Customer Questions and Answers for Refrigerator Air Damper Assembly by Whirlpool

It's always recommended to unplug the unit before starting as there is no way to guarentee that you won't encounter voltage in the process of a repair. Look in the fresh food compartment at the top left hand side. There is a cover that is held on by a single 1/4 hex headed screw. Remove this screw and cover. You will find another screw behind where this cover was. Remove it also. Open the freezer compartment and remove the cover in the uppermost right hand side. Under this cover, there is a small rectangular hole with a tab hooked into each of the four corners. You have to press these corner tabs towards the center of the hole at the same time to release the damper assembly. It will drop towards the fresh food compartment. Be gentle and don't push it all the way through. This model has an escutcheon, (control panel display) that has to be removed with a butter knife. You can use a screwdriver but the chances are high that you will damage it cosmetically. If you slip the butter knife into the slot at the top of the control display, after the removal of the knobs, and slide it across to the other side, this will release it and you can set it aside. There are two screws that were hidden behind this display panel, (1/4 inch hex). (Hint: When reinstalling, I never tighten these two all the way to ease the reinstallation of the display panel). Remove these two screws and look straight up behind the control area, (fresh food ceiling). There are two more 1/4 inch hex headed screws there. Leave one screw part way in for now. Now there are two types of controls here. One has wires going to the damper control and the other has a linkage. Carefully reach back and pull the rear part, (damper assembly), out and hold it. There is a very delicate plastic part that the linkage goes into that will break if you allow this assembly to hang down if it has the linkage type control. Remove the screw that you had left in and lower the assembly, (front and rear), simultaneously to prevent stressing the damper linkage. Unplug the harness from the ceiling and lower the unit to gain access to the inside of the control box. Remove the two screws that secure the board to the control box. Now, one at a time, remove a wire and place it on the new board. Remove the next, and so on. once the wires are on, reinstall the two screws that secure it to the control box and you're ready to begin the reinstallation process. This is where most people will break the linkage if so equipped, so be very careful! I usually find a Tupperware container or something else with a large top to set the damper assembly on while I plug in the harness and get a couple of screws started. Once the control assembly is held up by a couple of screws, you can reinsert the four prongs back into the rectangular opening. The rest is simply reinstalling covers and screws. Don't forget the covers in the freezer compartment. At the end of this repair, you have to reinstall the escutcheon, (control panel display). This can be tricky, but there are tabs that fit slots. Get them started and it should go in. Sure hope this wasn't too confusing.