Door gasket The refrigerator (not the freezer door) is not closing/sticking to the metal, the door stays open and the food gets warm. Do I need to replace the gasket? if so I already call and the part is backorder 30 days I can't wait that long !!! Do you know how can I find the part sooner??? Thank you !!! Madelyn

I have a refrigerator with a top freezer that was constantly popping open, just enough to let the heat in and melt anything inside. This can also cause heavy frost build up from condensing humidity in the air. The frost can build up on the front face of the fridge where it meets the magnetic gasket on the door making it even harder to keep the freezer closed.
The cause in my case was that slamming the refrigerator door sent a puff of air through the ductwork to the freezer above. The sudden pressure increase popped the freezer door open and the door wasn't heavy enough to close on its own. Since this is a beer fridge in my garage I fixed it by putting a stick on childproof latch from H-D on the freezer door. :-)
If this was our main fridge indoors, I would first check to see how much force it takes to open the freezer vs. the refrigerator section. It should be about the same. If not, check the freezer door gasket to be sure no food or ice is built up on it and that the mating surface is clean. Check that the door is closing parallel to the mating surface. A misalignment would make it hard for the gasket to seal or stay sealed. Adjust hinges if necessary. If all seems ok, check to see if the fridge is level or possibly needs to be adjusted so it tilts back just a bit to make the doors self closing and not fighting gravity to stay closed. If all else fails, inspect the door gasket to be sure it isn't broken or stiffened with age. Inspect the bottom of the door gasket with a mirror. I once had a side by side with what looked like a good gasket until I felt around the bottom of the door. Replace if necessary.

Hello Bob;

My name is Peter. I am a retired field service refrigeration technician.

Your problem is directly related to warm air due to low freezer temperature or outside war air getting into your freezer.

First, Check the freezer temperature. It should be set at -2 to +2 degrees F. If you can not control this temperature then you have a bad Bi-metal on the cooling coils.
Second, you have a spring release ice dispenser. Reach up and pull the door to open does it close completely? When you select the crushed ice option, pieces of the crushed ice will not clear the dispenser door and block it open, where warm outside air will get into your freezer causing a frosting problem.
Third, Door gasket not sealing. With a piece of paper, sun the paper completely around the door gasket and the face of the freezer. If you can move the paper around the door then you have a bad seal. Inspect the freezer door gasket for tears. No tears, Then with a hair dryer and a kitchen spatula, heat the door gasket one section at a time while using the spatula pulling out to expand the gasket. At times door gaskets will be come crushed and require reconditioning.
Fourth, Freezer door not completely closing. Often, I had gone on service calls for the same problem. The customer had the freezer so packed that it would not completely close. The customer had food going beyond the shelf edges. Or, a freezer door was stuck and not completely move in.
Fifth, Worn door cams. On the bottom of the door you have a set of door cams. These become worn. They are hard rubber. Laying on the floor, open and close the freezer door. You should hear a popping sound as these two cams engage and disengage. These cams lock the door in place.
Sixth, Refrigerator leveling. When your refrigerator is delivered it is leveled. This is wrong. Your refrigerator should be level from left to right, but the front off the refrigerator should be slightly higher to ensure by gravity the door will close by themselves and ensure a good seal.

Go into the following website and put in your model number. You will get both diagrams and component part numbers. Record the part number you may need and search the internet for best price.
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Hello;

My name is Peter. I am a retired field service refrigeration technician.

There are several things to check:

1.) Door Gasket -Take a piece of paper. With the freezer door closed run the paper around the gasket. If you can do that, then you are not getting a good seal.
Repair: Clean the freezer door gasket with soap and water. While still wet, take a hair dryer and a spatula, going around the gasket, heat the gasket while pulling the gasket out to expand it.
Note: This only solves the problem if there is frost in the front area of your freezer.

2.) Freezer fan not working - In some cases, The freezer fan helps to prevent warm air from getting into the freezer.

3.) Food Storage - Make sure you do not overload the freezer, and that the food product is inside the bounds of the racks.

4.) Fresh Food Section Air Vent Wide Open - This is your probable cause: Heat goes to Cold like a magnet. When you open your fresh food section door and then close it you are forcing warm air up the vent that goes to the freezer. You probably have a broken air vent assembly.

you can try to raise the front legs a bit and put some heavy things on the rack on the door so it won't pop open.if the door opens and closes correctly this should help,also how is the gasket on the door?wash around the frame where the gasket touches the frame and wash the gasket,there's a magnet inside the gasket that helps hold the door shut.check to make sure no food or draws are sticking out to far and hitting the door when it's closing.

