing it. (This model goes through a progression of saying "order filter", then one month later it says "replace filter", then three weeks or so after that it starts buzzing on every water use. I was getting the buzzer warnings.)
The other symptom is that the last bit of ice in the bin was very small cubes, which made me think that it was a water pressure issue of some kind, and therefore possibly related to the old filter being too restrictive. On the off chance that the replacement filter was somehow "bad" (although water dispensing seemed normal), I just removed it and put the "filter bypass cap" in place of the filter. I also tried unplugging the unit for about 10-15 minutes, but this didn't trigger ice production, either.
This refrigerator is only a year and a half old. It's a 4-door french-door type, and the ice-maker is inside of the left-hand refrigerator compartment (but not in the door itself).
Unlike our previous Whirlpool Gold side-by-side, I don't see any LED indicators, nor any manual on/off switches. This unit has a bar to sense ice-level in the bin, but to turn it on/off it is just a front touch-pad operation. The door-open disable is also via some general door-open switch, and not some sort of flap on the ice-maker itself.
Any tips as to what to try next? Is there a method for forcing an ice-making cycle? Also, if anyone knows of a source for the service manual, that would be great. I have the ice-maker service manual for my prior Whirlpool Gold unit, but I think this Jenn-air model is a bit too new to be covered by it.
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Rank: Member
Groups: Registered
Joined: 5/24/2009(UTC)
Posts: 25
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As an adder to my original post:
- my ice-maker unit is a Whirlpool assembly, W10377151
- instead of the gear on the front (under the cover), this unit is more sealed up, with a little plastic piece (with a yellow wire) that covers up and inserts into the H hole
- from my searching, I believe that I can force a harvest cycle by jumpering between the T and H ports (which means that the little plastic piece with the yellow wire must be removed first). Is that correct? (All of the trouble-shooting videos seem to use older units, but I am assuming that the test ports are still labeled the same....)
- There's no water in the ice-maker currently.
- My understanding of the test process will be to force a harvest. If it doesn't move or go through the cycle, then it's a bad ice-maker.
- if it does go through a cycle, then I need to watch at the end for water coming in. No water implies frozen water line/tube (although I've already tried thawing things out, with no luck), OR a bad water valve on the back (or some other water line blockage.
- If it cycles, and I DO get water, then something is preventing the automatic initiating of a cycle, possibly a bad thermostat - in this case I probably also just order a new ice-maker assembly.
I also believe that I can try to force a water fill by jumpering N and V together (and also, as a preliminary check, I should see 120Vac between L and N), right?
FWIW, my water dispensing is fine. As mentioned in my first post, I've already replaced the water filter with the "bypass cap", so I don't think I've got a low water-pressure issue.
One other thing is that I'm having trouble removing the side cover, over the ice-maker wiring harness connector. I stick a small bladed screwdriver into the little slot, and can seemingly release the tab. The middle and rear parts of the cover pull away from the side wall, but it still seems attached at the front (door opening end). Is there a trick to getting the front un-hooked, like sliding the cover in a particular way or direction? I'm leery of applying too much force, and breaking the part.
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Rank: Member
Groups: Registered
Joined: 5/24/2009(UTC)
Posts: 25
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Even though I never got any replies to my earlier posts, I thought I'd provide a summary of what fixed my problem. First, the title of my original post is misleading. Even though my icemaker stopped working almost at the same time as I replaced the water filter, the two things were completely unrelated. I didn't have water-supply issues. When I jumpered the H and T test ports on the old ice-maker, it would force a harvest, but without a water-fill at the end. However, jumpering the N and V ports together (which manually actuates the water valve) DID result in water coming into the ice-maker, ruling out a bad water valve, as well as a frozen or blocked water line. My conclusion was that the ice-maker unit itself was bad. Possibly the thermostat inside of it was the actual bad part (since the motor was still working), but buying just the thermostat is almost as much money as the whole ice-maker assembly (part number shown in the post above). The new ice-maker assembly showed up last week, and I installed the new ice-maker this Saturday, with everything now working fine. The video linked below was very helpful in showing the ice-maker replacement process, step by step. It would apply to recent french-door-type Whirlpool, KitchenAid, Jenn-Air, etc. units, which have the ice-maker inside of the upper-left refrigerator compartment, and perhaps to other fairly recent Whirlpool models of other configurations, as well. There are a ton of videos out there about replacing Whirlpool ice-makers, but not that many that specifically show this fairly-recent ice-maker part. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8sViu2zFnIIt is still a little strange that the "old" ice-maker failed already, on a refrigerator that is only about a year and half old. But the very low cost of the replacement unit tells me that these are viewed almost like a disposable element.....
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