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Are you having problems with your Maytag or Whirlpool ice maker not working?
When repairing an ice maker, it’s important to know how ice maker works and how much ice it should be producing.
Ice maker generally dumps once every one or two hours.
An icemaker that dumps ice one per hour has strong production, where one that dumps every two hours is weaker, but still acceptable.
On average, an icemaker should make anywhere from 80 to 175 ice cubes within 24-hours.
If you just turned your fridge on, you should give it at least 24 to 48 hours to fill the ice bin completely. Though keep in mind that every fridge is different, and it can take longer.
top reasons why Whirlpool ice maker not working
At the very bottom of this article, we will show you the procedure on How To Test Ice Maker Components, but first, let start with possible issues which may cause these problems.
Freezer Temperature Goes UP
The temperature inside your freezer should be between 0 and -5 degrees Fahrenheit.
If the temperature goes above this, the ice maker will stop efficiently producing ice cubes.
If the freezer temperature is too high, try to lower it a bit.
Also check the condenser coils to ensure they are free of debris, and that the condenser fan is working.
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The other thing you’ll want to look for is frost on the evaporator coils.
If the coils for the evaporator are frosted, it’s likely that a component of the defrost system has failed.
Because ice maker depends 100% on the freezer temperature. If something wrong will go with the freezer, ice maker will not work.
To get the best temperature reading make sure the freezer door has been closed at least 30 minutes prior to checking.
Failed Water Inlet Valve
The water inlet valve is a valve that’s electronically controlled, and works to open thus allowing water into the dispenser and ice maker.
When the inlet valve becomes defective, or doesn’t have sufficient pressure, it stops allowing water to flow through.
This will result in your icemaker being unable to produce ice.
This valve requires a minimum of 20 psi to work correctly. So, first check that this is the amount of pressure going through the valve.
If you find the water pressure is normal, you’ll need to use a
Also, without powering valve up, you can check the resistance of the valve coils using a
If you find that the valve has good pressure and there’s power going to it, but your icemaker still isn’t working, replace the water inlet valve.
Faulty Icemaker Mold Thermostat
Another common reason a Whirlpool fridge will stop making ice is when the icemaker mold thermostat stops functioning.
The mold thermostat is important because it measures the temperature of the ice tray.
Upon the mold reaching the proper temperature, the icemaker ejected the cubes and refills the mold with water.
To check the thermostat you’ll need to use a
Here’s how to replace this part:
- Disconnect power to the unit
- Open the freezer door and remove the ice bin
- Reach in and lift on the shut off lever for the icemaker
- Locate the 2 mounting screws on the sidewall, don’t remove – just loosen
- Lift the icemaker off the mounting screws
- Disconnect the wiring harness from the icemaker
- Close the freezer door and place the icemaker on a suitable work surface
- Remove the front cover from the icemaker
- Disconnect the bail arm
- Remove the screws at the bottom of the icemaker head
- Remove the front of the icemaker head completely off – hold the eject lever in place as you do this
- The thermostat is now visible. Remove the thermostat and discard
- Replace the thermostat and begin reassembling the icemaker following these steps backward
Failed Icemaker Module
Whirlpool icemaker modules are equipped with a motor that cycles the ice ejector arms and turns the tray to dump ice cubes into the ice bin.
When the thermostat reaches 15 degrees Fahrenheit, the motor cycles to begin releasing the ice cubes.
Once this cycle is finished, the icemaker sends power to the water inlet valve to refill the mold tray with water.
When the icemaker module fails, the unit will not make or dispense any ice. The first things to check is that the on/off switch is in the correct position. You’ll also want to check the ejector blades (if they are present) for cubes jammed in them.
To replace the icemaker module, follow these steps:
- Disconnect the power
- Open the freezer door and remove the ice bin
- Remove or loosen the mounting screws that hold the icemaker in place
- Lift the icemaker off and remove the wiring harnesses attached to it
- Close the freezer door and move to a suitable work area
- Remove the front cover of the icemaker
- Remove the three screws holding the icemaker control module in place
- Remove the shut-off arm
- Pull the module off and discard
- Line up the D-shaped shaft and install the new icemaker control module
- Reassemble the unit moving backward
Faulty Ice Level Control Board
Another common reason Whirlpool fridge’s stop making ice is due to a faulty ice level control board. This part tells your fridge when the ice bin is full.
The best way to check this part is to use a multimeter and test for continuity. If you find no continuity, replace the part with these steps:
- Disconnect the power
- Open the freezer door and remove the two access panels on the side of the freezer
- Once the screws are out, you’ll be able to pull the access panel out and see the control board
- The control board is held on by a few screws, remove these
- Pull it out of the cover, and set the cover to the side
- Remove the wiring harness from the control board
- Move to the other access panel and remove the screws
- Follow the same steps to remove the second control board
- Replace both boards and reassemble
The kits available online contain both of these boards since they will both need to be changed at the same time.
