Whirlpool WRX986SIHZ00 Not Making Ice

[TheSlothAwakens]

Model Number

WRX986SIHZ00

Brand

Whirlpool

Age

1-5 years

I have been fighting this issue for a while now. It started with a cyclical noise (attached) and water leaking. Unfortunately I don't remember the details of where it was coming from. I have one of those Square Trade warranties and got a tech to come out. He said he basically replaced the ice maker but I was not there so I am not sure exactly what he did or how competent he was. He also said it could be a valve in the door (is there such a thing?) but he did not know how to get to it. It was such a pain working with Square Trade that I gave up on that for now and I am trying to diagnose/repair myself over my Christmas break.

I started out by replacing primary and secondary water valves and I am working on a dripping issue in parallel under a different thread.
Whirlpool WRX986SIHZ00 Water Dispenser Dripping

Service Test - 56 (Ice Maker Error Codes)
It is difficult to read. It looks like E0 (No Errors) to me but could be E1 (No Cooling). I ran other ice maker tests and I have water in the ice cube mold but it is not freezing.

Service Test - 36 (Ice Box Fan)
I hear the ice box fan come one but it is not very loud and not blowing very hard.

Service Test - 3 (Evaporator Fan and Air Baffle Motors)
Since it isn't freezing I thought it might be the Evaporator fan. I am guessing the pantry is the meat drawer so I skipped over that. At 02 (FC fan on), I couldn't hear anything running down by the freezer compartment. The temperature in the freezer is 18 °F.

Service Test - 4 (Compressor/Condenser Fan Motor/Evaporator Fan)
I ran this test to 05 (Compressor on/ valve in FC position/FC fan on). Once again I could not hear anything in the freezer. Do I need to remove the drawers and the bin from FC to verify flow from the evaporator fan? I saw in a separate thread to look for ice build up in the back of the freezer. Do I need to empty the freezer to inspect this? If there is ice buildup and I clear it, will this fix the evaporator fan or am I going to have to replace it?

Have a diagnosed an evaporator fan issue? Could this be affecting the ice maker operation? Please advise on next steps to take. Thanks.

 

[Jake]

The temperature in the freezer is 18 °F.

Normal would be 0 degrees F.

What I do is remove the back panel inside the freezer and look at the evaporator coil frost pattern. Normal would be a thin layer of frost on ALL the coils from TOP to BOTTOM. You also want to make sure the coils are NOT over frosted.

Look at the very bottom photo below where it says NORMAL FROST PATTERN.

 

[Matts1412]

Hi Jake, I have this same model refrigerator and I'm having this same issue where the ice maker isn't producing any ice at all. The freezer is reading between -7 to -2° and the ice basket is reading between 37-39°. Any troubleshooting of advice you can give.

 

[SteverinoLA]

My thread might help: https://www.applianceblog.com/mainf...ng-and-intermittent-water-to-ice-maker.94445/

I'm still waiting for the replacement parts, now scheduled for 3/27. Will respond if works.

 

[Jake]

Hi Jake, I have this same model refrigerator and I'm having this same issue where the ice maker isn't producing any ice at all. The freezer is reading between -7 to -2° and the ice basket is reading between 37-39°. Any troubleshooting of advice you can give.

Yes, look at Steve's thread.

I'm attaching your tech. data sheet below for model WRX986SIHZ00

Service Test - 36: Ice Box Fan--->Check for fan operation. Control ice box fan by selecting SW3. Display the status on Temp Display. (01 = on, 02 = off). Verify airflow from the ice box fan.

ice basket is reading between 37-39°.

The ice maker ALWAYS needs to be 10 degrees F or lower at all times to make ice.

Here's the ice box fan for your model, if needed(Video to get access/replace it is in the part link):
Fan Motor W10846539

 

[Matts1412]

Ok so before finding this thread I tried Service test 57 which gave me a status of 20 and then 02 which I believe means "harvesting not completed". That said, this test did seem to cause the ice box temperature to start dropping right away from from 39° to the low 20s but went no lower and then the temp climbed back up to the high 30s.

I then tried service test 59 which also made the temp drop to the low 20s then back up to the high 30s. That said, overnight and without any other troubleshooting, the ice box temp had dropped to 9° when I woke up and has remained steady all morning. I thought the issue was resolved until I noticed there is still no ice.

I have now tried Service test 36 as you recommended and the fan is blowing.

I'm now thinking I should move on to your recommendation of the water fill test 45 but wondering if that will work since seemingly the ice maker harvest test 57 didn't complete properly.

Should I give test 45 a go anyhow? Anything else that pops out at you after seeing the tests I've run?

Thank you

 

[SteverinoLA]

No harm in 45.open the flap then put a finger in and feel the tray. If finger is wet, water there ready to freeze. If no water, run 45 to fill it. Then repeat with finer to confirm water in tray. It's not much water btw.

 

[Matts1412]

Ok I tried 45 twice and I can hear the unit engage but there is no water in the tray after it stops. To be clear, to feel if there is water I need to lift the flap and the feel between and below the pointy plastic teeth, correct?

If the fan is blowing and the ice box temp is now holding under 10° yet no water in the tray. Any suggestions on the next steps?

Oh and water does dispense from the door no problem. Does that indicate that the issue occurs somewhere after the door's water line and ice maker water lines split?

 

[SteverinoLA]

Right. Maybe you have same problem as me: https://www.applianceblog.com/mainf...ng-and-intermittent-water-to-ice-maker.94445/

Now try this: go to service menu item 19 and just let it sit until the service menu times out. 19 turns on the water line heater so if yours becomes frozen like mine, this defrosts it and then you will hear water flowing for 45.

