Fan Motor Grommet

Remove rear plate. Remove fan bracket. Replace fan gaskets, blade and motor. Replace bracket. Replace rear plate. Very simple. Fixed the problem.

I visually inspected the compressor and narrowed down the source of the noise to the freezer area. Then I removed the doors and the screws securing the divider panel. Next I removed the bottom panel of the freezer, the styrofoam insullation panel and the evaporator motor. The motor is mounted between two grommets. I replaced the grommet facing the fan blades. The aluminum reflector below the styrofoam insulation panel had also come loose. I reattached it and reassembled the refrigerator in reverse order. The noise is gone!

Came home one evening and found the refer compartment evaporator fan making a noisy/grinding noise. While waiting for the part to arrive the motor finally quit working and the frige lost its ability to cool, but the freezer still worked fine. This is the fan that is inside the frige between the refer & freezer compartments - NOT the fan motor that is located in the bottom/rear next to the compressor. This grinding noise sounded like it was coming from inside the frige and could be easily heard under the vegetable trays and above the freezer compartment. To access this motor you need to go after it from inside the bottom of the frige compartment - there's NO need to remove the refer door. Pull the vegetable trays and remove the small phillips head screw located down in the lower air flow groove toward the front of the refer. Next, pry up & out the front white trim piece that runs the width of the frige. Once that piece is removed you can lift & slide back the whole lower frige trim/tray. Now lift out the large foam block compartment and you'll have complete access to the evaporator fan motor and the evap coils. Simply pull the fan motor assy out, still attached to the triangular bracket and disconnect the electrical pigtail. Next, pull the fan blade straight off the front hub, split & disassemble the motor bracket, & replace both fan motor grommets. Reverse the steps to reassemble the fan motor to the bracket and reinstall back in the bottom of the frige and plug in the electrical pigtail - the fan should (quietly) fire off instantly and begin the cooilng process. Reinstall the foam block, lower frige tray, front trim piece, reattach the phillips screw, close the door, and give it some time - it took our frige overnight to completely cool down. This is not a tough job, I spent more time figuring out how to access the motor then the actuall replacement. Hope these steps help to speed up your repair! And remeber Red Sox 4 Life!

My GE GDS18SBPBLSS is now 21 years old (they do not make them like they used to) so I took extra time to not break any of the brittle old plastics. For this replacement you will only need a Phillips head screwdriver.

Parts list:
2 x PS284959 Fan Motor Grommet
1 x PS2359960 Evaporator Fan Motor Assembly

• The first thing you want to do is to unplug the unit refrigerator to prevent any shorts or the fan from starting while you are handling it.
• The evaporator motor is in the refrigerator section, so leave the freezer door shut to preserve the temperature.
• Open the refrigerator door as much as possible and take out the two vegetable/fruit drawers. If your door is right next to a wall and you cannot open it more than 90 degrees, take the drawer furthest from the door hinge first. Then take out the remaining drawer and gently shimmy the center plastic rail guide to allow you to take it out diagonally.
• The front lip of the floor of the refrigerator is clipped in, so pull the plastic trim forward to remove it. If it does not move, lift the center of the plastic trim piece in front of the screw a bit to convince it loose, but it prying it upwards is not advisable because the ends are under the side walls.
• Once the trim piece is removed, remove the Phillips head screw.
• Pull the plastic floor of the refrigerator towards the front and then up to remove it.
• A large foam block secured down with tape needs to be removed next. Once the tape is loosened, lift the foam out carefully with vapor barrier attached under it. Watch for the two foam pieces at the back wall on each side. If they fall off and drop, find them in the freezer later.
• The fan assembly and bracket will be in view, and my suggestion is to take a photo. This way, you know how it should look when it comes time to reassemble everything.
• To the left rear is a small foam block that is taped down. Removing that will reveal the connector clip for the fan motor’s power line that you squeeze the sides to disconnect. Pull the motor wire out of the foam guide.
• Lift the motor bracket assembly out – it is not attached to anything and sits on the foam block.
• Carefully pull the fan blade off by pulling it straight along the motor shaft.
• Undo the rear motor bracket by unscrewing the two Phillips head screws – the right rear motor bracket screw holds the wire guide in. When undone, take the guide off the wire.
• Once the rear bracket is removed, discard the two motor grommets and the motor.
• Put in the new motor with the new motor grommets into the bracket and screw in the left rear screw.
• Clip on the wire guide on to the new motor wiring and then finish mounting the motor with the right rear screw with the wire guide in place.
• Clean off the fan blade thoroughly before pressing into the shaft. Once on, spin the fan to see if it rotates smoothly and easily. Note: Avoid pressing the fan blade too far down as you do not want it to contact the grommet.
• Place the assembly back into the foam block – use the photo from before as a guide if needed.
• Route the motor cable through the foam groove and clip it into the power connector.
• Plug the refrigerator back in to see if the fan spins and to see that there are no issues. If there are no problems, unplug the unit again and continue the reassembly.
• Place the small foam block back into the rear left to cover the connector area.
• While making sure the vapor barrier is positioned correctly above the coils, put the foam block back into place.
• Clean the plastic floor of the refrigerator and then slide it into place, making sure the back and side are flush. Use the screw hole to align the floor properly and then screw the Phillips head screw back in.
• Clean the front trim piece and then slide it back into place.
• Put the drawers back in.
• Plug the refrigerator back in and leave the door closed for a while so the unit cools the internal temperature back down.