The short answer for these models
Ice makers fail in three places and only one of them is the ice maker. Water has to arrive, the compartment has to be cold enough to finish a batch, and the finished ice has to get out of the way of the next one. Check those three in order and the mechanism is usually exonerated. What changes on the BUF models is the sequence rather than the diagnosis. A built-under cabinet has to shed its heat through one small grille, so anything that restricts that grille shows up as a fault long before it would on a freestanding unit, which is why the clearance and condenser checks belong at the top of the list here.
How this shows up
- Which form your BUF unit is — settle this first — See how much air the cabinet has. Boxed into cabinetry, and restriction explains more faults here than failure does.
- No ice at all, and the tray or mould is dry — Nothing is arriving. The fault is on the supply side of the ice maker rather than inside it.
- The ice maker runs but the bin stays empty — Sound without product means the cycle is completing and the ice is not getting out.
- Ice tastes or smells of the cabinet — Taste is not a mechanical fault, it is a housekeeping one, and it is fixed by emptying and airing the bin.
- NEAR MISS — water is pooling under the cabinet rather than freezing — That is a leak, not an ice fault, and it belongs on the page about water where it should not be.
Causes, most likely first on this family
- The bin, the arm or the switch is out of position — On the list because a machine that thinks the bin is full behaves exactly like a machine that has failed, and because correcting it costs nothing. The ranking moves here for a reason particular to these models: how the unit is built changes what this finding means. That is what puts the clearance and condenser checks ahead of everything else on the list.
- The fill valve, the mechanism or its heater — Last because it is the diagnosis of exclusion and because confirming it means a meter and a panel off.
The order the checks belong in
- First — look at the mould and the bin — This one check splits the whole diagnosis in half before you touch anything.
- Second — empty the bin completely and look underneath — Take everything out. Half of these complaints are visible the moment the bin is empty. On these models this is the step the construction changes: the answer only tells you something once you know which form the unit is.
Before you open anything
Safety
Unplug the appliance or switch off its breaker before removing any panel. A capacitor can hold a charge after the power is off. Never put your hand into an ice maker to free a jam while the machine is live; the harvest cycle starts on its own schedule and it does not know your hand is there. Warm water clears frost safely and nothing sharper should be used.
Where the owner job ends
The line falls where the mechanism begins. Water supply, a raised arm and a frozen bin are yours; the module, the valve and the wiring behind the panel are not. Say whether ice stopped suddenly or faded over weeks — the two point at different parts.
The other symptoms covered for this family
Lead Appliance Repair Technician · 12 years experience
Experienced technician with 12 years specializing in washing machine and dryer repairs across all major brands.
