FIXED GE GNE27JSMAFSS french door refrigerator, evaporator fan not running, Freezer cools fine, fridge doesn't cool at all.

[Mike63334]

Model Number

GNE27JSMAFSS

Brand

GE

Age

1-5 years

Hi, I just purchased this refrigerator over the weekend to replace my Samsung that had a leak in the sealed system. I got this one for $100 and figured it was worth fixing since the compressor runs fine and the freezer cools as it should. The customer said they had it diagnosed and the tech said it needed the evaporator fan.

They chose to do the repair themselves, but after they replaced the fan, it still wouldn't run. Upon disassembling the freezer section I noticed that the blades wouldn't spin by hand on the new fan they installed. The black wiring harness was improperly routed and was against one of the blades of the fan. After taking care of that I held the door switches all closed and the fan still would not run.

I also noticed the part that opens and closes to control how much air goes into the fridge section was totally closed. Not sure if that opens after the fan starts running? I want to check for voltage going to the fan to see if the new fan motor failed from being in a bind or if there is still another issue. My question is, how much voltage should be on the Yellow wire? I know the rpm, common, and 13v wires, but the tech bulletin I have doesn't show the voltage that should be on the yellow wire.

Also I noticed that the green led is steadily blinking on the control board. Not sure if that indicates a specific error on this model or if it blinks during normal operation. All I have is a 2 page schematic. If someone could send me the service manual I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks in advance,
Mike

 

[Jake]

Hi Mike, Page 51 explains the volts to the evaporator fan motor here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wI9V5eZnmwD1C16qxrIlh2XeqeUIUDns/view?usp=share_link

Here's the evaporator(freezer) fan motor for your model:
Evaporator Fan Motor WR60X10185


Here's the control board for your model, if needed: https://www.repairclinic.com/PartDetail/Control-Board/WR55X40448/4975260

I have not worked on this model as of yet, so its best to use the service manual to find the problem.

Damper diagnostics is on Page 37.

 

[Mike63334]

Thanks very much! That is a huge help.

 

[Jake]

Anytime!

 

[Mike63334]

I finally got a chance to look further into this. I put the negative lead of my meter on the white wire to the evap fan (Common) checking the yellow and red wire, they both have around 3vdc which varies. At one point when I first plugged in the fridge I had 13vdc on the yellow wire. I removed the fan to check it, and it will run if I hook negative to the white wire and +12v to both the red and yellow wires at the same time, but it won't work with just 1 of those 2 connected.

I checked all of the spots on the connectors from the main board that feed the fan and I have 12vdc on the line feeding the yellow wire as well as 12vdc on the line feeding the red wire. It appears that there is a break in the wiring between where it exits the main board and where it goes into the connector the evap fan plugs into. I did run through all the tests and everything else in the fridge passed, even when I went into test mode 8 to force the evap fan to run for 5 seconds, the voltages didn't change. I put a load on each line coming from the main board to make sure the voltage wasn't just dropping when current is drawn but they held very steady.

One other thing I realized last night is the LED on the right side of the freezer compartment is never lit, it looks like it's down the line from the wires feeding the fan so it makes sense. I can apply 12vdc to the red wire and then the led will come on, but the fan still won't run since there is no voltage on the yellow wire.

My question is, does anyone know how to take the entire plastic liner out of the freezer compartment to get to the wiring, I looked everywhere, even in the back and can't find a way to access that wiring. I thought about pulling the jack that the fan plugs into and the grommet from the main board harness and seeing if I can get a fiber fish through there and just run new wires, but it looks like the grommets go inside the cabinet when released instead of exiting into the part I can get to.

 

[Jake]

Yes, it sounds like a wire short in the wire harness to that evap. fan motor and your LED in the freezer.

Is any other LED's effected by this in the freezer?

My question is, does anyone know how to take the entire plastic liner out of the freezer compartment to get to the wiring

No way to do that.

 

[Mike63334]

No, just that one on the right. Since the cabinet of the fridge can't be disassembled, I guess I will have to try and get the connector out and use one of the existing wires to pull the new wires through. I will just replace all 4.

I noticed there is a "Service kit" that comes with a new evap fan some places and it's just a fan and some adhesive metallic tape that looks like exhaust repair tape.

I'm wondering where that is supposed to go so that I can put some where the kit recommends to prevent moisture from getting into the new fan and making it fail prematurely. Any ideas on that?

 

[Jake]

I noticed there is a "Service kit" that comes with a new evap fan some places and it's just a fan and some adhesive metallic tape that looks like exhaust repair tape.

Are you referring to this one--->LINK->WR49X26666 Ff Fan Moisture Kit

If so, that is not compatible with your model.

 

[Mike63334]

It wasn't that one, it had the WR60X10185 fan motor and some sheets of metallic repair tape. I will have to look back and see where I found it. I tried removing the grommet holding the wires near the main board last night and even though it has twist lock tabs it still wouldn't turn or push inward at all, I even cut the tabs off and figured I would glue it back into place when i'm done.

One I couldn't remove it, I popped the rivets out of the metal around the recessed area the main board is in and pryed the thin metal above it out enough to look inside, it's all filled with insulating foam, it looks like expandable foam spray. So now I know using the old wires to pull the new ones through won't be an option. I couldn't get that 6 pin molex jack out either that the fan plugs into in the freezer compartment. I'm thinking I am going to have to drill a hole, run the wires through with a grommet and seal the crap out of it when I'm done.

Then I can run them up the back of the fridge a few inches and into the main board compartment with a u shaped cutout in the mainboard cover and a grommet. I'm just worried I may drill into another wiring harness or one of the cooling system lines. I know there shouldn't be any right there, but I would hate to ruin the fridge. Does anyone have any other suggestions on how to replace all 4 wires from the mainboard to the evap fan?

 

[Jake]

Correct, but careful drilling.

Does anyone have any other suggestions on how to replace all 4 wires from the mainboard to the evap fan?

Hopefully another tech. can shed some light on this, if they have done it before.

 

[Mike63334]

It's fixed! Thanks for the help and for the service manual. Sunday I took a 5/8" hole saw bit, removed the center drill bit and found the best spot I could that shouldn't have anything behind it and drilled just enough to score the plastic. I then took an exacto knife and cut that plastic circle out, once I removed it, I carefully dug the insulating foam out from behind it until I got all the way to the back so I could make sure there was nothing in the way, there was a bracket at the very bottom so I drilled at an upward angle to get a hole in the back of the cabinet.

Then I took some 16 gauge wire and ran 4 of them through and put a grommet around the wire at each hole and filled it and surrounded the grommet with kitchen and bath silicon. I soldered the wires directly to the fan wires and to the corresponding wires on the main board harness. I heat shrinked, siliconed, and jacketed the wires and routed them away from everything. I wrapped the wire bundle in foil all the way up in the freezer compartment since that's how the factory wires were done.

To my delight when I plugged it in the evaporator fan now works as it should! Not sure how to mark the post fixed but it is working. I really appreciate all the help! I attached a picture of where I put the hole in case someone else needs to do this repair on this model.

 

[Jake]

Excellent Mike, Good job.

Thanks for the update! That will help others too if this ever happens to them.

I marked it as FIXED.