Samsung DA97-00883E Refrigerator Ice Route Cover Assembly OEM Part

Unplug fridge. Use a Phillips head screwdriver to remove the single screw underneath the display. Also under the ledge you will see two slots - one on each side of the forward part of the ledge. Insert a flat-head screw driver and twist (either way) to release the plastic tabs. Once the tabs release you can pull the whole thing loose. Unplug the wiring connector and set the display face aside. Next TAKE A PICTURE OF WHAT YOU SEE WITH YOUR PHONE so you know how everything fits together. The white plastic tube is the water line, unclip it and move it out of the way. Next unclip the two wiring connections. They are different connectors so you can’t mix them up when you reconnect them. (You can plug them in backwards though, make sure to insert the clip side to the notch side.) You will see two Phillips head screws on top of the black plastic assembly. Remove (do not lose) the two screws and then you will see a couple black plastic tabs. Undo them and the whole assembly comes out. Go to a desk and bring a flat head screwdriver and some reading glasses if you are like me and can’t see small stuff anymore. The clear plastic piece is the ice funnel – you can take it off carefully to more easily access the flap. (Good time to clean this piece.) If you look carefully, you will see the two pivot points where the black plastic flap attaches to the larger plastic assembly. If you CAREFULLY pry the arms away from the hinge point you can remove the flap assembly. (This is what you are replacing.) Inserting the NEW flap and spring was the most time consuming and nerve-wracking part of the whole repair. The fit is pretty tight and you are worried about breaking the larger assembly, which probably costs as much money as a new fridge. (Maybe not.) Start by looking at the spring on the new flap. You will see a short piece of it sitting on the top of the flap. Lift it off the flap with your finger and you will see a corresponding notch in the large assembly – start by inserting the spring end into this notch. Now comes the tough part. You need to insert one side of the flap axel into its corresponding hole in the assembly and GENTLY use the screwdriver to bend the plastic a bit to insert the other side. Annoyingly the long black plastic protrusion has to end up in the white plastic containment piece. (It will make sense when you see it.) You know you will have inserted the flap correctly if it rotates smoothly but is held in the open position with the spring. The insertion process took me a good 45 minutes. Putting everything together is straightforward. Attach the clear ice chute to the large plastic assembly. (Don’t put it in backwards; note the notches that line up for the water line.) Be careful, relatively fragile small plastic tabs hold it in place. Insert it into the fridge (reference your phone picture) inserting the plastic locking tabs as much as you can, then insert the screws you didn’t lose to tighten. Reattach the two electronic cables, and reinsert the waterline again referencing your photo. Next grab the display, connect the last electronic connector. Insert the locking tabs into place in the fridge. Once it is in position a gentle “nudge” will lock it in place. Insert the last Phillips head screw on the bottom. DON’T FORGET TO PLUG IN THE FRIDGE! Good luck, it’s not that difficult of a job. Probably give yourself 90 minutes the first time, I could probably do the whole thing in 30 minutes now that I know the drill. Good luck!

The part was easy to order and relatively inexpensive. The ice dispenser chute cover / flap sits inside the door and creates a thermal barrier/seal between the internal ice box and dispenser and the exterior of the ice / water dispensing area. When the flap does not seal the chute the dispenser will ice up and not work; that's how I found out my flap was broken. The common issue seems to be that the flap is held closed by a spring that is mounted on a plastic "axle" that is part of the flap's structure. The plastic is not very strong, the axle is relatively thin and not reinforced, and is always under load. So, it can break and the replacement part is not built any differently or from different materials than the original. Unfortunately, I think the design is prone to breaking and expect this to happen again. The several procedural write-ups provide good guidance on what you need to do to access and replace the seal. The one thing I would highlight is that the short, straight leg on the spring that lies flat on the top soft part of the flap when it is not installed, MUST be secured in the cut-out groove that is located just above where the flap sits in the carrier. The flap will not work otherwise. The groove comes to an arrow-like point towards the flap and that's where the spring leg will sit. Get the spring fitted first before you work on seating the short axles on the sides of the flap. As mentioned elsewhere, you need to seat the long arm on the flap inside the white "cup" in the cover housing. I would install this side first after seating the spring. The arm sits in the large open area of the cup, which rotates when there is a call for ice. The smaller diameter ridge inside the cup will manipulate the arm to rotate the flap open, after which the cup will rotate again, release the arm and the spring will hold the flap closed. After you seat the long arm side, you may find that the other side is more easily seated if you slide the the short axle slightly below its seating location and then gently pry and work it upwards into the seat. Take your time and good luck.

Samsung RSG257AARS Replaced flapper door for ice route. This is how I did it. Wasn't too bad a project. Unplug refrigerator. Remove 1 small screw under display unit. Locate two slots at forward, lower corners of display and insert screwdriver into slots one at a time and twist 1/2 turn and pull outward. When bottom coroners are loose grab display and pull outward and upward to remove display unit. Disconnect connector and set display unit aside. The ice route unit is now exposed. Move water line out of the way. Remove two screws and unlatch two black snap latches and remove unit with door. Unplug connectors. Pry door pivot hinges apart a little bit and push down on door pivot shaft on one side to unsnap and then do the other side. Install new door with spring by winding the short leg of the spring from the top of door seal into the slot in ice route housing. Pry door pivot hole and shaft slightly apart and snap in place by pushing upwards. Door should now be spring loaded to the up or closed position. Reinstall ice route unit, water line and display panel.

I followed some of the other repair stories on appliancepartspros.com for replacing the ice route cover. It was very hard to get the part installed but I did find one trick - There are three items included on this part number, the spring, the black rubber pad with the white backing, and the black plastic arm that will swivel. The pad comes off of the black plastic arm - you can see the two clips on the back. Just push up towards the swivel and it will come off. WIth the pad removed it is much easier to slightly flex the part into a concave shape when you assemble it which gets you enough clearance to put the whole thing in. Once you have it installed, you can snap the pad back in place and re-assemble the fridge.

Had to pop ice dispenser cover off the front. Insert screw driver into slots from below and release two tabs and the covers supposed to come right off. Nope. It comes loose but won't pop out. Various sources say force it off. Hard to pry against stainless steel without scratching it and afraid to break a much more expensive part. So as an old experienced husband I wait for wife to get increasingly mad until she finally says "Go ahead and pry it off, if it breaks we'll just replace the whole part." So relieved of the burden of being the idiot that made the decision to break the part, I wrap a larger screw driver in electrical tape to protect the stainless and pry the cover off carefully. It pops off with a loud snap but nothing broke. Two more screws and disconnect the wires and it's out. Replacing part in the actual dispenser channel was a little tricky. You had to hold your mouth right while you lined everything up to get it to snap in. Went back together in 5 minutes after that. I should note that like an idiot, I never pulled out the refrigerator and unplugged it. I don't recommend this. But being an old married guy I don't fear death. Probably took about an hour total over three days. If I had to do it again it would take about 15 minutes.