HELP: GE Side by Side

Refrigerator & Freezer Repair
1

We recently bought this side by side from a family member who used it for about 2 years and had it in storage since.

Issues:

  1. Fridge does not seem to be as cold as it should regardless of turning up the dial.
  2. Freezer makes ice but will not dispense, crush, or dispense water.
  3. I don’t hear the fan kick on.
  4. I also saw that on the mother board J1 from Pin 5 to either 2, 3, 4, should read 16.3K ohms, however they all read about 35K, I did leave the connector connected to check, as I didn’t want to disconnect as of yet.

We initially thought it to be the solenoid in the freezer door, however if I activate the ice flap manually it will stay up and once the dispenser trigger is disengaged then the flap will close. I thought this would also have something to do with the continuity going to the auger, but does not seem to.

So far what I have read, it seems to be a motherboard issue, but wanted to check with the pro’s on this site.

PLEASE HELP!!!

3

Measure the freezer and fridg temperatures and post.

4

I will after I change the mother board. I saw there was somewhat of a recall during the first 5 years the unit was offered, at least that is what the "GE Consumer Advocate" told me, so I was able to get the mother board at a cheaper price.

5

If the evaporator fan motor is bad, it will blow out the driver in the motherboard as soon as you plug it in.

6

Would you happen to know how to check the evaporator fan motor?

7

There is no reliable test for the motor, but you can test the voltage to it. Red to white wire should be 13 volts, white to yellow wire must be less, typically 6 volts. If any voltage is missing, you have a bad board. If you turn the motor shaft and it feals rough, you have a bad motor.

8

I was vacuuming out the evaporator yesterday and spun the fan a few times to clean it and it felt fine, if I spin it it would not continuously spin as there is a little resistance but I think that is normal, but there does not seem to be any bearing issue, if that makes sense.

9

If your fridg section is not getting cold, you have a bad evaporator motor and motherboard, just replace both.

10

Rich,
Here is the latest update. When I got home yesterday the new motherboard was waiting for me. After replacing all functions seems to be working. The light was brighter on the door, water started dispensing, so I left it overnight and checked this morning and there are two issues.

  1. No water dispensing, but I think this is because the freezer is empty and was set to 6, so might have froze the line.
  2. The freezer is freezing the "ice pops" as expected, however the fridge side is at room temperature. Prior to swapping the mother board the fridge was getting cold.

What I did notice on the replacement instructions from GE is states to CUT the wire in Pin 2 of J1, only for bottom freezers, which I did not because it is a side by side, just an FYI.

ANY HELP!!!

11

Check the instructions, you must clip the wire if your serial# prefix is in the instructions.
Your evaporator fan motor driver in the motherboard probably blew out if you failed to replace the evaporator motor also.

12

Thanks, ours start with SH, and that is not in the instructions, so I didn’t cut the wire.

Any way to test the evaporator motor?

13

Wife just called and stated there is a flap on the top left of the fridge she stated is closed. I presume this is the "air damper", and if so I believe this is probably not working, how can I troubleshoot that?

14

If your evaporator motor is running, but the damper is closed, you may have a bad fresh food thermister. You can allways jam the door open 1/4 of the way so your food won’t spoil.

15

— Begin quote from richappy;738308

If your evaporator motor is running, but the damper is closed, you may have a bad fresh food thermister. You can allways jam the door open 1/4 of the way so your food won’t spoil.

— End quote

Rich first off, thank you very much for all your input thus far.
Do you know what pins on J1 is the Fresh Food Thermister?
I believe Pin 5 and ? needs to be checked

Also would this cause the fridge itself not to cool?

16

You did not have this problem before. Make sure the J2 plug is plugged in correctly.