Refrigerator stopped working on propane

Next up is to clean the orifice, and this is where you need to be more careful.  One screw will remove the wind shield around the burner assembly.  One screw at the bottom of the stack will free up the assembly and you can carefully bend it towards you a bit so it isn't directly under the stack.  After making sure nothing is above the burner, turn the fridge on propane mode and quickly go outside to observe.  Is there a spark (if not, this may be your problem)?  Small or large flame (constant spark but no flame is another problem)?  If you do get a flame take a mental note of how it looks then turn it off.  One more screw will remove the igniter assembly, you may want to wait a few minutes since it is hot now.  Then that whole rectangular assembly (where the air and fuel mix, not sure if the right term for a fridge is "carburetor") can be removed using the nut where the tube joins it.  BE CAREFUL, you are now exposing the orifice which sits on the end of this nut.  It will look like a mini version of a WWII Army helmet.  It is thin aluminum and can bend easily.  Put it gently aside and then blow out the rest of the air/fuel mixture assembly.  Soak the orifice in alcohol and then gently blow it with air.  Nothing else - no tools, rags, etc.  The pin-prick opening in the middle is easily damaged and must stay the same size.  Reassemble so the igniter is back in place and turn the fridge on again, and compare the flame to what you had before.  If it looks better, turn it off and finish the reassembly, then run it for a few hours to see what happens.

It is possible the flame will look ok to you but you still need a new orifice.  For what they are they aren't cheap - a complete ripoff for 2 cents worth of aluminum foil.

After that you'll need to run checks on the input and output pressure on the gas valve (the silver thing mounted to the fridge on the left side with black wires running to it).  That may be best done by a dealer.  You can measure the voltage going to the gas valve (should be 1.5 or 3 volts depending) and its resistance (dont' remember what it should be, I found it online).

Like yours, mine is 5 years old and the propane mode stopped working on day 2 of a 4-week trip last year.  I had a dealer look at it and they think the gas valve is bad.  These 8501 models are imported and are basically only used by Forest River on the pods, so the parts are through the roof.  Dealer said the valve should cost $69 but it will instead cost $400!  I verified with my own investigation - and only found one place online that had the part.

I hope this isn't a normal problem at the 4-5 year mark for everyone!