FFU17FC4AW2 Frigidaire Freezer - Instructions

First of all thanks to all who posted their stories, because those stories helped me to narrow down what could have gone wrong with my fridge. I did not know how frost-free refrigerators worked at all, reading your stories and doing some on_line research I understood the theory behind the work. My freezer was working constantly, but fridge was warm, cold air would not reach to fridge because freezer was completely frosted.
I had ordered defrost heater, defrost timer and thermostat. I was sure one of these parts was the problem.
First I used flat screwdriver to turn the timer manually untill frdge stopped running(timer is on the left bottom corner behind the black decoratve plastic under the door) . Waited about 20-30 min, checked ,freezer was still frosted. I disconnected the fridge from the wall socket and took shelves out from freezer compartment. This is where hair-dryer came in handy or you could wait till ice would melt on its own, which could take long time.Then loosend 2 screws on left wall that were holding icemaker unit half-way , unplugged the icemaker and took it out. Then took the light-bulb and cover off. Next I unscrewed and took the posts out that were holding shelves in place. Then I took remaining screws from back wall out and gently pulled back cover up then forward a little until I could see electrical connectors behind the cover and unpluged them. Back wall cover was ready to come out. I discovered thick wall of ice covering entire cooling unit. Used handy hair dryer again. When the ice melted, I saw the thermostat was busted open ( Iguess water or moisture got into the unit, then froze and ice pop-openned the cover damaging one of the connecting wires). I diconnected wires and changed the thermostat , which was very easy, just one clip holding it in place . Then plugged the fridge and checked if heating unit was working by touching it. Negative. Closed the door and let fridge run for 15 min, turn timer with screwdriver until fridge stopped working, cheked heater again- wallah it was warm and then it got really HOT! and melted all of the new frost build-up(a sign that thermostat was working). Closed the door waited another 15-20 min, fridge came-on on its own. Unplugged the fridge, pulled it forward from the wall and used sponge to drain the water from holding tray- about one half gallon of it. This is a good time to use a vacuum clener to undust the back and under the fridge. Then put everything back, in reverse order, ofcourse. Cleaned fridge and freezer compartments with warm soap and winneger solution (really good- this was a present to my wife who took our two little daughters to grandmmas and out of my way), put everything back and turned the fridge on recommended settings. Its been 5 days allready and it works great ( I used thermometr to check temperature inside the fridge and freezer). I'm thinking of returning defrost heater and timer back.Thanks PartSelect.Com, I saved lots of money. Hope this story will be helpfull to someone.Thanks for your time!

Oh yea thanx to partselect it went great didnt get fisrtkey but when got the second key it worked great thanx partselect

Used a thin screwdriver to lift out the burned out light assembly. Unplugged the old light unit and installed the new one. Plugged in the freezer and the light worked. Easy as pie.

Took about an hour previously to deice freezer, timer was running,drain was open, jumped defrost thermostat out and heater was O.K. Defrost thermostat was just a plug and play item, the time involved was in taking the freezer apart to get to it.

We removed the trim and the screws and kept them in a safe place until the handle arrived. It took only about 10 minutes start to finish. Very Easy!

We were looking for a new freezer --thinking it wouldn't be worth calling a repairman. I was trying to determine the size of the freezer and couldn't find it in the manual. So I googled the model number and stumbled upon this site. Thought it would be worth a try and $12 plus shipping to replace the thermostat. Got the thermostat a couple days later, followed the video directions to replace it--not hard! Plugged it in and it is working great!!! SOOOOO glad I stumbled on your site! You saved us $700-$800!! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Parts Select is an excellent source for help and parts identification. I highly recomend them.
My first option was to replace the defrost timer.
After still getting ice and frost buildup in freezer I decided to replace the defrost thermostat.
Remove all shelves. Losen icemaker if applicable. Remove light cover and bulb. Remove all screws securing rear vertical cover. Carefully move back panel, disconnect icemaker and bulb assembly. carefully remove styrofoam cover at upper left and remove defrost thermostat. I tested the thermostat and found it was defective. It would not close circuit after being placed in a working freezer. Reverse procedure to replace thermostat.
This solved the problem

After testing and eliminating the temperature control and the timer as the problem, I turned to the thermostat. I had to wait for the ice buildup to thaw and then could remove the rear freezer panel (this was the 3rd time: first, to discover the ice buildup causing the problem, second when it came back after a complete thaw and test the thermostat, and this time to put the Partselect thermostat back in). My thermostat was visibly damaged from water melting into ice and expanding the casing and eventually breaking one of the connections. I connected the thermostat connection wires (not recommended) to get by while ordering the part, which shipped faster than local repair places could get it from their warehouses, and at a fraction of the cost. I'm really impressed with partselect's fast service and all the knowledgable customers who have explained how they installed them. I now have an intimate knowledge of how my fridge works and saved hundreds in repair, or twice that in replacement. Thanks!

removed screws with from the back panel of the freezer; located defrost thermostat attached to coil with a metal clip; unplugged thermostat and replaced with the new one. Put every thing back together and it works perfectly.

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

After researching other issues found on internet about same problem, decided to replace both thermostat and temperature control thermastat before going to the repairman way. I saw the videos given on this web site, ordered the parts and when they came in, unplugged freezer and started taking apart the back cover not sure what I would find. Turns out it was just that simple, unplugged the thermastat and unclipped it from the cooling fins, unplugged the temperature control switch and then plugged both units back in. The tricky part was coiling the temperature sensor ( not that tricky). I was done in about 45 minutes but that also included cleaning out and scrubbing the bottom and sides of freezer since I had everything out anyways. Started the freezer back up and took about 8 hours to freeze ice and other food at a setting of 4, where as before I had it set on 7 and was still not keeping the ice cream cold.

Nothing to it. Remove the center insert. Under there are two phillip head screws. Remove those, place new handle in position, apply screws, and put on the insert. Your done !

Replaced freezer defrost thermostat. Unit worked perfectly.

Ordered freezer key friday afternoon received it saturday afternoon. Fast service

Took out three shelves. Removed 9 screws with a battery powered drill with a phillip screwdriver bit. Popped off the thermostat like I had seen on the video. Put the new thermostat on. Replaced the two wires one at a time. Reassembled the unit. This was so quick that my wife told me to let her know when I wanted to fix the freezer. She was shocked that I had completed the job. I'd been in the garage less than 10 minutes. It has been six weeks. and the freezer is working perfectly.