25361763013 Kenmore Refrigerator - Instructions

Unplugged refrigerator. Emptied freezer and removed ice maker and cover, need to unplug fan. Defrosted coils with hot water. Cut wires to thermostat as close to it ad possible to leave extra wire in case of an error. Stripped wire in new thermostat and put in shrink plastic then the wire crimp connector joining both light blue wires making sure wires were in before crimping them. Repeated with other dark blue wire. After used the heat gun to shrink the protective white tubing. The only thing i found not satisfying was tge tubing. It was too wide and too small. When i shrunk it did not cover the whole connector and was loose. I had to use a glue gun to cover both ends of each wire connector. Hope this helps other users.

The bulb wasn't the issue so I was hopeful the switch was. utube helped me some, but figuring my model was different than any on utube. Got the switch in and plugged it back in. Moment of truth. Didn't light. Ugggh! Out $50 for switch plus $20 for nut driver set.

Installation was fairly straight forward. The major complaint is that the problem returned 2 weeks later. I don’t know if I care to re-invest in another switch.
Now what?

I tested the components in the refrigerator defrost function. I used digital multimeter and checked for continuity. Defrost thermostat must 32 degrees or lower.

The repair was very easy just popped the new one in place.

I used the youtube you provided. It was pretty straight forward, but I had to make a trip to the hardware store for a bit (hex wrench) to remove the hex bolt head style screws. I was only expecting to need phillips or flathead. I managed to remove one with a set of pliers, and the brought that example to the store for size reference when buying the bit to fit my black and decker drill. The rest was easy.

The evaporator coil is behind the freezer. Remove the rack that makes the shelf and remove two 1/4” hex head screws I the back of the freezer to access the coil.
I used a hair dryer to melt the ice off the coil.
The thermostat clips on the refrigeration pipe to the coil. Remove the old thermostat and cut the wires at least a few inches from the thermostat. Clip the new thermostat on the pipe and strip about a 1/4” of the wire ends. The electrical connectors (provided with the new part) must be crimped to connect the wires.

replaced it

take 1/4 hex screws out clean out dust ,remove old fan blade replace with new install bolts .

I had to tap the screw holes with a 8/32 tap so that the screws would not bind.

My unit was not defrosting. Defrost heater was not functioning. Defrost heater tested good with a meter. Thermostat (cold) tested bad with a meter. Defrost timer was working properly. I replaced the thermostat but I had to buy red crimp connectors because the blue ones that came with the thermostat are designed for wire bigger than 18 AWG wire. The thermostat leads as well as the wire in my unit were 18 AWG. The crimp was not tight enough for my liking with the blue butt connectors. I also purchased smaller heat shrink tubing. After replacement, the defrost heater started working. I could see it glowing. Unfortunately immediately after getting the heater working the contacts in the defrost timer arced and stuck together thus preventing the timer from exiting defrost mode. The heater went off at this point indicating that the thermostat was now working. I then purchased and replaced the defrost timer and now the fridge is functioning properly. I noticed both replacement parts, even though I looked up my fridge model, were different part numbers than the originals. I'm guessing the new parts are improved? I also noticed the timer was an 8/30 rather than a 10/30 like the original. The fridge is working better than when it was new so evidently defrosting every 8 as opposed to every 10 hours is better for my unit.

Long story short:

Buy the correct crimp/butt connectors before beginning replacement of the thermostat and proactively replace the defrost timer since it is rather inexpensive.

The freezer was still making ice, but the fridge portion was barely cooler than room temp. I came to the website and saw that the defrost thermostat cured this problem over half the time. I was quite dubious because I don't see how that would affect the non-freezer part of the compartment, but since it was a cheap and easy-looking repair, I figured what the heck, lets see if that's it. Sure enough, it's like new again. I still don't understand it, but I'll take it. The repair itself is simple, just cutting out the old switch and splicing in the new. Two wires, and clip it to the copper tubing where the old one was. The switch is accessed easily after taking out four screws in the back of the freezer compartment. The only hard part was removing the ice-maker, and that's just because the two screws that hold it in are a little hard to get a good grip on. Alas, you have to get the ice-maker out to pull out the back panel, so there's nothing for it but to wheedle those screws out.

Replaced thermo-fuse

I should have ordered start kit instead of start capacitor. The start cap astir did not fix problem so I ordered kit. Compasator comes as part of kit. Followed enclosed instructions. Cut existing wires and reconnected new wiring. Simple as that. It's a plug in item. Now worried it may be working to good. Freezer down to 10 deg. Watching to see if compressor is running to long. Seems ok lol. Wife hates me now. She wanted new frige.

Exactly as the video showed, except I had to take the evap coil cover off and use a hair dryer to thaw it out. It was still frosting up too much, so I ordered the thermostat as well. Both were really easy, once i saw the location of the defrost timer and the thermostat. Thanks for the great site, prices that put the big store to shame, and the good video too!