FRT16CNHZ3 Frigidaire Refrigerator - Instructions

Ordered a new defroster timer and replace old one. It works just fine. A $35 repair vs a $500 new appliance.
Cool.
GWE

I used the tool at Partselect that in theory allows diagnostic of the problem to be repaired. The result was that more tan 90% of the time with the introduced symptoms it had to be the thermostat. I order the part, got it quickly and installed. It did not fix the problem. So, be careful with the diagnostic tool, because it is just based on what most people buy when they have a particular problem. Videos for installation are great. If diagnosis was better, this would be fantastic. In my case there might be a different problem.

removed broken end caps, took a small screwdriver and simply applied a little pressure to release them. Pushed new end caps into place (they just snap in). Presto done!!

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!

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.

Inserted the caps into the bar and snapped in door. That's it.
No tools needed! Hope it last another 20 years

I used a flat head screwdriver to pry open the front of the socket as I pushed the socket toward the freezer side. I unplugged the two wires connected to the socket then re-connected the two wires to the new socket and popped the new socket back in. I then put a new light bulb in and we had light again in the fridge.

It snapped in place.

Cleaned and removed old ends, applied new ends and installed. Ends fit to order, shipping quick and parts affordable. Thank you

Just removed the two screws and unpluged it.
Then I pluged the new one in and replaced the screws. It runs like a brand new reffrigerator.
Thanks for the fast delevery. Will do busness with you in the future.

First i pulled the crossbar off the door, then I pulled both end caps off the crossbar and then I
put the two new end cap on the crossbar and then tapped snoggly into place with the palm of my hand. Job done. took all of about 5 seconds.

The only problem I had was that the end cap was sent before the rack. This refrigerator is in our cottage and I brought up the end cap while waiting to receive the rack. I couldn't remember where I put the end cap, so when the rack came it took me a few weekends to find the end cap. Once I did, it took me less than 1 minute to repair. I put the rack on the end caps & pushed the end cap in place. DONE!

The end cap is easy to remove and replace. The personnel at PartSelect was extremely helpful in re-ordering the correct part.

Put the new ordered door end caps in place, everything worked fine.

removed the screws and the gasket and replaced. it.. Most difficult part was the gunk at the bottom of the gasket which I had to clean and also made the screws rusty. i had to clean that with a rust removal gel.

It went ok nevertheless.