How To Test Whirlpool Ice Maker not working?
If you will open front ice maker cover, you will find these test points indicated on the picture below.
Using these points you can check if internal components in fully working condition.
In order to test ice maker, you need a multimeter and isolated wire jumper.
ATTENTION
Some tests you need to perform under the voltage, so make sure you follow all precautions to protect yourself from electric shock.
With POWER ON :
To test if ice maker getting 120V AC power, using multimeter test between L and N
Note: some models of a Whirlpool refrigerator will not send power to the ice maker if the freezer door is open.
So if you will not get power on test points, push the freezer door switch and try again.
Using Isolated wire jumper test between:
T and H – Bimetal Thermostat – by jumping thermostat you will initiate harvest cycle. Ice maker wheel (as seen on the front) should make a full turn and then fill with water.
L and V – Water Inlet Valve – By jumping these test points for a couple of seconds, you will send power to the valve and ice maker should filling up with water.
Do not test it for more than 7 seconds, otherwise, the ice maker will be overfilled.
With POWER OFF :
Using multimeter test resistance between:
L and H – Mold Heater – You should get around 72 Ohms
L and M – Motor – 8.8 kOhms or 8800 Ohms
Have you had a Whirlpool ice maker not working?
What was the problem, and what did you do to fix it? We’d love to hear your thoughts, leave us a comment now and let’s discuss!
Ok, my problem is that the connection on the heat post that represents the “L”
terminal copper connection is the problem. I have replaced the module a couple of time and still have the same problem. Is there a permanent fix.
Maytag MFI2269DRM00 French Door refrigerator ice maker stopped making ice. Fill valve checked out good. Replaced ice maker and the new one dropped two batches of ice then stopped working. Did all the tests, Power good, jumped L and V fill valve opened good flow, Motor and mold heater good ohms, jumped BiMetal Thermostat and ice maker dumped ice and filled. Still won’t cycle on its own. Any ideas.
Thanks
Door switch
Temp not cold enough
Where did you find the replacement ice maker? I have the same frig and can’t find a replacement ice maker.
Also, did you ever find out the problem?
Hello Eugene. I replaced the water valve on a fridge – Whirlpool circa 1995 . The hr106w10190965 icemaker is
making two cubes , dumping in around 45 minutes. The water valve is opening twice during this period. Where are the power and reset buttons , and how long do I need to leave the fridge unplugged for the reset to be successful. Thanks
I don’t know if you’re still monitoring this thread, I usually can fix most anything myself but my Whirlpool ice maker has me stumped and I live in an area that’s too far for any appliance repair companies to service.
Mine has the wire style shutoff arm, it suddenly stopped dumping ice. I’ve replaced the module on the ice maker, replaced the inlet valve, fully cleaned the coils, replaced the filter, verified the line from the inlet to the icemaker isn’t obstructed, when testing with the module removed I have 120v to the pins the module plugs into but when I install the module I get 0v to the L/N test ports. Jumpering T/H with the door switches closed gets no response and the same with jumpering L/V. I’ve also verified my freezer temperature is 0 degrees with a mercury thermometer and figured out how to get into the diagnostic mode from the front panel and the ice maker tests there get no response with the jumpers installed either.
Is there anything off the top of your head this could still be? I’m stumped at the moment.
Make sure the ice level arm is set to ON (usually you can hear a click)
1. In order to get 120 V on the ice maker, you need to press the freezer door switch. Then, you can check if L & N getting power.
2. Try to jump T & H. After 2 seconds you should see that the wheel starts to move clockwise.
3. If you see no movement, even the ice maker is getting power, then the problem with the ice maker itself.
I get nothing voltage wise to it even with the switches closed nor does trying to do a forced harvest work, I figured just replacing the module would take care of all the electronics in the ice maker itself but I guess not. I’ll get one and give it a try, Thank you for your time.
When you press door switch light will go off?
Yes, the lights go off when depressed. I also got ahold of the diagnostic sheet for the refrigerator and the display is showing a positive reaction when the switches are operated.
Well, once you have power to the ice maker, after that, if the ice maker still not working, it is ice maker fault.. Try to replace the whole ice maker
Hi i have a question, often mi icemaker will stop makin ice with no obvious reason, i then jump started T ands H and the icemaker module will start running but without dumping the ice to the tray, yesterday i left the jumpstart cable until it dumped the ice, but know seems its not working at all, when i jump start to make sure the water is flowing nothing happens, is there other test that i can do to test the icemaker? or does it needs to be replaced?
