WRT18A0AWA Westinghouse Refrigerator - Instructions

First of all I am 78YO, retired. Handy but NOT a handyman. There were two parts to replace. The Defrost Timer was very very easy and went just like the video. 20 minutes at the most. No surprises with only the most basic tools. The Defrost Thermostat was a little trickier. Took about 1 1/2 hours. The Thermostat disconnect plug was not like the video and was stuck hard. Had to use two needle nose pliers to finally get it apart. The rest went OK. The shrink seals were way too large for the job and my Hair Dryer was not able to shrink them enough for a good seal. Used a much smaller shrink seal that a friend had and it worked great. Suggest they use a smaller shrink that works with a hair dryer instead off the blow gun in the video. Wrapped the connection with electrical tape as others have suggested in addition to the Shrink Seal. Went together easy and am very very happy camper. Saved $295 from the Sears Repair Estimate. Dave

It is easier to remove the door, put towels over the goods in the freezer and put the door on a flat surface. Pry up the old gasket gently; it just snaps in, so don't worry. Snap in the new gasket, screw the door back on, and you're set to go. We were scared at first, but it's really a simple operation.

The freezer was still making ice, but the fridge portion was barely cooler than room temp. I came to the website and saw that the defrost thermostat cured this problem over half the time. I was quite dubious because I don't see how that would affect the non-freezer part of the compartment, but since it was a cheap and easy-looking repair, I figured what the heck, lets see if that's it. Sure enough, it's like new again. I still don't understand it, but I'll take it. The repair itself is simple, just cutting out the old switch and splicing in the new. Two wires, and clip it to the copper tubing where the old one was. The switch is accessed easily after taking out four screws in the back of the freezer compartment. The only hard part was removing the ice-maker, and that's just because the two screws that hold it in are a little hard to get a good grip on. Alas, you have to get the ice-maker out to pull out the back panel, so there's nothing for it but to wheedle those screws out.

It went very well. Just snap in.