Maytag MSD2456DEW no longer housebroken

[Dr_Linguini]

I have had a Maytag fridge (MSD2456DEW) that has served me well over the last 19 years.  In that time I have done several simple repairs (solenoids, etc).  Recently I have come across an issue that I can't diagnose, largely because I haven't been able to witness it. About 3 weeks ago the fridge started leaving a small puddle of water on the floor at random intervals.  I have no clue exactly when it happens, I just wake up/come home/randomly walk into the kitchen to find a small puddle just outside the corner of the freezer door.  The amount of water is non-trivial but is easily picked up by a kitchen towel.  I did a little manual inspection and see no signs of water loss on the back or behind the fridge.  I see a small amount of ice on the inside bottom of the freezer compartment but I'm not sure that it hasn't been there for a long time (meaning, it's a tiny amount of ice and may be some frozen 'runoff' from something I put in the freezer).  No sign of ice buildup anywhere on the back of the freezer compartment.  The icemaker appears to be working perfectly.  It is full of ice and looks properly shut off when the ice reservoir is full, no signs of overflow or anything like that.  Both freezer and fridge seem to be operating normally (i.e. both are proper temp, stuff inside is still frozen/cold).  Has anyone experienced this seemingly random leakage before, and if so, what was the cause and what is the proper repair?  My gut feel is that there is something amiss with the defrosting (resulting in the tiny bit of ice on the bottom, which eventually leads to the leakage) but that's really just a guess, and I wouldn't know exactly what to do to fix it.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[evaappliance]

Your defrost drain is stopped up, take the shelves out , take the two 1/4 inch screws out of the bottom back panel, and the drain hole is behind that , clear all the ice out and make sure the water drains quickly or it will do it again. I use a steamer but most people just has to use cups of hot water to thaw it out

[darren412]

Check the drain line that comes down from the evaporator drip pan also. That drain can get clogged and will also need a thorough cleaning . It’s located in the back of the fridge inside the small mechanical room area where your compressor is. It will be the hose and or tube that comes out from the top of the mechanical room and into the drip pan at the bottom of the mechanical room.  It can be removed and cleaned thoroughly by hand in the sink. Just be gentle with the drain line when removing it.   Just as everappliance said defrost the drain opening inside the freezer section if it has frozen.   FYI. Water accumulates every time the fridge goes into defrost and if the drain line is blocked the water has no where else to go but out through the bottom of the freezer section. That is where the water comes from

[Dr_Linguini]

Thanks for the guidance.  When I took off the cover it was pretty obvious that the drain had clogged and frozen over.  Used my heat gun (on low) to melt the ice, then did a little 'snaking' to clear out the drain. Finished it off with a test run with some hot water.  After clearing from the inside (and getting rid of the thin sheet of ice at the bottom of the freezer), I cleared the outside as Darren suggested.  Time will tell whether or not I cleared it well enough, but at least now I know what to do if it acts up again.  If it takes another 19 years I can live with that.

Thanks again for the help!

 

[darren412]

Great glad to hear your all set and took care of the problem. You should be fine