Water not being frozen in the icemaker mold

General
1

Please make sure to click on General above and select the correct appliance type first.

Brand: KitchenAid
Model Number: KRFF707ESSO1
Main Symptom: No Ice being formed in the icemaker mold
What happens & when: No ice being formed with water in the mold.

Error Code (if any): Test 56 reports EO which is no errors
Parts or tests already tried: Icemaker and all three valves were replaced, and it is getting water in the icemaker mold when I run test 45. You can open the assembly door and feel the water in the icemaker mold. When I run service test 36 I can feel the ice box fan blowing cold air. Test 58 tells me, with the heater off or on, that the temperature is warmer than the harvest temperature. Evaporator fan motor assembly W11033168 has been replaced for another problem also. Just in case this might be related, all 4 of the lights on the 2 sides of the fridge are not working. All the lights in the top are working. Again, thanks for any suggestions or circuits to check.
Photos / video link:

2

Hi. Since the lights are not working, I would first check the control board to make sure it isn’t failing. There is a service bulletin for this refrigerator regarding a control board failure that can cause the interior lights to stop working, which could also explain the other issues you’re experiencing.

Update: There is a service bulletin covering this issue. Please check all wiring connections and the door switches first. If the refrigerator lights start working after rebooting (power cycling) the unit, the control board should be replaced.

Technical Service Pointer: W11218221
Release Date: January 2018
Action Required: Mandatory
Replacement Control Board Part Number: W10830288KRFF507EBL01 WRF757SDEE01 WRX986SIHV00 KRFF507ESS01 WRF757SDEH01 WRX986SIHZ00 KRFF507EWH01 WRF757SDEM01 WRX988SIBM03 KRFF507HBS00 WRF767SDEM01 JFX2897DRM02 KRFF707ESS01 WRF767SDHV00 JFX2897DRP02 MFT2776FEZ00 MFX2676FRZ00

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Thank you, Jose. The lights do not come on after unplugging the fridge for 30 minutes or more. it was unplugged that long when replacing the fridge evaporator cooling fan motor. If it helps with the diagnostic, the ice maker does not fill with water unless I run test 45. I had the icemaker out when replacing the motor and it never refilled until I ran test 45 and the fan motor in the icemaker only runs under test 36. I didn’t know if the evaporator cooling fan motor in the freezer would control the ice maker components somehow or would the commands come from the board or if there is another component involved. Thanks for any help or tests that I can run, Skip

4

Based on everything you’ve tested, I don’t believe the freezer evaporator fan is causing this issue. The evaporator fan doesn’t directly control the ice maker. Instead, the main control board is responsible for telling the ice maker when to harvest, when to fill with water, and when to turn on the ice box fan.

The reason your ice maker isn’t filling automatically is because the refrigerator isn’t seeing the correct temperature from the ice maker compartment. In Service Test 58, the control is reading the compartment as being warmer than the temperature needed to start a harvest cycle. Since the control thinks the ice hasn’t frozen yet, it won’t allow the harvest cycle to begin, which also means it won’t refill the ice maker with water.

That’s why Service Test 45 works. That test bypasses the normal operating logic and directly energizes the water valve, so the ice maker fills only when you manually command it to.

The same thing applies to the ice box fan. Under normal operation, the control board only turns that fan on when all of the required conditions are met, including the correct temperature reading from the ice maker compartment. Since the control isn’t receiving that temperature correctly, it keeps the fan off. Service Test 36 bypasses those conditions and simply confirms the fan motor itself is working.

Since you’ve already replaced the ice maker, the water valve, and the evaporator fan, my next recommendation would be to inspect the left door hinge wiring harness. This is a very common failure on these KitchenAid French-door models because the wires flex every time the door is opened and closed. Over time, one of the wires can break inside the insulation without any visible damage.

I recommend unplugging the refrigerator, removing the cover at the top left door hinge, and inspecting the wiring harness. Disconnect the connector and gently pull on each individual wire. If one of the wires has broken internally, it will often stretch or pull right out of the connector. A broken thermistor or fan wire would prevent the control board from receiving the correct signal and would keep the ice maker from operating automatically.

If the wiring checks out and there are no broken wires, the next step would be to perform voltage and continuity checks at the main control board. If those tests pass and Service Test 58 still reports an incorrect temperature, then the main control board would be the most likely cause.

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Where can I find these tests? I am having similar issues of water not filling the ice maker.

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Remove the hinge cover at the top of the right refrigerator door. The paperwork should be beneath the cover. If it is not, you can do a search for the control board troubleshooting and component specifications for your model and print a copy or maybe Jose can attach a copy to this thread if he is still responding to it. BTW Jose, the wires and plug seem good at the door hinge. I am waiting on the board and the freezer evaporator fan to arrive. Going to replace both and see where that leads me. Thanks

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tech-sheet-W10832298-RevA.pdf (4.1 MB)

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Hi Jose. Thanks for the PDF for the other person on this thread. I replaced the board and that did not fix the issue. I then replaced the freezer evaporator fan motor assembly and we have ice!

So far, I have replaced all 3 water vales, the icemaker, both evaporator fan motor controls and 1 computer board, plus I got to de-ice behind the panels in the fridge and freezer (huge chunks). This fixed all three issues I was having: No ice and fridge and freezer not cold enough.

We still don’t have a light in the freezer but there is power getting to it. The light is very faint. I was going to swap with another working light, but the pigtail was tucked so far into the freezer that I could not access it.

I still do not have the 4 lights on the side of the refrigerator, but I do have them on the top panels.

My next and hopefully my last problem is, the ice dispenser on the door is not working. It makes a noise when handle depressed, but the motor is not turning so the ice in the bucket is not being forced into the grinder. Any suggestions on where to start looking? Thanks

9

Hi. sounds like the auger motor may not be working. The auger motor is what helps push the ice through the dispenser. If you hear a humming sound but the ice isn’t dispensing, it’s most likely that the auger motor has failed and may need to be replaced.