Frost buildup on food and ice around the door is due to warm air infiltration. This sounds like a door closure problem. Be sure that nothing is interfering with the drawer as it closes. Be sure to open the upper door and look down at the drawer top to see that the gasket is hitting the steel frame of the cabinet. Look all the way around the entire drawer front checking the seal.
Also open the drawer and hold it as it closes, so that if there is any food product binding it you will see it get hung open.
Good luck.

The lower hinge on each door may have a door closing cam. It raises the door up ¼ inch when opening and this assist in closing the door. If it’s wore out and doesn’t work the door may not seal and the gasket can be damaged. Watch the operation of the door to see if it rises up when opened.

Leave the door shut and let the magnetic gasket hold the door in place. Put something between the bottom of the door and the floor to hold it in case it slips.
Remove the bracket holding the pin and hinge assembly taking note of order of removal of parts. Slide new cams on. You probably need two.

Replace a door gasket on a refrigerator....



Replace a door gasket on a refrigerator: The first thing to do when changing a door gasket is to check and see if you have the proper part before taking the old gasket off. Hold the new gasket up to the fridge door to make sure the gasket is the same size as the old one. Next step is to remove the wrinkles in the gasket caused by folding for shipping. Instructions with the gaskets say to soak the gasket in hot water. Another way is to use a hair dryer to heat the gasket and remove the wrinkles. Be careful not to burn the gasket with the hair dryer. Almost all gaskets in use today are magnetic. I am placing instructions here for the most common one. They have strips of magnetized material inside the gasket material to adhere to the cabinet when the door is closed. Therefore there is sometimes no up or down on the gasket. Some fridge's have magnets on only 3 sides and the side without a magnet is the hinge side gasket. But to be safe, check this before installing. You will certainly want to check for this on older refrigerators that have magnetic door latches. Some of these have no magnets on the latch side of the gasket. There are about three different ways of attaching gaskets. All will be addressed on this page. Remove the food from the shelves on the door. Loosen the screws that hold the metal strips that keep gasket in place on the top half of the door. Back the screws out about 1/4 inch. The gasket has a lip on it that seats in a groove under the top part of the metal strip. Pull the old gasket off. Work the groove on back side of the new gasket under the cutout in the metal strips that holds it on the door liner. Straighten and get good install before tightening screws. Run screws back up against the metal holding strip snugly, not fully tight. Go to the bottom and do the bottom half. By doing the top half first and tightening, then doing the bottom half, you will minimize any warping of the door. If there is warping of the door, we have not yet fully tightened the screws. so you can realign the door easily and then tighten the screws. Check the alignment of the door and be sure the gasket is sealing properly before fully tightening the screws. If the door is warped, (see picture) simply warp it back to a sealing position, then tighten the screws. There are instances where the gasket is too tight on the hinge side, and you may have to shim the door hinges out from the cabinet to keep the gasket from scrubbing when closing. .also use a little petroleum jelly on the gasket on the hinge side will allow the gasket to "settle" better. The hinge side must slide along the cabinet edge while the other 3 sides just close up against the cabinet. The jelly will allow the gasket to rub smoothly and also prevent squeaking noises. Maintenance of the gasket is important also. It should be cleaned on a regular basis. Clean the gasket and the mating cabinet surface with warm soapy water, rinse clean and dry it good. Putting a little baby powder on the sides (except the hinge side because we put the jelly there) will prevent the gasket from sticking and tearing. The heaters in the refrigerator used to keep moisture from forming on the cabinet attracts airborne materials and make the gasket sealing surfaces sticky. The powder will help stop this. Probably 75% of the fridge's made a few years ago use this edge under the metal track....some American made fridge's use the U shaped metal strip and the gasket pushes into the metal strip, (see a picture) the screws that hold this metal strip do not have to be removed or loosened. A lot of fridge's also use the metal strips with out the edge. Some Maytag's and Woods come to mind. The screws go through the metal strip and the gasket as well. The screws have to be removed completely to replace the gasket.
Gasket sheet to assist you in replacing a common door gasket.






Freezer door pops open when I shut the fresh food door:
This happens because the refrigerators of today are air tight, the fresh food door pushes the air into the cabinet as it closes and the air has no place to go but up the air vent into the freezer and "pops" open the freezer door. First thing is make sure the freezer door is capable of closing properly and is not rubbing or catching anywhere. I sometimes add a washer or 2 to the center hinge under the freezer door so it doesn't rub anything. Put a little Vaseline ( or food grade silicone lubricant ) on the hinge side of the seal. I then raise the front of the refrigerator so that the front of the refrigerator is a little higher than the back of the refrigerator. Never level a fridge with a level. Once you have the door closing properly and front slightly higher than the back...let the fresh food door close from 90 degrees on it's own and the freezer door may "pop" open a little but will close again on it's own...and stay closed once all is set up properly. We see this more often now and have no trouble with the door staying open again after setting up the refrigerator properly.
Let me know if this helps, Thanks, Sea Breeze

Below is instructions on how to make sure doors open and close properly. Ignore the popping open part if this is not happening for you.

