The Whirlpool modular ice maker is the most commonly used ice maker in refrigerators today. You’ll even find these ice makers in non-Whirlpool refrigerators. If you’re a professional appliantologist, this is the ice maker you’ll most frequently encounter on service calls.
When you’re troubleshooting these ice makers for a no ice complaint, the first thing you need to know is the freezer temperature. There’s a thermostat built into the ice maker that will shut it off if the freezer temperature is above 17F. And unless you have a calibrated palm, you can’t tell the difference between 15F and 20F by feel so you have be able to get an accurate temperature shoot. I like using an infrared temperature gun; my personal favorite and the one I’ve used joyfully for years is the Raytek MT6 Non-contact MiniTemp Infrared Thermometer
Okay, if freezer temperature is good, then you focus on the Big Three Causes for No Ice in a Whirlpool Modular Ice Maker™:
– bad water inlet solenoid valve
– plugged ice maker fill tube
– bad ice maker control module
The easiest way to check all three at once is to run a manual harvest cycle on the ice maker. This video shows how to do that:
If the ice maker won’t start the harvest, it’s a dead ice maker or bad control module; doesn’t matter which, either way, just replace the whole ice maker. I used to mess around with replacing just the control module but for just a few bucks more, you can replace the entire ice maker and it’s a more reliable repair. Here’s the replacement ice maker kit I used to fix this problem ==> http://www.repairclinic.com/PartDetail/Ice-Maker-Assembly/4317943/1857
If the ice maker does the harvest but no water enters the mold at the end of the cycle, then either the fill tube is plugged or the water inlet valve is bad. This video shows how to test the water inlet valve:
This flowchart summarizes the troubleshooting algorithm for these modular ice maker units:
You can buy the replacement water inlet valve for any brand or model of refrigerator here ==> http://www.repairclinic.com/Refrigerator-Valve-Float-Parts
You can find whatever appliance part you need through the parts search box at Fixitnow.com. No harm in buying and trying with our 365-day, no-hassle return policy, even on electrical parts that were installed!
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