Accessing/Clearing Frozen Waterline for In-Door Ice Maker WSF26C3EXF01

[airplanenut]

Model Number

WSF26C3EXF01

Brand

Whirlpool

Age

More than 10 years

Hi,

The ice maker in my Whirlpool side-by-side is no longer producing ice, and after taking it apart and doing what I can, I'm 99% sure the issue is a significant blockage in the waterline somewhere in the freezer door. As I've tried to fix it, I've noticed the following:

-There is ice buildup on the guide that takes water from the waterline into the ice maker, and if I remove the ice, it will be back within hours or a day. That tells me a small amount of water is flowing, but not enough to make ice cubes.
-If I manually fill the ice maker with water, ice cubes will be made and sent to the ice bucket, which tells me that the ice maker itself is working.
-I disconnected the waterline at the bottom of the freezer door and waited for water to pump, and it did just fine, so I don't think the issue is with anything before the door (the water dispenser is also working just fine).

Thinking that the issue is a blockage in the waterline, I got a 3' frozen waterline tool, but couldn't get it to work. From the ice maker itself, I don't have leverage to thread it into the waterline (the hole at the end of the line points up and is a few inches from where my fingers can reach; I can't get the tube to turn 90 degrees and go down the hole).

I tried squirting a lot of warm water into the top of the line, but most/all just dribbled back down (and made a mess) so clearly I didn't send a significant amount--if any--down the waterline to the blockage. I also threaded all 3 feet from the waterline connection at the bottom of the door and injected warm water numerous times, but to no avail. This makes me think the block is somewhere more than 3' up the line in the door.

What I can't figure out now is what else I can try to unclog this. I can't find a waterline clearing tool with a longer hose (the door is around 54", so I'd need a ~6' line to go the whole way), and am not sure what else I may be able to thread up there which could either inject warm water (I'd have to make a waterline tool myself) or otherwise provide some friction to break apart the ice enough that it gets removed (perhaps something like a really thin snake you'd use to clean a brass instrument).

Any ideas? I'm not particularly handy and am pretty satisfied with myself for (seemingly) getting close to determining the problem, but I'd hate to be at a point where there isn't some cheap fix and I need to make a service call.

 

[Jake]

Use a heat gun or hair dryer and keep moving it up and down the exterior door(where the water line tubing goes up), while the door is open, that should clear the ice out of the water line tubing inside the door.

Here's another person that had this similar problem:

WSF26C2EXW01 Not making ice

Whirlpool WSF26C2EXW01 The ice maker stopped working a while ago. I found the service bulletin here - https://www.applianceblog.com/mainforums/threads/45630-WSF26C2EXY-Ice-maker-not-working?p=229029#post229029 - that mentions adding a zip tie around the inlet tube. I opened up the door panel...

www.applianceblog.com

You model uses the exact same fill tube assembly:
WPW10347034 Fitting


But it looks like its been discontinued from the factory.

Jake

 

[airplanenut]

Thank you! I did try this last night, but it's difficult to check at the time if enough was done because water is only sporadically pumped through. I spent a few minutes heating all but the bottom few feet (which shouldn't be blocked based on my results from the waterline tool) to the point where the door felt rather hot to the touch, but saw no ice this morning. Do I need to keep heating this area for 10, 15 minutes or more?

Reading through the service bulletin you linked, any idea what the odds are that even if I clear the line, it's only a one-time problem and not something that is likely to come back quickly (if the line's heater is busted)? From the bulletin, it seems as though if I can't get it fixed using the hair dryer, I may be out of luck with options I can try unless there's some way to snake the line more than the 3 feet I can already do.

Thanks!

 

[Jake]

Do I need to keep heating this area for 10, 15 minutes or more?

Yes, ice is stubborn.

Reading through the service bulletin you linked, any idea what the odds are that even if I clear the line, it's only a one-time problem and not something that is likely to come back quickly (if the line's heater is busted)? From the bulletin, it seems as though if I can't get it fixed using the hair dryer, I may be out of luck with options I can try unless there's some way to snake the line more than the 3 feet I can already do.

Yes, you are correct, if that heater is broken, then your out of luck, and its too frustrating to keep using a hair dryer.

I don't know of a snake that long to run through that water line, sorry. You can try low gauge wire like 12 to 14 gauge wire to run through the water line.

Jake

 

[airplanenut]

Thanks! I'll give the longer time a try. The dogs will just love it

If that doesn't work, I'll see if I can find a few feet of wire, or else I'll just give in and admit the fridge bested me. I do appreciate your help!

