Ice & Water Dispenser don't work (icemaker does and door light does)

Refrigerator & Freezer Repair
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1

The ice dispenser and water dispenser in our Whirlpool side-by-side freezer door does not do anything -nothing comes out and no noise when you depress the levers.

The indicators for type of ice and lock status do light up, and you can ‘lock’ and ‘unlock it’.

Model ED5FHAXVY03

Repair technician informed us that the wire powering the dispensers had broken at the bottom of the freezer door (where it connects to the body of the freezer.)

He said the wire had already broken and been repaired previously, and now it is too short to patch it. And that the door is molded together and you can’t take it apart to replace the wiring.

However they make a replacement freezer door wiring harness for this model:
http://www.appliancepartspros.com/whirlpool-harns-wire-w10193328-ap4421735.html#qa1

Since they make a replacement part, it seems like there must be SOME way to replace it.

I found another site where someone suggested that if you can see the wires where they come out at the dispenser, you can:

  1. disconnect existing wiring both at the dispenser and the bottom of the door
  2. secure a string to the end of the existing wire and pull it through the door to remove the old wiring
  3. once the string is in the door, secure it to one end of your new replacement wiring and pull that through the door
  4. once the new wire is in place, connect it to the dispenser and the connections at the bottom of the door

Does this sound feasible?

Or, is there any other method that might work better?

(I looked through the forum threads but did not find any discussion of how to replace this type of wiring – apologies if I missed something.)

thanks

3

It appears that it could have been assembled that way, but if there was a way to get at the wiring harness, it would have to be from the inner door panel most likely.
If you move the gasket aside, you can usually tell if there are assembly screws that hold the inner door panel to the door.
Yes, you could use a fish tape or wire to pull the new harness through to rewire it.

4

Thank you!

I ordered the Freezer door wire harness, which is number 4 on this diagram:

http://www.appliancepartspros.com/whirlpool-harns-wire-w10193328-ap4421735.html

We had another repair guy out today and he said that looks like the right part and he should be able to fish it through the door.

However he pointed out that there are actually 2 wire harnesses that run out to the freezer door, and suggested we consider replacing both of them. (They both get stressed whenever you open and close the door so seems like the other one is pretty likely to break also.)

I want to order the other wire harness but not sure which part it is.

I already have Whirlpool Part Number AP4421735
(number 4 on this diagram: http://www.appliancepartspros.com/freezer-door-parts-for-whirlpool-ed5fhaxvy03.html)

I think the one I still need might be Whirlpool Part Number AP4411035
which is number 32 on this diagram:
http://www.appliancepartspros.com/motor-ice-container-parts-for-whirlpool-ed5fhaxvy03.html

but hard to tell for sure because the diagram doesn’t show whether that wire runs out the bottom of the freezer door.

But this one is for the ice motor which is in the freezer door so it seems like a likely choice.

attached is a photo showing what the ends of the wire harness look like - i labeled the one I have confirmed is correct, and also put in the part number for the one I’m not sure about (with question marks)

Does that seem like the right thing to order?

thank you!