How to Change an Auger in a GE Icemaker

Turn off the ice maker inside the GE freezer. Lift up on the ice bucket, and pull it from the freezer.

Dump the ice from the bucket, and allow the bucket to sit undisturbed on a stable work surface for at least 30 minutes. This allows the plastic bucket to come to room temperature, making it less likely to break.

Remove the Phillips screw holding the clear plastic shield at the front of the ice bucket. Lift the shield off the bucket, and set it aside, along with its screw.

Turn the ice bin over to expose its underside. Remove the two Phillips screws from the front of the bin, just behind the opening where the ice drops out of the bucket. Carefully wiggle the front cover off the ice bucket.

Leave the bucket turned with the bottom of the bin facing up. Remove the single Phillips screw holding the metal lever to the bottom of the bin. Lift the metal lever off the bottom of the bin, leaving the back of the lever attached.

Turn the ice bin right side up. Find the two tabs at the front of the bin. The tabs are located on both sides of the auger housing. Carefully slide a putty knife along the seam between the bucket and auger housing to depress the tabs and release the auger housing from the ice bin.

Lift the auger housing out of the ice bin. Slide the clear plastic blade shield down the auger to remove it from the auger housing.

Remove the E-ring from the end of the auger holding it into the auger housing. To pry the ring off the auger, insert a flat-head screwdriver between the E-ring and the auger. Remove the washer from behind the E-ring with your fingers.

Lift the auger from the auger housing. Remove the left-hand thread nylon nut holding the blades to the auger. Turn it clockwise with tongue and groove pliers.

Slide each auger blade from the auger. Each blade has a nylon spacer separating it from the next blade. The blades are numbered to make reinstallation easier. After you're removed the final blade from the auger, remove the last two spacers.

Thread the two spacers onto the replacement auger, then replace each blade in the order you removed them from the original auger. Make sure you install a nylon spacer between each blade. Replace the left-hand thread nylon nut on the end of the auger, and tighten it by turning it counterclockwise with the pliers.

Thread the clear plastic blade shield over the auger and up to the blades. Insert the auger into the opening in the auger housing. Place the washer over the auger, and secure it with the E-ring you removed from the original auger.

Slip the end of the auger into the opening in the back of the ice bin. Snap the auger housing into the ice bucket.

Turn the ice bucket over to reattach the metal lever onto the bottom of the bin. Carefully wiggle the front cover back onto the ice bin. Replace the two Phillips screws on the bottom just behind the ice opening in the bucket.

Turn the ice bucket over, and reinstall the clear plastic shield at the front of the ice bucket with the Phillips screw you removed earlier.

Put the ice bin back into the GE freezer. Turn on the ice maker.