 

[Gringo24]

Hi, I'm having the same issue with the same model fridge, not making ice , the freezer temp is at 0 inside fridge 37 , inside the ice box 22 followed the steps that everyone is doing theres water in the tray after doing the 45 test but i'ts not making ice, I feel cold air blowing thru but no ice.

 

[Gringo24]

Actually I checked this morning and the temp inside the ice box was at 4 degrees so it should be making ice, also How do I check if the ice level sensors are working? when the ice maker was working , a lot of times ice was over flowing out of the ice box , could it be that the sensors went bad?
Thanks for any advice!

 

[Jake]

inside the ice box 22

22 degrees in the ice box? That's the reason its not making ice.

Take a reading in your freezer itself and see what the temperature is.

 

[Gringo24]

Thanks for the reply Jake, actually I checked this morning and inside the ice box was at 4 degrees, ( it takes awhile for the thermometer I have to adjust) and just checked the freezer and is at 3 degrees even though its set at 0 degrees.
also I did the 56 service test and its showing E0.

 

[Jake]

Ok, then it should be making ice.

Your model is the same WRX986SIHZ00 ?

Rick explains it here:

FIXED - WRF990SLAM02 Whirlpool Refrigerator 30 Volts at Ice Level Sensor Receiver J1-J3

So, my ice maker isn't making ice. It passes all the Service tests, except for Test 15 - Ice Level Sensor - which shows 01 Bin Full when the bin is empty. When manually filled with water (Test 45), it quickly freeze it into ice, and will successfully run a Harvest via the Service test (Test 57)...

www.applianceblog.com

Your model uses the exact same receiver and emitter.

The Optics LED light will only be on for the first 5 minutes after power is cycled, machine unplugged and then plugged in. This is what Whirlpool says; If you have 14 VDC at the receiver, J1-1 to J1-3 and service test #15 is not reporting the correct status of the ice bin, replace both receiver and emitter:

Whirlpool W10870822 Ice Level Control Board (AP6026733) - AppliancePartsPros.com

LED emitter board, W10870822 / AP6026733 made by Whirlpool

click.linksynergy.com

Whirlpool W10898445 Ice Level Control Board (AP6037913) - AppliancePartsPros.com

LED receiver board., W10898445 / AP6037913 made by Whirlpool

click.linksynergy.com

In your tech data sheet I posted above(post #5) so you can see TEST #15.

 

[Gringo24]

OK Thanks! after doing the service test 15 It's showing 02 plus I put my phone inside the ice box to record the sensor and its showing that is working . also yesterday following the steps the guys did on this thread, I did the service test 57 and it did not harvest or drop any ice, then I did the service 45 water test and water went into to the tray I put my fingers in there and felt the water , waited until this morning to run the 56 test to see if it made any ice, but nothing was dropped in the ice box, I can feel the ice with my fingers, but I dont even hear the ice maker spinning , makes me think is the ice maker itself not working?
Thanks, again!

also the model is the same WRX986SIHZ00

 

[Matts1412]

Ok so I think I'm starting to narrow this down.

Troubleshooting Summary:
I've confirmed the ice maker fan works, ran service 19 (fill tube heater) which must have worked because afterwards I re-ran 45 and this time water did enter the ice tray. Not completely sure if this has just started but I've only now noticed a build up of ice in the back top left corner of the refridgerator section just behind the ice maker. (Attached pics) Last, over the last few days I've seen the ice box at 9°, mid teens and in the 30's for long periods of time each.

So it appears I had a frozen fill tube and something stopping the ice box from maintaining proper temps.

Does this detail lead to any conclusions of the overriding issue or which parts need replacing?

Thanks guys

 

[Jake]

OK Thanks! after doing the service test 15 It's showing 02 plus I put my phone inside the ice box to record the sensor and its showing that is working . also yesterday following the steps the guys did on this thread, I did the service test 57 and it did not harvest or drop any ice, then I did the service 45 water test and water went into to the tray I put my fingers in there and felt the water , waited until this morning to run the 56 test to see if it made any ice, but nothing was dropped in the ice box, I can feel the ice with my fingers, but I dont even hear the ice maker spinning , makes me think is the ice maker itself not working?
Thanks, again!

Then your ice maker is the culprit. Here's the ice maker for your model: Icemaker W11658802

 

[Jake]

Ok so I think I'm starting to narrow this down.

Troubleshooting Summary:
I've confirmed the ice maker fan works, ran service 19 (fill tube heater) which must have worked because afterwards I re-ran 45 and this time water did enter the ice tray. Not completely sure if this has just started but I've only now noticed a build up of ice in the back top left corner of the refrigerator section just behind the ice maker. (Attached pics) Last, over the last few days I've seen the ice box at 9°, mid teens and in the 30's for long periods of time each.

So it appears I had a frozen fill tube and something stopping the ice box from maintaining proper temps.

Does this detail lead to any conclusions of the overriding issue or which parts need replacing?

Thanks guys

Seems yours is possibly leaking water from that ice in your photo.

You will need to drop the top panel down inside the refrigerator section and check the ice maker for any leaks, also check the WATER Reservoir for leaks too: https://www.repairclinic.com/PartDetail/Reservoir/W11168758/4547100

 

[Gringo24]

Thanks for the video and your help Jake! Ice maker on order.

 

[Jake]

Glad to help.