 

[Jake]

Ok, sounds good.

Jake

 

[airplanenut]

Well I'll be... just as I was about to give up having seen no ice on Monday or Tuesday after spending some time heating the outside of the door on Sunday afternoon, I opened the freezer this evening and... there's some ice! The ice maker never was fast by any stretch, and at this rate it's got a few days at least to fill the whole bucket, but something is better than nothing. I'll see if this production keeps up, and perhaps can indeed stave off that service call. Thanks again!

 

[Jake]

Yes, hopefully it was just a glitch.

Thanks for the update!

Jake

 

[airplanenut]

New update... the ice maker seems to be working fine right now, but when I use the water dispenser (which previously had no issues) a significant amount of water is leaking onto the floor beneath the freezer. I looked under the fridge while dispensing water and the leak appears to be just inside the far side of the freezer, about a foot back from the front.

When the water dispenser is engaged, water is pouring out the bottom, not just dripping; if I fill a glass, I'll have a pool on the floor that extends at least a foot or two in front of the fridge. That said, I can't see what the water is leaking from. It looks to be coming from a metal cover plate, but it's too hard to really see what's going on.

The plastic tubes supplying water to the water dispenser and ice maker aren't leaking at their connector, and they appear to go all the way to the back of the unit, so I don't think there's a connector that's leaking. Since the bottom of the unit is so inaccessible, I don't have a good idea of where to start looking, and I tried but couldn't get a photo that shows the puddle forming.

 

[Jake]

Ok, you will need to pull the refrigerator out from the wall and remove the lower rear access panel to see where its leaking from.

Here's the parts diagram: Parts for Whirlpool WSF26C3EXF01: Cabinet Parts #26 and #27 is your water line tubing where it can be leaking from.

Jake

 

[airplanenut]

I’ll take a look as soon as I can. My fridge is walled in on both sides, so there’s no room to wiggle it to pull it out. I’ll have to see what I can come up with to get it to move.

 

[Jake]

Ok, hopefully it won't be that much trouble to pull it out.

Jake

 

[airplanenut]

It took a while but I was finally able to pull the fridge out. It looks like the connector nearest the back is cracked—since this leak occurs when dispensing water, it must be the tube that goes there, not the one to the ice maker. That said, the connector is not the same as shown in parts 26 or 27, so I’m not sure which one I need (or if perhaps just the connector can be swapped out).

Additionally, and perhaps this was a result of me pulling out the fridge, the water connection to the fridge itself was leaking. I tried adding plumber tape to the threading on the connection, but water was dribbling out the other side of the nut (the part on the side of the tube, not the connection). Unless there’s an easy fix for that, I’m guessing that line needs to be replaced, too. I didn’t take a picture, but I made an illustration.

 

[Jake]

I see that crack in your photo.

Here's the water filter inlet tube #26 for your model:
WPW10279882 Tube-Water


Here's the water filter outlet tube #27 for your model:

Whirlpool WPW10279884 Tube-Water - AppliancePartsPros.com

TUBE-WATER WPW10279884 / AP6018501 made by Whirlpool

click.linksynergy.com

 

[airplanenut]

Is there a way to tell which of those is the cracked one on mine? Both 26 and 27 look similar, so from the photos I can’t see how to determine one from the other. The part diagram also doesn’t show enough detail for it to be obvious to me.

 

[Jake]

Just follow each water tubing line back to where it connects to, get a flashlight or droplight to see better underneath the refrigerator.

 

[airplanenut]

Just follow each water tubing line back to where it connects to, get a flashlight or droplight to see better underneath the refrigerator.

Are they marked? I had to push the fridge back in so it wasn’t blocking my kitchen and am hoping to avoid pulling it out again prior to swapping the parts. I thought the photo would be enough, plus I’m all but certain it’s the water dispenser line (not the line for the ice maker) since water leaks through those cracks whenever water is dispensed.

And while it’s not a marked part, is there any reason to think I can salvage the connection to my house water, or should that be replaced, too? That leak must be new when I pulled it out, because otherwise it should have been dribbling water for a while just with the water connection turned on, and the only time I noticed a leak was when using the water dispenser.

 

[Jake]

No, they are not marked, I wish they were, you just need to follow them back to where they go to.

 

[airplanenut]

Ok, thank you. It'll probably be a week or two before I can pull it out, but I'll make sure that I've got the diagram handy when I do so I can get it right. Thanks!

 

[Jake]

Your welcome, let us know what you find.