Thank you for your answer
Can anyone help? Here’s my situation. The water dispenses and then freezes, The ice then gets stuck in the mold (forgive me if that’s not the right term). I figured it was a heating coil problem but I took the whole ice maker out, emptied the ice and then put it back in and the ice maker works fine… for about 10 cycles and then the same thing happens, the water freezes and gets stuck in the mold. Now I’ve repeated the taking out and putting back in process three to four times and just would like to know if there’s a permanent fix for this
Hi, I have similar issues to previous posts.
Before issues started I occasionally heard an intermittent clicking noise coming from the back of the fridge when dispensing water. Suspected it could of just been air in the tubing.
About 6 months ago both water and ice stopped working.
My water dispenser works fine now that I replaced the tubing within the door in recent days.
But Water still not being fed to ice maker.
Bought new water pump and replaced with old in case and thinking that was my clicking noise issue. It wasn’t. Water dispenser still working but occasionally makes the clicking noise and water sometimes comes out in short fast bursts with the clicking noise. Something tells me this is not air in the tubing.
Here’s the weird bit which I found out by accident. If I hear the clicking sound when dispensing water, if I open the fridge door, the clicking sound stops!?? I close the door and it starts clicking again..
Back to my main issue, so I bought a new ice maker as I suspected the old on was dead after doing all jump tests. Unfortunately I installed the new one earlier and nothing, nothing responds to any jump tests. It seems like it’s not getting power.
I just read a post about the optics sensor and mine does flash twice the stop the flash twice indicating there might be a fault.
Am I right in thinking, if the sensor doesn’t work, the ice maker will not respond to anything including the jump tests ?
Btw my Ice maker is without the wire lever I’ve seen on other websites and fills the bucket which is attached to the freezer door.
Thanks
Correct, if the optic sensor board will not work properly, it will not send power to the ice maker
If I jump L and V I definitely get waterflow. Jumping T and H moves the arm, but does not seem to trigger water flow. What’s the likley culprit here?
By jumping T and H Only move the arms, but not power up a water valve. all these procedures Only for testing
I was able to run all of the tests with the following results:
L and N getting 120v AC
Jumping T and H moves the arm but does not trigger water flow. It kicked out the ice that was made from a few weeks ago when I jumped L and V.
Jumping L and V does trigger water flow.
Powered off tests:
L and H produces about 52 Ohms
L and M produces about 5.1 Ohms
What is a isolated wire jumper?
Working on Maytag MSD2559XEB04 side-by-side refrigerator. Ice maker stopped producing ice but continued to dispense water so I tested the fill valve and got somewhat low resistance readings so I purchased and installed a new fill valve. That did not solve the problem so I bought and installed a new ice maker unit. That has not solved the problem. On this refrigerator the ice maker is installed parallel to the door rather than perpendicular to the door like on most models so the test/jumper contact are not accessible with the ice maker actually installed. I can make the electrical connection and turn the not-installed unit 90* to access the test/jumper panel on the end. In that position, I used a jumper between L & V ports to try to dispense water but got nothing. The water fill tube does not seem to be obstructed because I am able to run a piece of semi-rigid plastic rod several inches into the fill tube. I am out of ideas and would appreciate any advice anyone can offer.
First of all, your ice maker has optical level sensor. Open the freezer door, on the right side there is a red led light ( i also covered this in the article https://howtofixit.net/ice-maker-not-working-how-to-fix-it/ ) , push the door switch and see how many times it will flash. if its faulty it will flash 2 times. For your fridge model you need this part
Thank you very much for your quick response. I examined the optical sensor. It displays a continuous red light on the right-hand side when the flapper on the left-hand side is depressed. I made sure that neither the ice maker unit nor my hands were obstructing the sensor beam and I again inserted a jumper between L and V but got no response – no water, no hum, no click. Might you have any other suggestions?
I have removed icemaker after two different icemakers failed to make ice consistently. I am testing incoming AC voltage and I only measure 35 VAC from black wire / line to ground wire. I have also made sure door closure and IR Red switches are closed to simulate freezer door is closed. Where does the 115VAC come from to this cable?
HI, I dont understand what is indicated if water fills when L and V is jumpered.
Its the only time that water will fill is if inlet valve is activated by jumpering L and V test points.
Does that suggest something in icemaker control module is bad?
By jumpering L and V only to test water inlet valve to make sure its not clogged with deposits or burnt out.
Thanks! So if it works when its jumpered does that suggest the inlet valve is working ok?
yes
L or Line voltage to V the solenoid valve. If it fills the tray, the valve is good and you have enough water pressure and no clogged line.