KitchenAid refrigerator jobs from our notes, from a dusty condenser to a new compressor. What was wrong, what we did, what it cost.
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About half of our KitchenAid calls are refrigerators, and the technician notes on those are the most detailed we have. So this page is laid out like the fridge itself. Each section is one part of the cabinet, with the KitchenAid jobs where the problem turned out to be there.
The jobs come from across our area: Sherman Oaks, Studio City, Downtown LA, Hollywood, West Hills, North Hills, Pasadena, Newbury Park and Moorpark, plus oven calls in Pacific Palisades and Westwood further down. Each one gives the month and what the technician found. Where the bill covers only that repair, we show it to the nearest five dollars; where it may include other work, we leave it out. A few ended without a repair, and we say why.
On 48-inch built-ins, the condenser and compressor sit up top behind the grille. On freestanding models they are at the bottom, behind the toe grille.
On a built-in, the condenser coil sits behind the grille above the doors, and it collects dust. If the coil can’t shed heat, the compressor runs hot.
The customer booked it as a KitchenAid that had stopped cooling. An infrared reading in the fresh-food section showed 49.1°F. With the top grille off, the technician found the condenser coils very dusty and the compressor overheating, which can shut the cooling down. No part was needed. We cleaned the coils.
Done: condenser coils cleaned. Bill: about $290.
This is where the big KitchenAid bills come from. A sealed-system repair means opening the refrigerant circuit, so it goes well beyond swapping a part.
This customer already expected a compressor when they called. The technician confirmed a sealed-system failure: with the gauges on, the low side read 0.0 psig against 127.5 psig on the high side. Our side of it: refrigerant recovered; new compressor, new evaporator, new filter drier; an access valve added for charging. The circuit was then nitrogen-purged, brazed, evacuated and recharged, and we verified pressures and temperatures before leaving. The price allowed for a second technician and covered shipping the parts in.
Replaced: compressor, evaporator, filter drier; access valve added. Bill: about $2,280.
This one was booked with no symptom given. The technician found the system low on refrigerant. Fixing that properly meant a sealed-system repair, and he told the customer it wasn’t cost-effective. The customer decided to buy a new refrigerator. The visit ended at the diagnostic.
Done: diagnosis only. Bill: the $85 diagnostic.
The evaporator makes the cold air, and the defrost system keeps it clear. If defrost stops, frost closes the coil off and the fresh-food side warms up.
Frost was building up and the fresh-food section was warm. The technician’s thermometer read 58.1°F inside it. The refrigerator wasn’t going into defrost. He tested the defrost heater, the thermostat and the sensors, and all of them worked. The fault was the electronic control board: it wasn’t sending power to the defrost circuit. We replaced the board.
When the job was closed out in July, there was a second problem. The defrost drain in the fresh-food section was clogged, leaving a block of ice on the floor of the compartment. We did a manual defrost and cleaned the whole drain line.
Replaced: electronic control board, about $755. Then: manual defrost and drain line cleaning, about $250.
Have the model number from the label handy when you call. Diagnosis comes first, then a written price, and no work until you agree.
Water problems come up more on KitchenAid fridges than on other brands in our records (figures below). Two of these three started with water or ice where it shouldn’t be.
The complaint was ice building up and the ice maker overflowing water. The technician found that the freezer door gasket had visible gaps and wasn’t sealing. Warm air was getting into the freezer, causing extra condensation, frost and the overflow. We replaced the freezer door gasket and cleaned the condenser coil while we were there.
Replaced: freezer door gasket. Also: condenser coil cleaned. We haven’t printed this bill, because the same invoice may cover other work at that visit.
In early March this refrigerator wasn’t cooling. It had a refrigerant leak, with the low side reading below zero on the gauge (-8.4 inHg). That meant a new compressor and evaporator, a new drier, a charging valve and a fresh refrigerant charge. That came to about $2,280.
Within days, the ice wasn’t dispensing. The auger motor had failed and the wiring was damaged. We replaced the auger motor and fitted a new wire harness and connectors, about $700. Then a new circuit board burned out too. The technician suspected a short in the wiring inside the door, which he couldn’t reach. In June the same customer booked us again because the dispenser wasn’t working, and that visit ended at the diagnostic. Our records don’t show how it was finally resolved, so we won’t claim the dispenser was fixed.
“Very helpful team. Mike did a great job”
Travis S. · Google, March 2026 · this KitchenAid customer, Sherman OaksFreestanding KitchenAid fridges draw air for the condenser through the grille at floor level. That grille picks up whatever is on the floor.
The fridge wasn’t cooling, and neither the compressor nor the condenser fan was running. The condenser coil area was heavily blocked with dust and debris. That can stop the heat getting out, overheat the compressor and shut it down. The technician also found a relay/booster and a piercing valve (a clamp-on valve that taps into the refrigerant tubing) left by a previous service. After a power reset, the fridge restarted and began cooling normally.
He recommended cleaning the condenser coils. He also told the customer to watch the fridge for 24 hours, through a full defrost cycle. If it shut down again after defrost, the next step would be electrical testing for a control board or other part failing intermittently. We have no record of a callback, so we can’t tell you how it held up.
Done: diagnosis and a power reset; coil cleaning recommended. Bill: about $150.
Nearly a third of our KitchenAid calls are dishwashers. Few of those jobs have notes detailed enough to tell here, so for dishwasher repairs of every brand, see our dishwasher page. These three are KitchenAid cooking appliances.
The range door wouldn’t close properly. Both door hinges were damaged and worn, holding the door out of alignment. The fix was to replace the left and right hinges. The invoice may include other work, so we don’t give a price for the hinges.
On this stove, one knob wouldn’t stay on and the broiler didn’t work. The technician confirmed both. His note says the broiler fault may involve the spark module or a related part, and the knob or its mounting may need replacing. More diagnosis and parts were the next step. Our records show no follow-up visit.
A maintenance request, not a breakdown. The owner wanted the doors of this built-in double oven taken apart to get at the glass between the panes. The work order reads “top and lower oven glass cleaning maintenance”. About $330.
We compared our completed KitchenAid jobs with completed jobs for every other brand we repair. For prices we used invoices over $100 only, which drops the diagnostic-only visits.
| What we looked at | KitchenAid | Other brands |
|---|---|---|
| Jobs that were a refrigerator | 51% | 33% |
| Jobs that were a dishwasher | 31% | 13% |
| Jobs that were a washer or dryer | about 1% | about half |
| Refrigerator repair, median bill | about $490 | about $435 |
| Refrigerator repairs that reached $1,500 | about 1 in 11 | about 1 in 25 |
| Fridge calls whose recorded fault mentions a leak | 28% | 18% |
| Dishwasher repair, median bill | about $330 | about $320 |
| Oven, range or cooktop repair, median bill | about $455 | about $425 |
| Any KitchenAid repair, median bill | about $405 | about $370 |
The refrigerator top end includes the built-in compressor work in sections 2 and 4. Half of our KitchenAid repairs over $100 fall between $310 and $600. “Not cooling” is a slightly smaller share of KitchenAid fridge complaints than for other brands (36% against 44%). Microwave and ice maker jobs are too few for a reliable median. More by appliance: refrigerators, ovens and ranges.
Tell us which part of the KitchenAid it seems to be. A photo of the model label helps; text it to the same number.