Roughly four of every ten service visits for this fault end with no part replaced at all, so the ten-minute check has to come before any part number does. Shutoff arm or ice level sensor stuck in the off position: 5 minutes, no part needed [S1] — the first of 3 causes on this page that need no part at all. On a refrigerator the complaint is the water dispenser still works but there is no ice, and it arrives in these words: the water dispenser works but the ice maker does not, it made ice yesterday and nothing today, the ice maker hums or cycles but no ice drops, the ice comes out in one solid block or there is ice but far less than there used to be. Until that check comes back clean, every price below is premature — the completed repairs behind this symptom run $297–$489 [S1], against a replacement from $700.
What a technician actually does
frozen fill tube [S1]
medium likelihood moderate no part needed about 60 min
it made ice yesterday and nothing today the water dispenser works but the ice maker does not
The fourth of the source's no-part-replaced group. When the freezer runs slightly colder than it should, or when the tube sits in the path of cold air, water freezes inside the line and plugs it: the maker cycles, nothing arrives, and no part has failed. Thawing it is free and takes hours rather than minutes, and the source's prevention note is to check the freezer setpoint afterwards, because a tube that freezes once will freeze again at the same temperature. Where the tube itself has split, S2's no-ice figure of a $417 median across 241 repairs is the honest expectation.
failed water inlet valve [S2]
high likelihood advanced $357–$521 installed about 60 min
the water dispenser works but the ice maker does not the ice maker hums or cycles but no ice drops
The most frequent part in the source's table and the ordinary answer when the free checks are all clean: the valve opens on command to fill the mold, and a coil or a clogged screen stops it opening even though the dispenser line still flows. This is also the fault behind the opposite symptom the source lists, an ice maker that never stops filling, because a valve stuck open and a sensor that never reports a full bin look the same from the outside. The source's line on it is blunt: the repair is routine.
S2 publishes medians of completed jobs rather than part-only prices: a water inlet valve comes to $409 with the middle half at $357-521 across 72 repairs
failed ice maker assembly or mold heater [S2]
medium likelihood advanced $410–$507 installed about 75 min
the ice maker hums or cycles but no ice drops the ice comes out in one solid block
The whole maker as a unit, and the reason a single ice maker costs more than the refrigerator repair around it: the source's median refrigerator repair is $391 and the ice maker inside it runs $415. A mold heater that no longer releases the cubes produces the block-of-ice symptom, and a maker that cycles without producing anything at all is the assembly. The source's own framing is that this is where replacing the module is cheaper than diagnosing it by the part. Time basis: no published duration, book estimate.
S2 prices an ice maker assembly as a completed job at a $446 median with the middle half at $410-507 across 65 repairs; no part-only figure is published
failed ejector or drive motor [S1]
medium likelihood advanced $358–$471 installed about 60 min
the ice maker hums or cycles but no ice drops
The source's reading of a maker that hums or cycles with nothing coming out: the mold is frozen and the mechanism that pushes the cubes out has failed, so the harvest never completes and the next cycle starts on top of the last. A motor that turns with a stripped gear can also be heard working while nothing moves. S2's count for this part is the smallest of its four common ones, which is consistent with the source's split between no ice (241 repairs) and the maker as the whole fault.
S2 prices a drive motor as a completed job at a $408 median with the middle half at $358-471 across 43 repairs; no part-only figure is published
control board not commanding the harvest cycle [S2]
low likelihood advanced $306–$703 installed about 90 min
it made ice yesterday and nothing today the ice maker hums or cycles but no ice drops
The widest spread in the source's panel, which the source reads as several different faults hiding behind one symptom. A board that stops calling for a fill or a harvest leaves a maker that looks dead while every mechanical part in it is serviceable, and the same board is what a technician ends up replacing after the valve, the motor and the filter have all tested good. The band runs from below the cost of the assembly to well above it, so this is the diagnosis that decides whether the refrigerator is worth keeping.
