Defrost Timer Kit - 120V 60Hz

I diagnosed the problem via the internet. Diagrams helped a lot. Coils were frozen over. Thawed them out overnight. Manually advanced timer and the defrost heater was operable. The defrost timer wasn't "turning" on it's own. I turned the fridge back on while I awaited the part. It worked fine for the time I had to wait. (over two weeks since I had delayed ordering the part) New timer arrived as promised. Undid 4 hex head (1/4") screws. Unplugged 4 prong connection. Plugged in new timer and replaced the 4 screws. Frigde works great.

Mine is a top refrigerator and bottom freezer. Whenever working with electrical applicances always disconnect the electrical power before beginning work on it. Never try to force anything. If there is abnormal resistance, use logic and determine if there is an obstable that needs to be dealt with. Loosen all screws halfway then take them off completely. Replace all screws part way and begin by inserting and starting the screws by hand then use the nut dreiver and last tighten until snug. Also, be ware that wires can get brittle and may break so handle them with care. The wires and other parts may have been frozen and defrosted many times over the life of the refrigerator. Have a flash light or other light source so you see everything well. The light will be off because you disconnected the electrical cord.

First check the defrost timer. On my unit it is located in the bottom front corner behind the removable ventilation grill. Remove about 4 hex screws. Its most useful to use a nut driver (looks like a screw driver but the tip fits different hex screws. To check the defrost timer you can turn the orange/red knob to the right and see if you can advance the timet to turn on the defrost cycle. If this works then the problem is not the defrost timer. I changed my defrost time anyway not that it was broken.

To replace the defrost thermostat, remove the food and shelves from the freezer. Use the hex nut driver and remove the hex screws from the back panel of the freezer section. If needed you will need to remove the ice maker. I don't have an ice maker. Once the back panel is removed you will see some coils, wires and other parts. Disconnect the two wires for the defrost thermostat, you can identify the defrost timer because you purchased one on-line. Carefully remove the defrost thermostat which is attached by a tension clip. The ends of the wires (terminals) may not be the same style. If needed cut the wire terminal plus two inches of excess wire from the old defrost thermostat and splice it to the new defrost thermostat. If you have a soldering iron, solder it, if not use a wire nut and electrical tape or just twist the wires together and cover with two layers of electrical tape. Now, attach the wire terminals of the new defrost thermostat to the wires that you disconnect earlier. You can not mix them up because the ends are different. Pull the tension clip slightly apart and slip onto the tubing where it came off of originally. Replace the back cover and air grill and fasten the hex screws. Attach the ice maker if you have one. Replace the shelves and food and close the freezer door. Plug in the refrigerator. It may not go on immediately. If this is the case, go to the defrost timer and turn the orange/red knob to the right and you will cycle the defrost timer to activate the freezer. Let the refrigerator run for a while, even a few hours is okay, and then it will hopefully go into the normal automatic cycle.

Other parts that may go bad and need replacing are the condenser fan that you will find by removing the cover in the back of the refrigerator. This fan runs when the refrigerator is on to cool the compressor. Also a heater coil is used to defrost the freezer. Infrequently, this part goes bad.

There is no separate cooling unit for the refrigerator compartment of the refrigerator. The cold air for both the refrigerator compartment and freezer compartment originate from the freezer. The temperature dial in the refrigerator compartment regulates the amount of cold air from the freezer that will circulate to the refrigerator.
(This just give you a clue that if the refrigerator compartment is warm the problem will still concern the freezer.)

Also, please clean off the coils that are covered with dust and webs.

This is a brief summary and depending on your level of experience and general logic and problem solving skills. This repair may or may not be easily understood. One last tip,

After replacing the defrost timer (easy: pop off the grill; unscsrew the bracket; pull out the old one and plug in the new one) [didn't fix problem] and replacing the defrost heater element (harder: use nut driver to remove ice maker and rear interior panel in freezer section; use pliers to remove clips holding the heater element to evap coil CAREFULLY - puncture evap coil and unit is junk!!! - replace with new heater element)[didn't fix problem] I replaced the defrost thermostat:
moderate difficutly. Use nut driver (5/16") to remove ice maker (loosen screws and slde IM up and off) and rear interior panel (don't need to pop the ice maker electrical connector off the rear panel) and unclip the thermostat from the evap coil. Replace with good thermostat and enjoy your "self defrost" freezer/fridge for another fefw years.