Replace a door gasket on a refrigerator....



Replace a door gasket on a refrigerator: The first thing to do when changing a door gasket is to check and see if you have the proper part before taking the old gasket off. Hold the new gasket up to the fridge door to make sure the gasket is the same size as the old one. Next step is to remove the wrinkles in the gasket caused by folding for shipping. Instructions with the gaskets say to soak the gasket in hot water. Another way is to use a hair dryer to heat the gasket and remove the wrinkles. Be careful not to burn the gasket with the hair dryer. Almost all gaskets in use today are magnetic. I am placing instructions here for the most common one. They have strips of magnetized material inside the gasket material to adhere to the cabinet when the door is closed. Therefore there is sometimes no up or down on the gasket. Some fridge's have magnets on only 3 sides and the side without a magnet is the hinge side gasket. But to be safe, check this before installing. You will certainly want to check for this on older refrigerators that have magnetic door latches. Some of these have no magnets on the latch side of the gasket. There are about three different ways of attaching gaskets. All will be addressed on this page. Remove the food from the shelves on the door. Loosen the screws that hold the metal strips that keep gasket in place on the top half of the door. Back the screws out about 1/4 inch. The gasket has a lip on it that seats in a groove under the top part of the metal strip. Pull the old gasket off. Work the groove on back side of the new gasket under the cutout in the metal strips that holds it on the door liner. Straighten and get good install before tightening screws. Run screws back up against the metal holding strip snugly, not fully tight. Go to the bottom and do the bottom half. By doing the top half first and tightening, then doing the bottom half, you will minimize any warping of the door. If there is warping of the door, we have not yet fully tightened the screws. so you can realign the door easily and then tighten the screws. Check the alignment of the door and be sure the gasket is sealing properly before fully tightening the screws. If the door is warped, (see picture) simply warp it back to a sealing position, then tighten the screws. There are instances where the gasket is too tight on the hinge side, and you may have to shim the door hinges out from the cabinet to keep the gasket from scrubbing when closing. .also use a little petroleum jelly on the gasket on the hinge side will allow the gasket to "settle" better. The hinge side must slide along the cabinet edge while the other 3 sides just close up against the cabinet. The jelly will allow the gasket to rub smoothly and also prevent squeaking noises. Maintenance of the gasket is important also. It should be cleaned on a regular basis. Clean the gasket and the mating cabinet surface with warm soapy water, rinse clean and dry it good. Putting a little baby powder on the sides (except the hinge side because we put the jelly there) will prevent the gasket from sticking and tearing. The heaters in the refrigerator used to keep moisture from forming on the cabinet attracts airborne materials and make the gasket sealing surfaces sticky. The powder will help stop this. Probably 75% of the fridge's made a few years ago use this edge under the metal track....some American made fridge's use the U shaped metal strip and the gasket pushes into the metal strip, (see a picture) the screws that hold this metal strip do not have to be removed or loosened. A lot of fridge's also use the metal strips with out the edge. Some Maytag's and Woods come to mind. The screws go through the metal strip and the gasket as well. The screws have to be removed completely to replace the gasket.
Gasket sheet to assist you in replacing a common door gasket.






Freezer door pops open when I shut the fresh food door:
This happens because the refrigerators of today are air tight, the fresh food door pushes the air into the cabinet as it closes and the air has no place to go but up the air vent into the freezer and "pops" open the freezer door. First thing is make sure the freezer door is capable of closing properly and is not rubbing or catching anywhere. I sometimes add a washer or 2 to the center hinge under the freezer door so it doesn't rub anything. Put a little Vaseline ( or food grade silicone lubricant ) on the hinge side of the seal. I then raise the front of the refrigerator so that the front of the refrigerator is a little higher than the back of the refrigerator. Never level a fridge with a level. Once you have the door closing properly and front slightly higher than the back...let the fresh food door close from 90 degrees on it's own and the freezer door may "pop" open a little but will close again on it's own...and stay closed once all is set up properly. We see this more often now and have no trouble with the door staying open again after setting up the refrigerator properly.
Let me know if this helps, Thanks, Sea Breeze

Replace a door gasket on a refrigerator....



