Defrost Thermostat 5303918202

Turned off fridge circuit breaker
Removed all food from freezer and put in cooler.
Removed shelves from freezer
Removed ice maker
Removed 2 hex head screws
Tilted back evaporator cover and tried to unplug connection.
Found connection was iced over with a huge block of ice coming from water inlet to ice maker
Spent several hours trying to melt and chip away ice without damaging fridge.
Finally was able to break up ice with long flat head screwdriver and hammer.
Unplugged connector and was able to remove evaporator cover.
Cut wires near thermostat and removed
Stripped wire as needed and crimped new thermostat in place.
Used heat gun and lighter to melt heat shrink. This took a long time and required a lot more heat than expected.
Reconnected evaporator cover connection and reattached cover.
Reinstalled ice maker
Reinstalled shelves.
Put food back in
Turned circuit breaker back on.

Unplug, remove 2 screws off back panel inside the freezer. Cut wires on old one and crimped in new one. Light to melt the shrink wrap that came with it. Pretty easy.

The evaporator coil is behind the freezer. Remove the rack that makes the shelf and remove two 1/4” hex head screws I the back of the freezer to access the coil.
I used a hair dryer to melt the ice off the coil.
The thermostat clips on the refrigeration pipe to the coil. Remove the old thermostat and cut the wires at least a few inches from the thermostat. Clip the new thermostat on the pipe and strip about a 1/4” of the wire ends. The electrical connectors (provided with the new part) must be crimped to connect the wires.

The lower compartment was hovering around 50 degrees. Logic told me that cold air was not being driven from the freezer to the lower compartment. At first, I found the passageway between freezer and lower compartment was blocked with frost/ice, which could have been the entire problem. But why was that ice accumulated there? After defrosting, the problem was only partly solved. A few how-to videos suggested that the defrost timer was a common problem, so I tried that, the part was about $11, with minimal improvement. So I concluded that the fan was not driving cold air from the freezer to the lower section. I tested the fan by removing the freezer back panel completely, wiring the fan to an old ordinary power cord, and plugging that in to a wall outlet. The fan would not start on its own, would only turn if I gave it a spin, and then was very weak - I could stop it with a finger without pain! When my new fan arrived, I again removed the back panel in the freezer and replaced the fan, just a few screws to remove, then swap the fan blade to the new fan motor. The process was simple and obvious. Now the lower section stays near 40 degrees, though I'm not convinced that's the only problem-there seems to be a lot of variation in the temperature. BTW, I had also confirmed the defrost heating element was functional by activating the defrost timer (see youtube), to eliminate that from the diagnosis.

Followed the installation instruction for both parts now both the freezer and refrigerator are getting cold

All 3 parts were very easy to replace. Thawing out the freezer took the most time. Great videos that go with each part for installation. I will be purchasing again from this company when needed.

Thawed out freezer, I recommend laying a couple old towels in freezer to soak up melted ice. Replaced old thermostat with new part. Removed 2 screws, removed back plate, unplugged 2 connectors and cut 2 wires. Crimped in new thermostat and repositioned to original part location. Reconnected plugs as I reinstalled back plate. Installed 2 screws and connected power. Works like new! Trouble shooting and part installation video is very helpful, great site!

I initially replaced the defrost timer, and later replaced it and the defrost thermostat. The defrost thermostat was the faulty component

I watched the video on how to change the defrost thermostat. I removed the back cover inside the freezer then I pulled off the old defrost thermostat and then using a pair of wire cutters I cut it off and then bared a little of both of the wires and then slid the heat sherink and wire connectors on the existing wires and then slid the other ends of the wires into the wire connectors then crimped the ends of the connectors and then tried using heat on the heat shrinks but still used rubber electric tape over it. I clipped the new thermostat were the old one was and then reattached the freezer wall cover and plugged the refrigerator back in. 24 hours later I checked the temperature in the refrigerator and freezer and both are running a lot colder.

Unplugged refrigerator. Emptied freezer and removed ice maker and cover, need to unplug fan. Defrosted coils with hot water. Cut wires to thermostat as close to it ad possible to leave extra wire in case of an error. Stripped wire in new thermostat and put in shrink plastic then the wire crimp connector joining both light blue wires making sure wires were in before crimping them. Repeated with other dark blue wire. After used the heat gun to shrink the protective white tubing. The only thing i found not satisfying was tge tubing. It was too wide and too small. When i shrunk it did not cover the whole connector and was loose. I had to use a glue gun to cover both ends of each wire connector. Hope this helps other users.