I was not sure what the fix was on my refrig, so I ordered the defrost timer kit, bimetal defrost thermostat, and the evaporator heater(about 100.00 in parts)
I think my entire problem was the bimetal defrost thermostat, as it was somewhat bulged out on the plastic side.
The evaporator coils would freeze over--the evap. fan would not work and the cold water dispenser would not work. I did't have time to just replace one part at a time so I ordered all three parts that have to do with the defrosting of the evap. coils.
The parts worked and the refrig. is operating fine. Thanks to parts select for a super fast delivery(one day).

First of all, I do not have a history of repairing appliances or even the knowledge of what all the parts are named or how it all works. That said, please excuse my other than technical explanation of the repair. After reading a few posts, I decided to order the two parts and give it a try. The Defrost timer was easy to remove - two screws to remove the housing and two screws to remove the timer. The bimetal defrost thermostat was an easy installation - after removing the cover plate (back of freezer section) I removed the two wire caps that was connecting the existing thermostat to whatever it connects to - I guess the heating element and ? I was a little confused because the replacement thermostat had more wires that the existing one. I decided to cut away the extra wires and connect it just like the old one was connected. I didn't work at first and I was about to call in a pro. I turned the defrost timer knob and everything started to work. It has worked beautifully since and I got to brag a little to my wife - that was short lived because she reminded me of the other "stuff" that needed to be fixed! Thanks to the folks that posted before me - it helped me understand the problem and the repair.

First I had to determine what was wrong. Obviously the compressor was working since the freezer was cold. Digging for awhile revealed that the evaporator coils for the freezer had frozen up into a solid block of ice. Then I had to figure out why. Tested the defrost heater in place--small resistance (~3 ohms), OK. Removed and tested the timer--unsure. Removed and tested the defrost thermostat--did not turn on when plunged in ice water or frozen with canned air (turn the can upside down--be careful!, you can instantly freeze-burn your skin), bad. Chose to purchase and replace both the timer and the thermostat. Took the opportunity to THOROUGHLY clean everything, front, back, and underneath. Found the drip tray transition piping cracked at the junction and replaced it with a cut-off funnel "glued" into place and to the underside piping with the RTV Silicone. When parts arrived, tested them and confirmed that the original timer was OK and the thermostat was bad. Installed the new thermostat (and went ahead and installed the new timer). NOTE: one connector on the thermostat was not identical to the orginal equipment. Rather than cut the refrig wiring, I chose to build a jumper with the original connector on one end and a new one for the new thermostat on the other. Buttoned everything back up, re-leveled it, and let it run for 24 hours at the manufacturer's recommended "first" settings (4 and 4) without being disturbed. Seemed fine, loaded it with food, everything is great including non-frozen veggies! (I suspect the ice was forming frequently and blocking the return from the refrig compartment, which is right next to the veggie drawer.)

Removed the back wall (several screws) of the freezer too get at the thermostat and removed the thermostat and after checking to makes sure I plugged the wires in correctly I replaced the defrost timer by removing the housing that held it in place, which was located underneath the freezer compartment on outside of the unit. That was it!

I unplugged the unit, removed the freezer racks and removed the back panel to expose the evaporator. I removed the defrost thermostat, unplugged the wires, and installed the new thermostat. I replaced the panel and racks then removed the defrost timer kit by removing the two screws that fastened the cover to the refrigerator and the two screws that secured the timer to the cover. The timer is centered behind the front toe grille assembly. I installed the new timer, replaced the cover, and plugged the refrigerator in. It took several minutes for the defrost timer to advance before the evaporator fan would come on.

I removed the Icemaker then the backpanel in the freezer. The fan motor removal required only to hex screws and three wires to dismount. The biggest problem I had was the replacement motor had the connecting pins for the wire harness on the reverse side. I thought I could unbolt the motor and flip it but this did not work. I remounted the new motor and was able to get the wires connected. The thermostat clipped in place but one of the wires had a different connector than the new unit. I used a wiring snap connector to complete the connection. The defroster timer was under the refridgerator and after taking two screws off the cover plate was just an unplug and plug in the new unit. When I first turn the unit back on nothing happend. I soon realized I had to advance the timer until the unit kick on. It has worked fine since and solve both the noise problem and defrost issue.

took out back panel of freezer compartment , exposed fan and coil thermostat was clipped on to coil, removed ,replaced,each wire one at time , the 2 extra wire that go out back dont go to anything its for factory testing.clipped them off pulled out from back, put wire ties on to keep wires from fan area . closed up . timer is in a metal box under the freezer door pulled off bottom facia 1 screw on metal box remove old timer installed new . everything working great now. no more warm beer