Whirlpool W10247725 Water Inlet Valve OEM Part

I WENT ONLINE AND TRIED TO DIAGNOSE THE PROBLEM AND ORDERED A DEFROST THERMOMETER, BEFORE IT ARRIVED I CALLED THE SERVICE/ADVICE NUMBER. SHOULD HAVE DONE THIS FIRST, SPOKE WITH BRITTANY AND KEITH ON SEPARATE OCCASIONS, THEY THOUGHT IT WAS A WATER INLET VALVE, I ORDERED ONE, AND WITH KEITHS HELP I INSTALLED IT WITH HIM ON THE PHONE. DURING THE CALL I TEXTED HIM PHOTOS OF THE ISSUE AND HE WALKED ME THROUGH THE REPAIR. THE REFRIGERATOR IS WORKING PERFECTLY AND IT HAS BEEN THREE WEEKS. THEIR SUPPORT AND ADVICE ARE WHAT MAKE APPLIANCE PARTS PROS A FIVE-STAR COMPANY. THIS IS MY SECOND TIME ORDERING FROM THEM AND THE STANDARD OF SERVICE IS THE SAME, CONSISTENTLY THE BEST. I CALLED MY LOCAL APPLIANCE/SERVICE COMPANY, WHICH I BOUGHT THE FRIDGE FROM THEY COULDN'T COME FOR 2 WEEKS, IT WAS $185. FOR A DIAGNOSTIC APPOINTMENT NOT A REPAIR. THEY SUGGESTED I BUY A NEW FRIDGE. SO I LOOKED AT REPLACING MY FRIDGE FOR ABOUT A SECOND, BUT MY FRIDGE IS A CUSTOM PANELED KITCHEN AID TO MATCH ALL MY CABINETRY AND ITS BEAUTIFUL AND TO REPLACE IT TODAY IS ALMOST $9000. THAT WAS A DEAL BREAKER, ITS OLD FOR SURE BUT IT'S PERFECT OTHERWISE. I CAN'T SPEAK FOR OTHER PEOPLE BUT I WAS WILLING TO TRY AND REPAIR THE FRIDGE WITH THEIR HELP, THE REPAIR COST CAME IN AT $135.00 I DID IT MYSELF, WITH NO SPECIAL TOOLS JUST WATCHED THE VIDEO KEITH SENT ME TO WATCH AND WITH A CALL TO HIM DURING THE PROCESS IT WAS DONE WITHIN 45MINUTES, NOT BECAUSE IT WAS COMPLICATED BUT BECAUSE THE FRIDGE IS SO HEAVY I NEEDED TWO PEOPLE TO PULL IT OUT. I RETURNED THE DEFROST THERMOMETER TODAY AND COULDN'T BE HAPPIER WITH THEIR PARTS AND SERVICE. BEST ADVICE: ALWAYS CALL THEM FIRST, SEND A PICTURE, THEY WILL TELL YOU EXACTLY WHAT YOU NEED! IT MAY TAKE A FEW CALLS TO NARROW DOWN THE PROBLEM BUT IT IS WORTH EVERY PENNY. FYI: I AM A 58-YEAR-OLD MOM WITH NO REPAIR SKILLS, IF I CAN DO IT YOU CAN TOO. THANKS SO MUCH APPLIANCEPARTSPROS,COM YOU ARE THE BEST!!!!!

I called my warranty company and they sent over a tech from Sears. Diagnosed the issue as a faulty Water Inlet Valve and possibly a Filter Housing issue. So they wanted over $500 to replace just the valve - which the warranty company denied anyway, stating that the valve isn't covered (hmm, I intend on fighting this). So I took to the internet and found a video guide here on how to replace the valve. It seemed pretty easy enough, and being an avid DIY guy, I decided to order the part and give it a shot myself. Long story short and about $300 savings later, I've replaced the faulty valve and my refrigerator is running fine again. The instructions that came in the box were straight-to-the-point and very easy to follow.

Installation was a breeze. New valve is relocated inward with the supplied bracket. Be sure to route the ice maker and water dispenser lines properly to avoid the refrigerant lines. On a scale of 1-5 for difficulty, I rank the project overall a 3, including diagnosis. Installation itself was a 1-2.

After thawing the line out several times, I finally noticed that there was a small continuous drip from the inlet. This led me to believe that the inlet valve was not fully closing likely to due to hard water buildup in the valve. The refrigerator is only 5 years old but old enough to suspect fouling in my area. Anyway, installed new valve and although the line did freeze again I suspected it was just working out the air after install. I again dethawed and for at least one day seems to be working ok. I did go ahead and purchase a whole new ice maker as it can not hurt and only costs $100+/-. With receipt of that part I should have a complete new ice maker system for less than $160. Not bad and the repairs were super easy. Thanks for a prior comment on this part as it did help. One final note. Although my existing inlet valve also used the push in connectors, when I installed new, I was fearful of pushing in one of the water lines too hard. It kept leaking but after a few minutes of examining and cleaning off the line, I pushed hard and there was a noticeable catch. No more leaks. Advice, give the line a hard push in with at least 20-30 lbs of force. Not sure correct but guessing that much. Again no more leaks after that.

Remove icemaker assembly,disconnect tube from valve on back of fridge, pull tube from inside of freezer to expose connection of rubber to plastic tubing, cutoff black rubber from end of split filler tube inside of freezer, tape with electric tape new plastic tube to old tube, pull old plastic from back of fridge until entire new tube was through to back of fridge, connect new tube to valve, done.