S2 prices a control board as a completed job at a $472 median with the middle half at $306-703 across 35 repairs, the widest band in its table; no part-only figure is published
compressor or sealed system fault behind a warm freezer [S3]
low likelihood pro $466–$1,200 installed about 240 min
the water dispenser works but the ice maker does not there is ice but far less than there used to be
Not an ice maker fault at all, and the one that turns a no-ice complaint into a refrigerator decision: if the freezer is warm rather than merely not cold enough, if the food is softening at the back, or if the compressor runs continuously without cooling, the ice maker stopped because there is no cold. S2's median for a compressor is far below S3's 2026 installed band, and the spread across S2's own 26 jobs is $277 to $1,014, which is the honest picture of a sealed-system repair. Nothing here is a DIY job: it needs refrigerant handling and a vacuum pump.
the two sources disagree on this one and both figures are shown: S2's completed compressor repairs median $466 with the middle half at $277-1,014 across 26 jobs, while S3 prices a compressor repair at $700-1,200 installed
Repair or replace?
Spend the ten minutes on the four free causes first, because four of every ten visits for this symptom end without a part being fitted. If a part is the answer, repair almost always wins: $409 for the valve, $408 for the motor and $446 for the assembly are all under the price of the cheapest refrigerator that would replace this one. The compressor is the exception, and so is a second fault on a unit past eight years - that is where S3's half-of-new-price rule and S1's age lines point at replacement instead. [S1]
- Typical completed repair: $297–$489 [S1]
- Comparable new unit: $700–$3,200 [S1]
- Planning life used for the decision: 8 years
- The comparison is not $415 against a refrigerator, it is $415 against $700 for a top-freezer and against $1,600-3,200 for the French door most of these ice makers live in (S3's 2026 unit prices), before delivery and haul-away, which neither source prices separately. That gap is why a valve or an assembly is repaired at almost any age and why the sealed-system fault is the one that ends a refrigerator's life.
S3's repair-or-replace rule is the half-of-new-price test past eight years, and S1's own replacement section works from eight and twelve year lines for refrigerators; the ice maker module inside a working refrigerator is a part with its own life, not a reason to replace the cabinet
Run your own quote through the calculator — the same half-of-new-price rule with your numbers.
Do this first (free)
shutoff arm or ice level sensor stuck in the off position [S1]
high likelihood easy no part needed about 5 min
it made ice yesterday and nothing today there is ice but far less than there used to be
The single most valuable five minutes on this page, and the reason the source's headline statistic is what it is: roughly four of every ten service visits for no ice end with no part replaced at all, because the fault was a raised shutoff arm, a warm freezer, a clogged filter or a frozen fill tube. The arm is lifted by a bag of frozen food pushed to the back, by a hand reaching past it, or by ice that piled up and pushed it. The source calls it the first thing to rule out before booking anything.
freezer warm enough for food but too warm for the ice maker [S1]
high likelihood easy no part needed about 10 min
it made ice yesterday and nothing today the water dispenser works but the ice maker does not
The source's own tell: the compartment feels cold and everything in it is frozen, and still no ice, because the ice maker thermostat wants a colder setpoint than food needs. An ice maker produces nothing until the freezer is at temperature, so a door left ajar, a blocked vent or a setpoint nudged during cleaning is enough. Check the actual setting and give the machine several hours after any change before deciding a part has failed.
clogged or exhausted water filter [S1]
medium likelihood easy $312–$577 installed about 10 min
the water dispenser works but the ice maker does not there is ice but far less than there used to be
A filter at the end of its life starves the ice maker of flow while still dribbling enough water for the dispenser to look normal, which is exactly how a no-ice complaint with a working dispenser is produced. It is one of the four causes in the source's four-in-ten free-fix group, and the tell is a filter that is past its interval or a dispenser flow that has gone visibly slow. The part is inexpensive and the job is a twist-and-click on most models, which is why the $419 completed-job median here is a labour figure rather than a parts figure.
S2 prices a water-filter replacement as a completed job at a $419 median with the middle half at $312-577 across 28 repairs, which is the figure used here; the filter itself is a consumable neither source prices separately