ERRATIC ICE MAKER
Symptom: My ice maker barely works — when it does, the cubes are very small.
Diagnosis: If an ice maker is not making cubes, it may be switched off. Most ice makers have a thin wire along one side that rests on top of the ice cubes in the bin. As the bin fills, the wire rises and eventually shuts off the unit. (You can also manually raise and lock the wire to the highest position.) If the wire is stuck in the up position, push it down or use the little red lever (if equipped) to lower it.
If the ice maker hasn’t produced any cubes in a few hours, the tube that feeds water to the ice maker may be frozen. Use a hair dryer to melt the ice and restore the flow.
If the ice maker still isn’t working, check the water supply from the household plumbing.
Turn off the valve that feeds the flexible supply line, remove the water line and see whether sufficient water volume is coming from the valve.
If none of these remedies solve the problem, the ice maker may have a defective water-inlet valve (usually located on the back of the refrigerator near the bottom). Fixing this problem typically requires these steps:
1. Disconnect the appliance from the power source, shut off the water supply to the refrigerator and pull the refrigerator away from the wall.
2. Remove the lower access cover plate from the refrigerator.
3. Remove the water supply line and fill line(s) from the valve; then label the wires to the valve and disconnect them.
4. Remove the old valve and install the replacement. Reconnect the wires and the water line, turn on the water supply and check for leaks. If no leaks are present, restore power. It may take more than an hour for the ice maker to start its first batch and several more hours before it dumps the first load of ice.