40FD Refigerator is not secure

[Applejack]

The top of my refigerator cabinet has pulled away from the sidewall about 1/4 inch and the refigerator seems to have a lot of movement(creaks and groans). The bottom seems to be secured ok. I also have outside air (and dust comming inside around the fridge while travelling. Has anyone with this floorplan had the same problem ?

[Applejack]

The top of my refigerator cabinet has pulled away from the sidewall about 1/4 inch and the refigerator seems to have a lot of movement(creaks and groans). The bottom seems to be secured ok. I also have outside air (and dust comming inside around the fridge while travelling. Has anyone with this floorplan had the same problem ?

[John_Canfield]

I'll reply to keep this active...

If you have the four-door Norcold, there are four 'buttons' across the top flange - these buttons hide mounting screws. If memory serves me correctly (getting to more of a long-shot lately ) the other flanges pop off to reveal more screws.

Is the wood trim around the perimeter of the fridge nice and secure? How about the top/side screws?

[Applejack]

John, it is a four door Norcold. The problem seems to be that the cabinit holding the fridge has pulled away from the sidewall. When I remove the outside top vent cover I can see daylight inside the coach around the top part of the fridge cabinit, when I put my finger in the crack I can feel the screws that have pulled out of the sidewall. It seems that the cabinit holding the fridge is only secured to the thin inside plywood of the laminate wall. Looks like the fridge will have to be removed to resecure and reseal the cabinit.

[John_Canfield]

Oh wow - that never should have happened. Sounds like a good dealer needs to get involved in the repair.

Pulling the fridge isn't a huge major operation. From what I recall when they pulled mine out to repair an inside wall/sidewall attachment when the coach was fairly new, they removed a bunch of perimeter screws and pulled/lifted the unit out on to a box about the same height which sits on the floor.

All of our cabinetry has really done quite well after 37,000+ miles of bouncing around including lots of bad roads to/from/in Alaska. I've been well pleased with the robustness of our coach.

[SCVJeff]

In addition to those upper screws that are really just cosmetic, the entire unit is bolted onto a pretty stout bracket about 8" wide somewhere around 6" off the bottom end. If something is moving to this extent up top, I'd first go look at the main mounting plates and make sure that the 4 bolts (2 on each side) are really there and/or tight.

[Al10453]

On my 2 door Norcold there is a screw in the top. You have to take the roof vent off & remove the screen to get at it, maybe it's not used on your unit.

[SCVJeff]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Al10453:
On my 2 door Norcold there is a screw in the top. You have to take the roof vent off & remove the screen to get at it, maybe it's not used on your unit. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>And there is on mine as well, but it's screwed into the insulation (ie- nothing) so I removed it completely. As far as I can tell, there is nowhere on the upper rear of that box to grab it.

[Applejack]

The fridge in the 40FD is in the curb slide thus it is side vented not roof vented. It is from the upper fridge vent that I can see daylight inside the coach from the separation of the fridge cabinit and the exterior sidewall. I am thinking that this is a potential carbon monoxide hazard
when the fridge is run on propane.

[SCVJeff]

Absolutly! Additionally there should be a rubber seal flap on the sides and top of the fridge cavity that prevents this, even if split away from the cabinet. I'll look at my pix and edit this post if I find something that shows this seal.


(later)
This is my cavity that I went back and insulated, but note the seal flap surrounding the cavity:

[Applejack]

Jeff, did you remove the fridge yourself? If so how dificult was the job ?

[SCVJeff]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Applejack:
Jeff, did you remove the fridge yourself? If so how difficult was the job ? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>I did with the help of one other person and should have had my head examined; It's REALLY heavy. If you decide to do this, make sure you protect the floor and adjacent wall, and find at least 2 of the biggest, ugliest guys you know to help with this thing as it's not only heavy, but the CG seems to be near the top, making for an interesting removal.