Defrost Thermostat

This was the second part I tried. The defrost timer was first, but that did not fix it. To do this I had to remove the ice maker and the back plate of the freezer. Then I defrosted the coil and cut the wires. stripped them back and installed the new thermostat. re-assembled and tested. has been working great ever since.

This was extremely easy. Took off the control box (housing that covers the light bulb, has the temp control dial on it) and easily replaced the defrost timer. Then, emptied freezer, took off cover at the back of the freezer. Disconnected old defrost thermostat, attached new one, reattached back cover, melted accumulated ice, put stuff back in. Started up. Been running great ever since. No more ice accumulation in freezer. Temp stays constant. Great service from PartSelect, saved lots of money. This job is easy on this fridge, go for it!

Ice build up to back of freezer. Fridge way too warm for preserving food/drinks. Unplugged fridge and de-thaw freezer with a hair dryer. Removed and replaced defrost timer in the fridge area which simply unscrews and plugs in. The video supplied by PartSelect worked well for this.

The Defrost Thermostat required a bit more work as it is accessed through the freezer compartment. I had to remove two screws to get the back cover that houses the fan removed. Then you cut the wires from the old Thermostat and remove it before splicing in the new Defrost Thermostat using the supplied crimps and matching the wire colors. It is useful to have a good wire stripper/crimper ready to make the job simple (I bought a pro one for $28 at Home Depot but they can be found cheaper). Also, there is a bit of heat shrink material included to protect the wires from moisture so a heat-gun will do the trick or Good quality electricians tape will also cut it.

I then sparked it up and it works as new. :)

My evaporator fan was not working. This fan is located in the freezer section, (top), behind an access panel at the rear. Part of it's job is to blow cold air down into the fridge. At first I wasn't sure if it was the fan itself because after the fridge was unplugged an plugged back in, the fan would run for about 5 seconds then quit. So..I tested the auto defrost timer by manually cycling it with a screw driver, it was fine. I bypassed the defrost thermostat switch, no difference. Finally, I cut an old extension cord and connected it to the fan, it was the culprit.. It didn't run on 120. It did spin for a few seconds on initial power up only. After reading that this model may also have a flakey defrost thermostat switch, I ordered both the fan & new defrost thermostat switch. It was a very easy install for both items. No directions are needed, it's obvious when you get in there. Mine is runnng like a champ again.

First, I replaced the defrost timer, really easy, 4 screws popped the cover of the electronic area (top of refrigerator compartment) took it out and plugged in the new time. Unit still would not defrost, so replaced the thermostat as well. Bit harder, removed ice maker, 2 screws, back plate from freezer, 4 screws. Thermostat was clamped to a copper tube- the original had one of the wires hanging out of it- cut the wires and crimped the new wires on, shrunk the plastic tube with blow dryer over the wires (taped them for good measure) and so far so good. Learned most of this through these tips, so keep reading if this isn't your problem, just save myself $1000 on a new refrifgerator...

since I had my fridge since 2003 it seems that I've gotten my moneys worth but it has worked flawlessly with no issues. I did not want to part with it so I troubled shoot the system and realized that it could have been number of things so I just decided after reading some reviews here on this site I decided to just purchase the items that would be effecting the fridge not working properly which was the evaporator fan, defrost thermostat, defrost timer, temperature cold control thermostat, I also cleaned the condenser coils in the back of the unit so they can be able to withdraw heat from the unit. my repair and installation took about 4 hours due to the cleaning of the coils but now the fridge is working like brand new. thanks to this sitt and it's comprehensive video tutorials on installations and repair it my job a lot easier to do.this is not my first time ordering from this site and will not be my last. anyone considering ordering from this site do not hesitate there are great with parts and customer service.

The lower compartment was hovering around 50 degrees. Logic told me that cold air was not being driven from the freezer to the lower compartment. At first, I found the passageway between freezer and lower compartment was blocked with frost/ice, which could have been the entire problem. But why was that ice accumulated there? After defrosting, the problem was only partly solved. A few how-to videos suggested that the defrost timer was a common problem, so I tried that, the part was about $11, with minimal improvement. So I concluded that the fan was not driving cold air from the freezer to the lower section. I tested the fan by removing the freezer back panel completely, wiring the fan to an old ordinary power cord, and plugging that in to a wall outlet. The fan would not start on its own, would only turn if I gave it a spin, and then was very weak - I could stop it with a finger without pain! When my new fan arrived, I again removed the back panel in the freezer and replaced the fan, just a few screws to remove, then swap the fan blade to the new fan motor. The process was simple and obvious. Now the lower section stays near 40 degrees, though I'm not convinced that's the only problem-there seems to be a lot of variation in the temperature. BTW, I had also confirmed the defrost heating element was functional by activating the defrost timer (see youtube), to eliminate that from the diagnosis.

This fridge is less than 2 years old really disappointed with frigidaire quality. Had a appliance repair guy diagnose the problem and paid $45 for the service call but decline for him to do the repair for $320. Remove the cover 4 screws holding it on top of fridge the defrost timer is inside 2 screws and you just unplug and replace with a new one. The defrost thermostat is in the freezer compartment, remove the ice maker if equiped then remove back cover, cut out the old thermostat n crimp in the new one. So far the fridge is working but still not getting as cold as before but good enough to keep things safe. Thanks to partselect.com i saved a bunch of money doing it myself.

Went pretty straight forward, except the heat shrink tubing was about 2 sizes too big. Would not shrink small enough to seal the connections. Even with a heat gun it would not shrink small enough. OH, another think is when I plugged the fridge back in the defrost timer was in defrost mode. Took me a few minutes to figure that out and use a screwdriver to turn the timer back to the on position. Other than that, install was pretty simple.

removed ice maker,,and screws holding back of freezer cover,unplugged wires and removed the cover and fan.wow,only wire to element had come unplugged!went ahead and replaced thermostat,and defrost timer,both were easy to do