FFU17K1CW1 Frigidaire Freezer - Instructions

The old gasket was obviously gapping, partially from age and partially from damage during a move. To make the repair, I loosened the screws that are under the gasket and hold it in, but did not remove them. Once all were loose, I removed the old gasket, then starting at the top, ran a thin bead of food grade RTV under the portion of the door that captures the gasket. I put the sealant on that edge only, then carefully worked one of the short edges of the gasket under the plastic and tightened all but the corner screws. I then ran the RTV down the inside of the hinge side of the door and repeated the process, this time tightening the top screw and the hinge side screw at the top, but leaving the bottom most screw loose. I repeated the process on the opening side of the door. The bottom was the hardest because the gasket seemed just a little long and it was hard to get the RTV up and behind the door portion, but after a couple tried I got a good bead of sealant then slid the gasket under the door capture and tightened all the remaining screws. After closing the door, it was obvious that there were places were it did not seal well. I used some cardboard strips, cut from the box the gasket came in, to place inside the freezer, between the hard plastic of the door and the inside of the gasket where it laps over the screws. This helped a lot, but there were still a couple small areas, so I used more cardboard, from the outside, between the main portion of the gasket and the rim of the gasket. This eliminated all the gaps. I let this sit overnight and this morning removed all the cardboard for a great sealing freezer.

We opened our freezer last week only to find the bottom 2/3 was barely cold, while only the rear of the upper shelf was cold. In fact, it was covered in frost, despite being a frost-free model. Our frozen veggies were slushy, not rock hard, and our frozen juices were all liquid. We defrosted the freezer, plugged it back in, but immediately noticed that we didn't hear the 'whhoooooosh' that you typically hear when you close the freezer door. After 30 minutes, the rear upper shelf was frosty again, but the rest was still at room temp. We figured the freezer was a goner, so we started looking at new freezers. I headed online to see if I could fix it, and I eventually found this site. I had learned online that these symptoms can be caused by either a bad capacitor, or a bad controller (which the capacitor plugs in to). I guess you can't necessarily tell which of the two parts is defective, so I chose to order/replace both of them. I ordered the correct parts from partselect.com, and they alerted me that Frigidaire has a new replacement part for the capacitor. When the parts arrived (quickly, ftw!), I unplugged the freezer and snipped the two wires leading to the controller. Next I unplugged the controller from the compressor housing. I spliced the replacement controller's wires into the freezer's wires (using my own wire nuts...as none were included with my order :( ). I snapped the new controller onto the compressor mounting, and then plugged the capacitor in. I plugged the freezer back in, and it was time for the moment of truth. The interior light of the freezer came on, and I could hear the compressor 'humming'. I could hear it humming before the repair, so the big test was to see if it got cold. I was nervous because the freezer DIDN'T make the 'whoooshing' noise right away, but after just an hour, the 'test' mug of water was already turning into ice. It was fixed!!!! If you have these symptoms, you CAN do this!!! Unplug the freezer. Cut two wires. Unplug the controller. Splice two wires. Plug in the new controller. Snap in the new capacitor. DONE!!!

Pulled the fridge from encloser, removed rear cardboard cover and found compressor in rear. The compressor, being very accessable, was easy to find the bad starter/capacitor. I removed the spring retainer, pulled the capacitor off the starter, removed the starter by pulling outward and replaced with new. All went well when the unit started and cooled as new. Some noise at times, but traced to icemaker. As time went by, that noise was gone.

remove the rear cover, and simply pull off harness and replace starter.

Bought a new
capacitor.

Removed old gasket by loosening all the screws. Inserted new gasket. Be careful to prop up the plastic shell so that ALL screw holes line up, especially at the bottom, and that shell is not tilted. Then carefully insert gasket inch by inch and fasten very other screw, best from bottom up. Make sure that the gasket lip is clearly under the shell and engaged with it. Before you do anything you have to straighten out ALL the kinks with a heat gun. Do not get too close. It takes a while.

Removed old cold temperature control; tested with ohm meter and determined that the control was bad; ordered new cold control from PartSelect.com. Installed new cold temperature control with no problems; freezer is now running like new again!
p.s. I was very pleased with how fast I received my order from PartSelect.com!

This was a simple job. Raised the flap in the back that houses the compressor, removed the wire that holds the relay, pulled out the old relay and pushed the new one on. Replaced wire holder and that was it. Plugged it frig and freezer is at zero and lower compartment at 35. As easy as brushing your teeth!

I located the part that was the culprit as it had buzzed very much before quitting. This is an easy removal as the part is in a two prong jack and just needs to be carefully removed with the new part inserted back in the jack provided. The refrigerator works fine now, but the run capacitor will still buzz on start up of the compressor. I do hope this is normal in this model? anyway it runs fine mow. Thank you.

Super easy. That was super cool and saved me $500.00.

The retaining wire keeping the starter in place was first removed then the starter was easily removed. Pulling the old wire off was a little difficult because I had to pull harder than I expected. Getting the wire back on was probably the hardest part. I had to compress one part of the plug so I could get it to fit back on then it was simply a matter of placing the starter back in position and replacing the wire that holds it snugly in place. 20 minutes or so start to finish and new starter works well.

The site offers a video for this part which worked perfectly. In addition to replacing the part, since the cardboard panel was off, we also cleaned all the dust off of the coils which someone recommended to do annually.

The called for part is the wrong size due a false correlation between the called for part number and the PartSelect number. I order twice and each time it was a 31 by 65 in. gasket not the appropriate 31 by 60 in.. Both were returned but no resolution.

After receiving the part in the mail I removed it from the box and laid it flay on the floor. I had to use a hair dryer to CAREFULLY work it flat from the shipping. This took about an hour and a glass of scotch. I then let it sit over night to get the gasket as flat as possible. The next day I unloaded the freezer, unplugged it, and pulled the old gasket off by removing all the screws. I carefully slide the seal out of the track and did not remove the cover from the door. I left the door open for a couple hours to completely melt all of the ice and clean out the interior. I put the top and bottom of the seal in the track and carefully worked the sides in. It helps if you use a few screws to hold the gasket in place. Then easily pull the gasket to position it correctly. Using a screw gun with a clutch will help since there are quite a few screws. Check the seal by closing the door and see how it seals. It may be necessary to use the hair dryer to get the seal to pull up to the freezer body. Close the door and plug it it. Wait a few hours before putting in any food. Take your time and having a helper will make it go quicker.

Opened mailer and bag and place the drain plug into the drain. fit perfectly. In fact it is better than the one lost since the original needed a screwdriver or tool to remove the plug. This one has a flang or finger turner on it so that it can be removed. Also, does not interfere with items in bottom of freezer.