WRT21MG3AQ2 Westinghouse Refrigerator - Instructions

cut brackets to size and snapped them into place with the caps purchased. I will continue to use PartSelect for all my appliance repair needs. Not only did I receive my order within 2 days but the cost was over half of what I have been paying for the local parts store to order for me. Thank you PartsSelect.

It took longer to remove the retainer bar from the packaging than it did to install it in the fridge.

Both left and right end caps were pushed into their respective places on the retainer bar and then the whole thing was snapped into place on the door of the fridge.

Super easy!

Put them together and (do this carefully, as they are light-duty plastic; the reason the originals failed) snapped them into place. Parts were factory-origninal, easy to figure out. Delivery time was exceptional, packaging great.

No instructions included, so it took a little bit of staring at the new part to figure out how it works. The barbed ridge on the gasket fits into a slot on the door. The flat face of the gasket has an internal magnetic strip that helps keep the seal tight against the steel face of the refrigerator. Installation requires no tools. This is the basic process:
1) Unbox the new gasket and get it ready to install so you don't have to leave the fridge open too long.
2) Open the door and grab the old gasket at one of the corners and pull away. This will unseat the barbed ridge I mentioned above. Work your way around the door until the whole gasket is free.
3) Set aside the old gasket
4) Grab a moistened paper towel and wipe down the (now exposed) sealing surface of the fridge and door.
5) Align the new gasket in the door and start pushing the barb into place. I found that the new gasket seemed slightly oversize compared to the original, so it took a little tweaking. What worked for me was to get all the corners seated, then work my way around the door making sure the gasket is fully seated.
6) Once you have the new gasket installed, close the door to make sure everything fits OK.
7) Open the door again and run your finger along the inside edge of the gasket seal. What you want to do is fold the edge of the gasket down so it lays flat against the outer wall of the door.
8) Shut the door and look from the sides and top to try to spot any gaps. You should be able to poke the gasket from the side and get the magnet strips to click into place. It seems like after a day or so the gasket 'relaxed' and I didn't have to worry about this anymore.
9) Dispose of the old gasket. I was able to pull the gasket into four pieces (separating at the corners) so it would fit in my city trash can...

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.

I unplugged the refrigerator, then opened the door and removed four screws holding the plastic electrical panel to the interior top of the main refrigerator compartment and noticed the cold control was corroded badly, apparently from moisture in the panel. I ordered a new one from partselect.com. When it arrived the next day, I then pulled off the control knob, unclipped the cold control, unplugged the three wires to the control, then removed the styrofoam insulation blocks holding the thermocouple wire and then removed the thermocouple wire to complete the removal. I then reversed the process to install the new thermostat and control. That is repositioned the thermocouple wire, put the insulation blocks back to hold the wire, then replugged the three electrical wires, clipped the control back and pushed the control knob back on and finally screwed the panel back to the top of the main compartment and plugged the refrigerator electrical cord back in to provide current to the refrigerator. It immediately started up and ran fine. Total time - about 8 minutes.

I removed the fan housing in the freezer section by removing all the screws. (7) There are two screws behind the vents. I did not have an ice maker to contend with so this was very easy. There is only two wires to disconnect....the ground wire and the electricity supply. Then you remove the unit from the back of the housing cover by removing two screws. Then the motor is removed from it's housing by removing 2 more screws. 1...2...3 and you're ready to reverse the procedure. I am not mechanically inclined and this was easy. Saved myself perhaps $120.00. Repair folks wanted mininum of $60.00 just to come out. Part and shipping cost me 33 bucks.OH, DON'T FORGET TO UNPLUG THE FRIDGE. :>)

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!

OK, what I really want to talk about is the really poor quality of the fan motor. This is the third time that it has failed (about once per year). Local maintenance shops do not stock the motor, hence the frozen food thaws before they can get a part. I always keep a spare motor so that I can immediately repair the fridge.

The repair is very easy - remove all racks in the freezer and then remove their slides. Then remove the screws in the back plate. Due to the ice maker, the plate will not come out, so just pull it up and tie it off. Remove the screws to remove the motor fan assembly. I did the repair with the power on, BUT BE CAREFUL if you do so. Uplug the power from the motor, and remove the assembly from the freezer. Disamble and replace the motor. Then revese the above and you're freezing again.

Unplugged fridge, removed all screws from inside freezer panel. Removed bracket, fan blade and wires from evaporator motor and swapped motor with new one. Very easy. Professional repairman wanted almost $200 to fix it. Total cost for me was $35 and 25 minutes on a Saturday afternoon. Thanks PartSelect for the quick delivery, low price and tips on the replacement.

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 freezer was frozen but my refrigerated side was not cooling, the temp was actually around 60-degrees. After inspecting i noticed no air was flowing through the vent from freezer side to fridge side. I removed everything from freezer and took the back wall panel off inside freezer section and immedietely noticed alot of ice on coils etc. After researching i found the defrost timer was not working and thus allowing frost and ice to build up on coils and block air flow. My defrost timer was located on the front bottom left behind kick panel, using a phillips screwdriver i removed 2 screws and then disconnected wire harness to the defrost timer. Then i inserted new defrost timer and connected wire harness and then put the 2 screws back in. My fridge is now working great and the ice build-up is gone and i am getting good air flow .. temps on fridge side are now between 32-34degrees. This was an easy project and saved me alot of money doing myself

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.

The repair was super easy. There are no retainer screws to deal with. You just pull the old gasket off of the door and press the new gasket on. I used a large flathead screwdriver to help start the removal by prying the first corner out of the groove. Once you get it started, the rest comes out easy. To put the new gasket on, you just firmly press it into the groove on the door.
I've read other instructions that say to soak the new gasket in warm water before installation. I didn't do this. Instead, I just used a hair dryer to heat the gasket once it was on the door. Then I closed the door and ran a finger between the fold in the gasket to make sure there was a good seal between the fridge and the door. Don't open the door for an hour so the gasket will form to the shape of the fridge opening. That's it. It works great now. Problem solved.

Useing 2 fingers pulled old one out from its seat grove in door and started at one corner pressing the new one in groved slot the old one came out from. Auctually took less than 5 minutes