Ge WR17X10706 Dispenser Door Recess Crank OEM Part

My refrigerator is 13 yrs old and began to build up frost in the ice cube shoot and the water tube began to freeze up over night. The flapper door was not closing completely. I simply removed the control panel by pulling up and out on the bottom edge, the edge is only about 1/8 inch thick, so don't reach in to far. You should be able to feel a small division line between the control panel and the refrigerator. No screw driver was needed to expose the 4 mounting screws of the inner dispenser panel. Remove this inner panel to expose the solenoid and flapper assembly. The solenoid was rusted and not operational. It only took about 20 min to complete the repair. After removing the control panel and inner dispenser panel, First disconnect the solenoid wire connector from the back of the control panel. There is a small snap finger that may need to be lifted to release the electrical connector from the control panel. Now remove the solenoid from the freezer door by removing three screws. The two bottom screws must be taken out completely, the top screw needs only to be loosened. The top screw has a slot in the solenoid bracket. Now remove two screws which held the recess door crank assembly in place. This frees up the spring, door crank and flapper. Now replaced the new solenoid, then reassembled the door crank, flapper and recess spring outside of the refrigerator on a counter top. The flapper simply snaps onto the crack arm and remember to replace the spring at this time. Then I placed this assembly back into the refrigerator using two screws and the retaining clips. First you must rotate the crank arm into the slot provided in the actuator of the solenoid. Remember that the recess spring needs to be compressed during the installation of the door crank. This spring provides assistance to closing the flapper door. Make sure to use the two retaining clips with the screws to lock in the crank arm assembly. The crank arm and flapper should be free to rotate. Test by pulling out on the bottom of the flapper about 1/2 inch and then release. The flapper should snap close. Now you are ready to plug in the solenoid into the back of the control panel. At this point place a glass under the ice shoot and try the water and ice dispenser at this time. You should see the flapper door open and close . Now place the wires back into their correct location and replace the back portion of the control with the 4 screws. Now replace the control panel by placing the top edge in first then rotating in the bottom edge to re-seat the control panel into place. An easy repair to fix a very annoying problem. Thanks

After watching the video I was able to determine how to access the internal components. After that, I concluded my problem stemmed from the solenoid which was all rusty and corroded. It sure looked like it needed replacement. I ordered one along with a new door flapper, crank and spring. Again watched the video and installation was relatively easy. However after getting it all installed I tried manually operating the door flapper, and it would never close. I thought I had installed something wrong. So I disassembled everything and started over. Same result. The door just would not snap closed. It appeared the crank rod was binding in the little recessed groove. I was going to "modify" the crank rod, but decided to install the circuit board and door trim, plug it back in and give it a try. Guess what? It worked like a champ. I couldn't figure out why it would work with power, but not work manually without power. Then I remembered reading somewhere on here about a 5 second delay before the door snaps shut. Obviously that was it. It needs power to operate correctly. Oh, one more thing. The water line. I disconnected it at the coupling down at the bottom on the outside of the door (remove the grill plate - 2 screws) and pushed the paddle and water flowed. So, that indicated it was just a frozen line somewhere in the freezer door. Probably caused from the cold air leaking out around the flapper. Unplugged unit and let it unthaw overnight. Next morning, water again. All fixed. Turned out I didn't need a new flapper, crank, or spring. Just the solenoid. The old ones cleaned up nice. Now I have a few spare parts for next time. An assistant with a good flashlight helps too. ; >)

Ice was constantly getting caught in the disk-shaped ice door assembly. This would cause ice to pile up behind the door. Sometimes it would drop a huge amount of ice when the logjam cleared. Sometimes it would just get completed packed and have to be cleared manually. The exact cause was a mystery at first. The solenoid was working and the ice door was opening, remaining open for a few seconds, and the closing when the ice dispenser button was pressed, as it should. However, ice was still getting caught when the door closed about 70% of the time. Closer inspection revealed that the rubber that makes up the outer portion of the disk-shaped ice door was warped. This had initially unnoticed effects. First, because the door was warped, the opening through which the ice fell wasn't wide enough, causing ice cubes to get caught and jamming the door in a partially open position. Second, we were never getting a good seal. Warm air was always getting into the freezer through the ice dispenser door, resulting in excessive frost. This extra frost collected mostly around the ice maker, which compounded the first problem since ice built up inside the chute that the ice cubes fall through to be dispensed. I knew that the warping of the rubber on the little door as a big factor. The dispenser door recess crank also looked warped and the plastic was worn down where it links to the ice dispenser solenoid. I also thought the door recess spring might have lost some of its springiness over time, resulting in less force pushing the ice door closed. Finally, I noticed that the linkage between the solenoid and the dispenser door recess crank was rusty and worn. Replacing the door might have been enough. The refrigerator is very old though so I decided to just proactively replace the solenoid, spring, and dispenser door recess crank in addition to the door. Shipping isn't free and I didn't want to order parts one at a time. More importantly, my wife did not want to continue suffering with the problem while I replaced the parts one by one. This is a key consideration in any repair. The parts are all easy to replace so I only have 4 tips: 1. Be sure to turn off the power or unplug the appliance. There's line voltage running to the control panel that you have to remove to get to these parts. You can get a shock if you try this repair without cutting power. You can also short out something on that control panel, resulting in needing to buy another part. 2. Be careful with the wires going to the control panel. They plug in with locking connectors and that plastic gets brittle. Be gentle unplugging them. 3. Note the path that the wires take through the other parts before unplugging them from the control board. You have to feed them through the same way or they'll get crushed or cut when you reassemble everything. 4. If you're new to DIY repairs and are afraid of taking the fridge apart and having trouble getting it back together then take cell phone pics at every step of disassembly. Then you don't have to worry about remembering where things go.

When diagnosing the problem, I discovered that the ice door was not properly sealing and that the solenoid had appeared to rust/corrode forcing the door open. I replaced most of the ice dispenser internals (solenoid, crank, door, and spring) following the video. The door will now open when dispensing ice (which it does!), and will oddly stay open for a few seconds once I am finished, but does seal properly and the chute/container no longer frosts over.

I didn't bother to determine which part was at issue so I bought everything that could be a problem (solenoid, ice door, spring, and door recess crank) since the total cost was only about $40. As I took everything apart, I'm glad I ordered all pieces as solenoid was corroded and everything else was showing signs of wear along with mold build-up. The replacement was simple as all that was required was philips screwdriver. Online instructions were great. The only thing I would add to online instructions would be to let people know that there is a delay on the closing of the ice door (5 seconds). At first, I thought door was still getting stuck open but after reviewing install manual of fridge, I found where it mentioned the 5 second delay.