Maytag MFI2569VEW - Stink - Outside - When Running
The story begins with a marashino cherry jar, devoid of cherries, but amply full of juice. Sticky, sticky, red juice.
I don’t remember when the story starts, but it was a few months ago.
As occasionally happens, the jar was placed in the refrigerator, with the lid cross-threaded, and it fell on its side. And drained …
… and so I cleaned the inside of the refrigerator … thoroughly … everything came out … the sides were wiped … and it was all put back together …
Today, I finally accepted the fact that the refrigerator was emitting an upleasant stink, from the outside, when it ran.
This isn’t the first time the refrigerator developed body odor, the last time it occurred, a can of orange juice concentrate was involved.
How To Fix It
- Release the brakes. They are the little rubber feet that prevent the fridge from rolling. You may need to use pliers, gently, on the tops (threads) to start them. Screw them up so they aren’t touching the floor.
- This is a good time to vacuum under the front of the fridge. Do it.
- Check how much line you have on the plumbing connection to decide how far you can push the fridge from the wall, then push. My fridge didn’t move, so I poured a bit of water near the wheels. I’m terribly ashamed to admit the fridge was stuck to the floor with I don’t know what. Just use a little water.
- Turn off the fridge and unplug it. Really.
- Unscrew the screws on the two bottom panels of the fridge. Don’t lose them. Make a little pile of stuff, put the screws in one of the panel depressions.
- If the white drip pan looks clean, the stink is probably on the floor. Put the fridge back together, plug it in, turn it back on, slide it out and wash the floor.
- If the white drip pan appears full of vomit or other disgusting substance, it has to be cleaned out. You’ll notice the pan can not be removed, and parts can’t even be reached.
- Take a flashlight and decide how nasty the pan is. If you can reach all the ick, wipe it out and clean it up. I added a little baking soda, you can use whatever you want.
- If you can’t clean all the ick, you should remove the fan. If you didn’t unplug the fridge yet, do it NOW.
- Go get a roll of paper towels, some water, a 12 inch dowel, about 1/4″ in diameter or some other flexible tool. Put some water on a paper towel, put it in the drip pan behind the fan, and use the dowel to push it all the way across to the black canister. As you remove it, wipe the rest of the gunk out of the pan. Repeat this, using a clean paper towel or small rag, until the rag comes out clean.
- Clean the remaining parts of the drip pan.
- Put the whole thing back together. You can store the dowel and any spare screws in the cabinet. You’ll probably need them again.
- Push the fridge all the way out from the wall and wash the floor under it. You might as well, you’re already grubby, cross and tired.
- Order pizza. You deserve it.
There’s a link at the top to the official documentation for this refrigerator. They probably posted a different set of instructions, but as far as I’m concerned, it’s much more difficult to clean this type of drip pan than the one in the last fridge, which slid out the front and could be cleaned with a good blast from the garden hose.
Finally, if you live near Nashua NH (US) and need professional assistance, with any appliance, call Sirois and Son.