HowToRepairGuide.com: GE Side by Side Refrigerator will not dispense ice?

The first thing you need to determine is if the problem is electrical or mechanical. To do this press the button to get ice, if you hear a noise and the ice dispenser doesn’t work the problem is mechanical and if you don’t hear any noise the problem is electrical. If you determine the problem is electrical .

ELECTRICAL PROBLEM

If you didn’t hear a noise when you push the button to get ice, the problem is electrical.

DISPENSER BOARD

The dispenser board is the most likely problem but it can be hard to check, so you need to eliminate everything else first. If the flap opens when you push the button to get ice but none of the other mechanical parts move it can be a loose connection at the door hinge or in the auger motor housing. First, take the cover off the freezer hinge and make sure the wires are plugged in good. Now check to see if your problem is fixed. If not take the auger housing (the housing that holds the auger motor in place behind the ice bin) and check to see if the all the plugs are in good. If all the connections are good, replace the dispenser board.

If the flap doesn’t move when you press the switch to get ice, then it may be the micro switch. Take the cover off the front of the dispenser then remove the dispenser control. Now you should be able to see the switch unplug refrigerator and remove wires from switch. Using your ohmmeter , check the switch and you should have continuity between the terminals that are marked C and NC when you depress the switch. If you don’t have continuity, replace the switch and if you do, replace the dispenser board. Dispenser boards can be found at AppliancePartsPros.com.

MAIN BOARD

If you have a GE refrigerator made after the year 2000 and you don’t hear anything when you press the switch to get ice the problem is most likely the main board (the main board is located behind the refrigerator). If this is your problem when you press the switch the refrigerator will cut off, (everything compressor, fans and all). If this happens, replace the main board. GE refrigerator main boards can be found atAppliancePartsPros.com.

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Look in the ice chute and see if ice is getting hung in there. If so the problem is in the ice chute (freezer door).

ICE CHUTE

If there is ice building up around the ice chute (the hole that the ice dispenses through) then something is wrong with the ice flapper (the flap that closes the ice chute). First look to see if it is closed all the way. If not take the ice bin out. Now push the switch to get ice and watch to see what the flap is doing. If it opens and closes but not all the way, look to see if anything is blocking it.

If not, it’s the flap, the spring, the crank, or the solenoid (the device that opens the flap). Now you need to remove the front cover off the dispenser (on most refrigerators it just snaps off). Then remove four screws behind the cover and remove the dispenser control. Once off you should see the flap. Inspect the spring to see if it is broke or out of place, if so, replace it. Then see if the crank (the part that the flap is attached to) is broke, if so, replace it. Now look at the flap to see if the edges are rolled over or is broken, if so, replace it.

Now for the solenoid, sometimes it gets rusty and won’t close all the way. Sometimes it overheats and welds itself open, if this happens it won’t open or close. In any case, if it doesn’t open or close properly replace it.

If your solenoid is rusty and you have a GE refrigerator with serial number starting with AA2 through DZ2, the doors on the refrigerator (fresh food doors and freezer doors) need to be replaced. Up until March 2008, GE was replacing the doors free of charge. These parts can be found atAppliancePartsPros.com.

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If the problem is not the ice chute and not electrical, the problem is either in the auger motor housing or the ice dispenser bucket. To determine this, first remove the ice dispenser bucket, select cubed ice, open the freezer door, press the door switch and press the button to get ice. What should happen is the solenoid should lift up and the auger motor (the fork at the back center) should turn. If the auger motor doesn’t turn but the solenoid lifts up the auger motor is frozen or bad. Try to thaw out it by removing it and blowing it with a hair dryer. Note that if you have a new electronic GE refrigerator with serial number starting with AA2 through DZ2 this will probably happen again. Unfortunately they had a lot of problems with the doors on these refrigerators letting too much moisture pass through them. This causes the auger motor to freeze up. If everything in the auger housing works properly the problem is in the ice dispenser bucket .

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On these ice dispensers there are two things that causes the ice not to dispense, the auger and the crusher cover. It is easy to determine which one it is just by dumping all the ice and look. You should be able to see which one is broken.

In this section of ice dispenser repair guide I will show you how to disassemble the new style ice dispenser bucket so that you can replace the crusher cover and the auger or any other part you need to replace.

Crusher Cover

If the crusher cover is broken follow these steps to replace it.

1. Remove the front cover off the ice dispenser bucket by removing the two screws on the bottom front.

2. Remove the screw at the top of the crusher inside the bucket.

3. Using two screwdrivers prize up on the crusher separating the crusher from the ice bucket.

4. Once the crusher is up out of the ice bucket about an inch, pull up on the metal lever so that it will clear the flapper allowing the crusher to lift up and out.

5. Once the crusher is out of the ice bucket, the crusher cover will slide up and over the auger.

Auger

Continue if you are replacing your auger.

6. Using a screwdriver, remove the e-clip from the front of the crusher.

7. Pull the auger and crusher blades out of the crusher housing.

8. Unscrew the white plastic nut off the front of the auger. Note that this nut is left-hand thread.

9. Remove the washers and the blades and place them on the table in the order in which you removed them. So that when you reinstall them you know what order they go in. I like to lay them on the table with the side that was facing out up. This way I not only know what order they go in, I know what way they face.

Accessing Dispenser Door Parts On A GE Side-by-Side

Disconnect power to the refrigerator. Then use a flat screwdriver to prize the dispenser board off. Then unplug the dispenser board

Once the dispenser board is off remove the four screws that hold the housing on.

Then you should be able to access the flap and the solenoid.

Ice Dispenser Repair For Old Style GE Refrigerators

On these old style dispensers just about the only thing that would break was the helixes (round clear plastic drums). Note that some of these ice dispensers have two of these parts and some have one but if you replace them you will have to replace it with one and you will have to replace the auger as well. All the parts necessary to do this come in a kit that you will receive if you order the helix. If this part breaks the auger will turn but the helix will not. Thus, the ice will not move from the ice bucket to the crusher. In this section of ice dispenser repair guide I will show you how to disassemble the old style ice dispenser bucket so that you can replace the helix or any other part needed.

1. Remove the front cover off the front of the ice dispenser bucket.

2. Remove the clip off the front of the crusher housing.

3. Remove the crusher housing leaving the blades and the auger behind.

4. Remove the nut off the end of the auger.

5. Remove the washers and the blades and place them on the table in the order in which you removed them. So that when you reinstall them you know what order they go in. I like to lay them on the table with the side that was facing out up. This way I not only know what order they go in, I know what way they face.