The ice maker in my Kenmore refrigerator stopped making ice about a year ago; I remember hearing some buzzing noises when I saw that it wasn’t working initially(doesn’t do so any more) and am now finally trying to take a shot at fixing it.
It will run/cycle with the wire shutoff arm down / in the “on” position, but it doesn’t appear to be triggering the water inlet valve to fill the tray with water.
I disconnected the supply line and made sure there was no blockage; then took the water inlet valve apart and checked to see if the filter was clogged (it wasn’t). I asked a friend at work who has a multimeter to test the ohms/resistance on the valve solenoid on the inlet valve to see if it went bad (tested at 160 ohms and could hear it working when I rigged it up in a 120V outlet to test it / did hear it click open). I then checked to see if there was blockage in between where the supply line feeds into the back of the freezer (there wasn’t).
I then reconnected the water inlet valve to the supply line and turned the water supply back on. As it is a modular unit, I took the cover off and inserted a jumper wire into holes “V” and “L” — I read someplace else it would power the valve — and the valve solenoid clicked open (as long as I had the jumper in) and water filled the tray. I took the jumper out after about five seconds and left the wire shutoff arm down (“on” / running) and the ejector blades kept rotating around.
When I went back to check on it (after about 20 minutes), they were still rotating but I noticed a strange slight burning smell; I put the arm in the up position to stop it, and then carefully put my hand underneath — right below the heating coil that heats the tray — it was very hot / had been on. I put the wire shutoff arm on the up / “off “ position and when I checked back a little bit later it had cooled back down.
I don’t know what to check or try next — remove the entire icemaker from the freezer and let it completely defrost? Buy a multimeter and try to test something else? Thanks in advance for any suggestions.