Can I fix my own fridge?

Although some refrigerator repairs should be repaired by a service technician, you may be able to fix many fridge failures on your own.

The main challenge that you’ll face when trying to fix your own fridge is diagnosing the cause of the failure. Whether the ice maker isn’t working or the fridge isn’t cooling, you’ll need to figure out which part needs replacing.

Our Refrigerator DIY Repair Help page can help you figure out what’s causing many fridge failures that you can fix yourself.

If you determine that a failed compressor or any other sealed system problem that requires the recovery and recharge of the refrigerant is causing cooling problems in your fridge, then it’s time to schedule a service technician to repair the appliance. Because of environmental regulations, only a service technician can handle refrigerant.

What are the most common refrigerator repairs that I can complete myself?

A broken ice maker is one of the most frequent failures that you can fix yourself. Cooling problems are as common as ice maker failures. Although you can’t fix cooling failures caused by sealed system or compressor problems, you can fix many refrigerator cooling problems on your own.

How do I fix a broken ice maker in my refrigerator?

Sometimes, fixing a refrigerator ice maker is as simple as turning it off and then turning it back on. If that doesn’t work, you can try unplugging the refrigerator (or shutting off the house circuit breaker for the fridge) for several minutes and then restoring power. These tactics sometimes reset the electronic controls for the ice maker so it starts working. You’d be surprised how often these simple fixes work.

When they don’t, you can try test cycling the ice maker. Sometimes, test cycling the ice maker will have the same effect as killing power to the fridge or ice maker. Test cycling sometimes resets the ice maker so it starts working again.

Unfortunately, these simple fixes don’t always work. When they don’t, you need to figure out what’s wrong on your own. The problem could be in the water supply, temperature of the freezer or ice room, a control problem or a mechanical failure in the ice maker. Sometimes, test cycling the ice maker can help you quickly determine the cause of the problem. If the ice maker goes through the entire test procedure but doesn’t fill with water, you’ll want to check the water supply and fill valve. Resolving a water supply problem will likely fix the ice maker failure.

Ice makers controlled by electronic circuit boards often display error codes when a component breaks. Error codes often point you to the failed part that need replacing. Look up error codes for your fridge in our Refrigerator Error Code Charts and follow the troubleshooting listed for the code that your refrigerator displays.

Sometimes, even ice maker failures are too complicated for DIY’ers to diagnose. Also, some ice rooms in French door refrigerators have their own evaporators. When fixing an ice maker will require making a sealed system repair, you’ll need to schedule a service technician to fix the ice maker.

How do I fix a refrigerator cooling problem?

When your refrigerator isn't cold enough, first check whether containers or items are blocking airflow at the vents; the owner's manual usually shows where the vents are. Move any items blocking supply or return air vents.

High temperatures can also be caused by dirty condenser coils. Clean the condenser coils if they’re dirty.

If these basic tips don’t help, warm temperatures inside your fridge could be caused by one or more of these issues:

• Control system problems.

• Failure in the air damper system.

• Automatic defrost system failure.

• Sealed system problems.

Other malfunctions can also prevent the fridge from cooling properly.

To get an idea of how to troubleshoot a refrigerator cooling problem, watch this troubleshooting video for a common top-mount refrigerator.