GSIW36WH1 Refrigerator - Instructions

Wasn't sure if it was the derost timer or the heating element. Since the timer was much cheaper, I bought it and crossed my fingers.
My story is like the others. Unplug the refrigerator, snip the old wires, strip back the wire insulation, use the supplied connectors to attach the new defrost timer to the existing wiring.
Success! My coils no longer freeze up.
Only difficulty is I am a large guy, and fitting my upper body into the freezer was challenging.

First I remove the back panel which had 4 screws. Then I removed the ice maker. The icemaker is held in place by the 2 screws that requires backing the screws out just a litter, than lift up and remove the electrical connector. Used a volt ohm meter to check the resisitant in the heater element and the defrost timing switch. Both tested good and that left only the thermostat. Removed and replaced the thermastat swich. I cut the ends of the old switch and crimp the ends of wire with the crimps that came with the swict i purchased from parts select. My refrigerator is working properly and making ice like normal.

Went on line ,ordered part on Friday afternoon ,Fedex was at my house Saturday Morning,,THIS SERVICE IS GREAT ,,THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR BEING SO FAST

Followed the video on parts page. I was worried I would brake the cover but learned from the video the right way to remove the front plate. I found the video very informing. Thank you for saving me a service call and the part cost was minimal compared to a new refrigerator .

Removed the old timer from the housing. The replacement came with good instructions. I followed the instructions corresponding to the color wires in my unit. The first time it was installed, the fridge did not come on and the temperature rose after a couple hours. Looked at the part and realized the defrost cycle must have kicked in. Needed to slightly turn the gray slotted part to initiate the timer so it would stop the defrost and start the fridge. That did it! It must have advanced the timer so it could accumulate run time. Whole repair saved us $3000 in a new fridge.

First I removed the two screws that hold the element in place. I then pulled the element out about 3 inches and disconnected the wiring harness plug, replaced the old timer with the new one, re-connected the wiring harness and reinstalled the mount in position. Hardest thing about it was lying on the floor.

tested defrost timer and heater. And then tested defrost timer with ohm test($6 at hard ware store) Closed and would not open replace and tested freezer take 30mins to get switch cold and retest.

First, I removed the two thermostat knobs, then the snap-on plastic cover. Then, I removed the 4 screws holding the housing for the timer, thermostats, etc., and dropped it down enough to remove the timer and the wiring harness going into it. Installing the new one was the same process, in reverse. Quite simple!

First defrosted it to makes sure all Air flow was opened. Tested the Defroster heater with omh meter, it was OK. Found the location of the defrost timer on the online diagrams. Used nut driver to remove cover.
Replaced timer. The hardest part was decieding how to wire it up, tis was a universal kit and depending on how it was wired as to how often the defrost ran. The firt choice was every 8 hours. Since this was going to be opened often, I picked that one.
Plugged it with in 24 hrs freezer wall mesured -5 and the fridge was at 30, so had to warm it up a bit.
Now all complaints gone, Ice making has been doing better also.

A screw driver was used to remove two screws that held the old fan in place the new fan ws installed exactly where the old one came out and presto the job was complete. No major deal.

The defrost timer is located under the freezer side behind the lower plastic cover. Very simple, just 2 screws and a plug, and your done.

The thermostat requires removing the lower drawers in the freezer and unscrew the back side of the rails and let them hang over to get access to the lower cover on the back of the freezer. Once the panel is off you will be able to see the thermostat. From there you just remove the thermostat from the clip, cut the 2 wires, splice in the new thermostat and re install using the new clip and your done!!

This was my first time and it was really simple. I had a local repair shop quote me $375.00 . I did it myself for under 50.00 shipped to my door..

Looked up similar problems and found it to be the defrost timer. All I had to do was remove the plastic portion in the fridge section to get to the old timer. Popped the new one in and put it back together. Works great now. Would have been almost $150 to have a repair company come out and fix it.

I removed the housing at the top of the refrigerator compartment that contained the reefer light and temperature adjustment knob. This required a small nut-driver. Inside, I found the old defrost control, unplugged it, unscrewed it with a Phillips screwdriver, and replaced it with the replacement part. Then I replaced the housing to its original position.

Removed the housing with the light, 4 hexhead screws. This exposed the defrost timer, removed 2 hexhead screws, electrical connector and reassembled the unit.

Great resource and service, thank you.

First I removed the plastic grill (pulled out, no screws) from bottom of refrigerator, then I removed electrical plug & two screws from old timer (timer located on the front inside left lower side of refrigerator). Installed in reverse order.