Replace a door gasket on a refrigerator: The first thing to do when changing a door gasket is to check and see if you have the proper part before taking the old gasket off. Hold the new gasket up to the fridge door to make sure the gasket is the same size as the old one. Next step is to remove the wrinkles in the gasket caused by folding for shipping. Instructions with the gaskets say to soak the gasket in hot water. Another way is to use a hair dryer to heat the gasket and remove the wrinkles. Be careful not to burn the gasket with the hair dryer. Almost all gaskets in use today are magnetic. I am placing instructions here for the most common one. They have strips of magnetized material inside the gasket material to adhere to the cabinet when the door is closed. Therefore there is sometimes no up or down on the gasket. Some fridge's have magnets on only 3 sides and the side without a magnet is the hinge side gasket. But to be safe, check this before installing. You will certainly want to check for this on older refrigerators that have magnetic door latches. Some of these have no magnets on the latch side of the gasket. There are about three different ways of attaching gaskets. All will be addressed on this page. Remove the food from the shelves on the door. Loosen the screws that hold the metal strips that keep gasket in place on the top half of the door. Back the screws out about 1/4 inch. The gasket has a lip on it that seats in a groove under the top part of the metal strip. Pull the old gasket off. Work the groove on back side of the new gasket under the cutout in the metal strips that holds it on the door liner. Straighten and get good install before tightening screws. Run screws back up against the metal holding strip snugly, not fully tight. Go to the bottom and do the bottom half. By doing the top half first and tightening, then doing the bottom half, you will minimize any warping of the door. If there is warping of the door, we have not yet fully tightened the screws. so you can realign the door easily and then tighten the screws. Check the alignment of the door and be sure the gasket is sealing properly before fully tightening the screws. If the door is warped, (see picture) simply warp it back to a sealing position, then tighten the screws. There are instances where the gasket is too tight on the hinge side, and you may have to shim the door hinges out from the cabinet to keep the gasket from scrubbing when closing. .also use a little petroleum jelly on the gasket on the hinge side will allow the gasket to "settle" better. The hinge side must slide along the cabinet edge while the other 3 sides just close up against the cabinet. The jelly will allow the gasket to rub smoothly and also prevent squeaking noises. Maintenance of the gasket is important also. It should be cleaned on a regular basis. Clean the gasket and the mating cabinet surface with warm soapy water, rinse clean and dry it good. Putting a little baby powder on the sides (except the hinge side because we put the jelly there) will prevent the gasket from sticking and tearing. The heaters in the refrigerator used to keep moisture from forming on the cabinet attracts airborne materials and make the gasket sealing surfaces sticky. The powder will help stop this. Probably 75% of the fridge's made a few years ago use this edge under the metal track....some American made fridge's use the U shaped metal strip and the gasket pushes into the metal strip, (see a picture) the screws that hold this metal strip do not have to be removed or loosened. A lot of fridge's also use the metal strips with out the edge. Some Maytag's and Woods come to mind. The screws go through the metal strip and the gasket as well. The screws have to be removed completely to replace the gasket.
Gasket sheet to assist you in replacing a common door gasket.






Freezer door pops open when I shut the fresh food door:
This happens because the refrigerators of today are air tight, the fresh food door pushes the air into the cabinet as it closes and the air has no place to go but up the air vent into the freezer and "pops" open the freezer door. First thing is make sure the freezer door is capable of closing properly and is not rubbing or catching anywhere. I sometimes add a washer or 2 to the center hinge under the freezer door so it doesn't rub anything. Put a little Vaseline ( or food grade silicone lubricant ) on the hinge side of the seal. I then raise the front of the refrigerator so that the front of the refrigerator is a little higher than the back of the refrigerator. Never level a fridge with a level. Once you have the door closing properly and front slightly higher than the back...let the fresh food door close from 90 degrees on it's own and the freezer door may "pop" open a little but will close again on it's own...and stay closed once all is set up properly. We see this more often now and have no trouble with the door staying open again after setting up the refrigerator properly.

I hope this helps, and if you need more information On solutions just let me know, Thanks Sea Breeze

OK LOOSEN THE HINGE THAT SUPPORTS THE FREEZER DOOR.IT'S ON TOP AND HAS 3 SCREWS .JUST LOOSEN AND NOT REMOVE THEM.NOW LIFT UP THE DOOR UNTIL IT LINES UP EVEN WITH THE OTHER DOOR.AT THE SAME TIME TIGHTEN ALL 3 SCREWS. YOUR DONE!!!
PLEASE RATE THIS. THANX!!