Refrigerator Door Repair Guide
In this refrigerator door repair guide I will walk you through repairing
refrigerator doors that will not close or seal properly. If your refrigerator
door is not closing or sealing properly it may cause the following
problems
· Refrigerator not cooling properly.
· Refrigerator running
continuously.
· Refrigerator leaking/sweating from door.
· Water
droplets inside the refrigerator.
· Excessive frost in freezer.
· Ice
around freezer door.
· Excessive ice around the evaporator coils blocking
airflow.
As you can see refrigerator door repair is very important,
luckily this refrigerator door repair guide can help. Follow this guide and your
refrigerator door will be repaired in no time. The very first thing you should
do is to make sure a food package isn’t hitting the door causing your problem.
Refrigerator Door Won’t Close
Top-Freezer
This section of this
refrigerator door repair guide will walk you through the steps in repairing
top-freezer doors that will not close properly. The most common thing that will
cause the door not to close properly is there is a spacer missing from the
bottom of the door. This spacer can break off and a lot of times movers and
installers will lose or leave off this spacer. This will cause the door to hit
the bottom of the door liner when closing. You may find that you have to lift
the door up to make it close and even then it won’t stay closed. To fix this,
simply remove the door and place a spacer under the door. Note that any plastic
spacer will work as long as it will go on the hinge pin and is not too thick. It
is best if you order the spacer by model number, you can do that at this website
AppliancePartsPros.com or enter your model number above. Never use a metal spacer
because this will cause wear on the door and it will eventually squeal when
closing.
If that is not your problem, the refrigerator door gasket may
be ripped or catching refer to the section at the bottom that talks about
refrigerator door gasket replacement. Refrigerator door gaskets can be found at
AppliancePartsPros.com.
Sometimes the door can get warped out of shape. If the door is
closing at the top and not at the bottom or vice versa the door may be warped
out of shape. You can fix this by twisting the door back into shape. Take your
foot and place it at the bottom and pull the door out at the top or place your
foot inside the door at the bottom and push at the top with your hand depending
on which way you need to twist the door. Note don’t over do it twist it a little
and if it isn’t enough twist it a little more. If it gets worse you may need to
twist the other way.
One other thing you may want to try is to adjust
the front legs of the refrigerator so that the refrigerator leans backward. This
will help the door swing closed. Note do not lean it back too, far just enough
so that the door will swing closed and also note that the more weight you have
in the door the faster the door will swing.
Side-by-Side
This section of this refrigerator
door repair guide will walk you though repairing a refrigerator door on a
side-by-side refrigerator.
On most side-by-side refrigerators there is a cam that lifts the door up when you open the door so that the door has a tendency to fall down and back into place while it is closing. If the refrigerator has a cam and it is working properly, the refrigerator door will rise up when you open it and lower when you close it. If this cam is broken the door will not close properly. A lot of refrigerators have two cams, one screwed on the door and one on the hinge. You may have to replace the entire hinge to replace the lower cam but the cam on the door can always be replaced. You will have to order the cam by model number and can do so on this website AppliancePartsPros.com.
On side-by-side refrigerators without cams there will be a spacer on
the door hinge. If this spacer is missing replace it. Note that any plastic
spacer will work as long as it will go on the hinge pin and is not too thick. It
is best if you order the spacer by model number. Never use a metal spacer
because this will cause wear on the door and it will eventually squeal when
closing.
As on top-freezers the door gasket may be ripped and if so
refer to the bottom section that talks about door gasket
replacement.
Sometimes the door can get warped out of shape. If the door
is closing at the top and not at the bottom or vice versa the door may be warped
out of shape. You can fix this by twisting the door back into shape. Take you
foot and place it at the bottom and pull the door out at the top or place your
foot inside the door at the bottom and push at the top with your hand depending
on which way you need to twist the door. Note don’t over do it twist it a little
and if it isn’t enough twist it a little more. If it gets worse you may need to
twist the other way.
Refrigerator Door Not
Sealing
This section of this refrigerator door repair will give you tips on replacing refrigerator door gaskets. If the door is not sealing properly it may be warped which I discuss above. The refrigerator door gasket may be ripped or it may just be too hard and will no longer seal properly. Refrigerator door gaskets can be found at AppliancePartsPros.com.
Follow these tip for replacing your door gasket.
1. Always soak the gasket in hot water for at least 10 minutes before
attempting to install it. I always let it soak while I take the old one off.
2. Remove the contents from the door to prevent the weight from warping
the door when the gasket is loose.
3. If the gasket is held on with
screws, do not fully remove the screws from the door just loosen them.
4. After the gasket is installed, take a heat gun or hair dryer and work
out any part of the gasket that is out of shape.
5. Once done apply a
thin film of Vaseline around the entire gasket. Note do not glob it on, just a
thin film. Also it would be wise to apply the Vaseline at least once a year.
I hope this helped you in your do-it-yourself refrigerator door repair.
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