Z18SSB Frigidaire Refrigerator - Instructions

I watched the videos (they really help) and followed the steps. Everything went smooth with no surprises

there were three possible problems the timer, the thermostat, or the heating element.i replaced the timer first as that is the problem 65% of the time and that did not fix the problem, i replaced the thermostat and that did fix the problem. after watching the video on line from parts select i took the back off of the freezer from the inside, defrosted the coils with a hair blower and then swapped out the thermostat which pops right off and i spliced the old connectors to the new thermostat. the heat shrink tubing that came with the part was a little to big so i put a smaller peice on each side for water proofing. that is what the cigarette lighter is for to supply heat to the heat shrink tubing.now that i have fixed that problem i may tackle the ice maker next

1. Unplug the refrigerator.2. Remove the storage rack and back panel in the freezer. 3. Locate the thermostat. 4. Defrost the freezer coils , i used a hair dryer. 5. Remove the thermostat from the cooling coil and then clip the connecting wires close to the unit. 6. Strip the ends of these wires and connect these wires to the wires of the replacement unit using the supplied wire connectors. 6. Heat seal with a lighter the connections using the water shield sleeves provided and further wrap connections with electrical tape. 7. Reconnect the thermostat to the cooling coil at the location it was removed from. 8. Replace the freezer back panel removed earlierand the storage rack if you have one. 9. Plug the freezer back in. My refrigerator has been working ever since the repair. There are several YouTube videos available that walk you through the diagnoses and repair process. They are very good.

Upluged power pulled freezer out from wall removed the two screws that holds the defrost timer unpluged defrost timer pluged new timer in mounted new timer back with the two screws pluged freezer back in and job was complete. Freezer working fine.

After reading other posts, I decided to change the defrost thermostat, so I watched the videos, and did that. It got better, but the problem persisted, and the ice was still building up in the freezer section. So I decided that the problem was with the defrost heater. I ordered a new one, that was here under 24hs (using the Fedex ground). I replaced it, measured the old one and saw that it was not passing any current at all (so it was really burnt). Now the fridge is good as new, maintaining the proper temperatures both at Freezer and Fridge sections. Thank you Parts Select ! With $ 70 in parts I was able to get back my appliance working !!!

I replaced the defrost timer,defrost thermostat,and run cap.as it turned out the compressor went bad. I dont know the model because but the time I got this review I replaced the refer with a knew one . two weeks living out of coolers was so much fun !!!!!!!!

per the video..easy installation....unfortunately the temperature did not improve. We still have a refrigerator temp in the upper freezer.....and a "cooler" in the refrigerator section

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.

Unplug the refrigerator unit from wall. I removed freezer rack, plastic light cover, the ice rack shelf on the right side, then removed the plastic back cover panel, (4) retaining screws, gently tilting the panel toward me, unplug the wiring harness by depressing the clips on the side of the plug, removed panel from unit, set aside. If the unit was froze up, so I defrosted the cooling coils carefully with a common hair dryer until it was thawed. Be careful not to touch or bend the coils , since they are very fragile and SHARP! I located the old thermostat unit attached to a straight length of coolant line. The new unit looked like the old one, so it was easy to locate. I cut the two wires of the old unit close to the round base to make sure I would have enough wire to reconnect. Since my new unit did not indicate a polarity(Neg or Pos), I just wired each wire I cut to one of the new unit. I used the shrink tubing provided and heated the shrink till it was fully melted. I double ck'd to see if the wires were basically waterproof and a good connect. Also, before I replaced the rear panel, I made sure that both wires I had spliced had a drip loop to it so water would not drip down into the newly spliced union. Also made sure the wires will not interfere with the colling fan on the back of the rear panel. Reverse the procedure in reassembling. Plug in unit, and wait and listen for the unit coming back on..I kept a regular thermometer in the upper and lower compartments. Allow 24 hrs. for the unit to return to normal operation. It may defrost several times till the whole operation is back in sync.

Notice ice build up on the panel in front of the evaporator coil. Unplugged freezer and removed evaporator panel. Plugged unit back in and checked fan, coil "snap switch" and heater element, all seemed to check out good. Found defrost timer stuck in the freeze position, causing frost to accumulate over the evaporator. Manually rotated defrost timer to the 30min defrost cycle and system went into defrost. Ordered defrost timer and installed (part arrived in 3 days). Freezer works great again. Too bad I ended up throwing 400 dollars worth of meat away. the fix was very simple. Will definitely use PartSelect again. Thank you.

it was great. I ordered the capacitor for my frigidaire frig and it arrived
in 3 days. plugged in the part to the compressor and my frig has been
working ever since. I spent 3 minutes ordering the part and 30 seconds
attaching it to the frig. Easy, very easy. saved myself a 75 dollar repair
visit. thanks

Turned off Refrigerator by thermostat switch in Freezer Compartment,(allowing for light to work in freezer). Then removed all food from freezer side,then all shelves & basket drawer. Next, unplugged refrigerator from electrical source. Removed back of inside of the freezer. Located the Thermostat for defrosting cooling coil. Removed and replaced with new part.(Tip-unplugged the wires for the original thermostat, remove from freezer and cut off and splice with connectors provided with new part, it's easier because you're not trying to do this in the narrow space of the freezer). Then attach the thermostat with new bracket and plug thermostat wires back in, replace back panel, shelves, plug in power supply, turn thermostat switch in Freezer to normal setting. Wait for Freezer to cool and replace food. It's currently working like new. BTW I thought I need a defrost time as well...however after I ordered that part and received it, I turned the existing defroster timer manually with a straight ended screwdriver very slowly and it cycled and the defrost rods glowed/functioned just fine. Therefore I didn't replace defrost timer. I'll save the new timer for future repair if needed. All in all it was fairly easy, and I didn't have to buy another fridge. I was really pleased with the service of this website...and the parts arrived very quickly via Fedex. Thanks www.partselect.com ! KJ

This was an easy job. First remove the ice maker, if you have one. Mine was mounted with just two screws. Loosen these screws, unplug the power cord at the connector and then lift the ice maker off. Remove the light bulb cover and the light bulb, just so you dont break it. Remove two hex screws and the back cover can be removed. My fan was mounted in the middle of a bracket retained between two rubber bushingings. Just push the fan blad of the shaft and pull the motoer out. Dissonect the power cord at the connector. My moter was differant than the replacement on the mounting so with the removial of the two screws on the motor I was able to exchange the upper and lower cast motoer housings. Reverse the assembly process and you good. Mine is running great.

thanks to all of the people who had the same problems I was able to make a quick fix on my fridge. I pulled the back cover off and found the compressor not kicking on so I replaced the start cap. and im back in bussiness.

Removed shelving, and rear panels. Replaced condenser fan and defrost thermostat. Defrost coil ohmed fine. Reassembled and plugged in fridge with thermometers inside. Freezer at 22degrees and fridge at 32 degrees. My first time repairing a fridge. the partselect videos were very helpful.