CRTE151AQA Crosley 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

Ordered the new part-Unplugged the refrigerator - took off the cover over the defective timer - put in the new part put the cover back on - plugged the refrigerator back in - so far, so good!~

Unplug the refrigerator. Removed the right hand top shelf. Used a 1/4" nutdriver to remove rear center mounting screw for Control Housing. Used Phillips screwdriver to remove two mounting screws for timer. Unplug cable from timer and plug it into the new timer. Install the new timer and re-install the Control Housing. Plug in the refrigerator and adjust the timer to start the unit. This was a snap with the diagnostic provided by Part Select. At first I thought it was the fan rubbing but when I removed the cover (two screws) it was obvious that wasn't the problem. The diagnostic hinted that it was either the timer or the motor capacitor making the noise. Because the noise continued after turning OFF the control, I thought it was the timer...I was right.

Removed the lower trim panel from front of fridg. and loosened two screws enough to turn it about 1/4 inch so the screw heads were in the larger holes. Pulled it out disconnected the wire connector and transfered the heat shield and screws to the new clock, connected the wire connector and aligned the screws. tightened them and job done. Has worked like new sense. Thanks Roger

remove food, then the shelf, then use a hot air gun to defrost and loosen the back panel, then remove the panel, then defrost the coil and thermostat area. using wire tools, replaced the defrost thermostat,and re-assembled freezwr and test

Using your online troubleshooter, it was probably the defrost timer and/or the defrost thermostat. Both cheap so I ordered both. The online repair videos showed how to replace those parts. Replaced the timer first with no problems. Removed the panel at the freezer back an saw a streak of black smoke on the white panel wall above the thermostat. Good chance this was the failure point. Video also showed how to replace this unit without any problem. Set the temperature control and let the frig run over night. Problem solved!frig at 38d and freezer at 0d.

My husband watched the video on your website and found it very easy to do the repair. The repair company that diagnosed the problem wanted $210 to do it. The part I ordered was under $20, and after he installed it the refrigerator has been working great. We would highly recommend your site to anyone who needs to fix anything!

bottom left cornerof fridge defrost timer replaced two bolts and a wire

1 went with maj 69% said defrost timer. NO. 2 went with second choice run cap NO. 3 went with my thought, ( PTC Starter ) why not, most exp part. Fixed the problem.

first I replaced the timer control hoping thats the problem,unfortunately situation the same ice build up on the freezer.so I replaced the defrost thermostat.right now I'll still observing the condition if still the same.may be in couple days.so far its good.and to replace the parts is not difficult and easy.

I literally just watched the video while I was repairing it at home. This is coming from a very girly girl who was desperate because she did not want to spend money on a new fridge while risking everything to fix it. If I can fix it...anybody can do it! I didn't even use the fancy melting machine, I used regular old wire tape and it is as good as new!

My unit was not defrosting. Defrost heater was not functioning. Defrost heater tested good with a meter. Thermostat (cold) tested bad with a meter. Defrost timer was working properly. I replaced the thermostat but I had to buy red crimp connectors because the blue ones that came with the thermostat are designed for wire bigger than 18 AWG wire. The thermostat leads as well as the wire in my unit were 18 AWG. The crimp was not tight enough for my liking with the blue butt connectors. I also purchased smaller heat shrink tubing. After replacement, the defrost heater started working. I could see it glowing. Unfortunately immediately after getting the heater working the contacts in the defrost timer arced and stuck together thus preventing the timer from exiting defrost mode. The heater went off at this point indicating that the thermostat was now working. I then purchased and replaced the defrost timer and now the fridge is functioning properly. I noticed both replacement parts, even though I looked up my fridge model, were different part numbers than the originals. I'm guessing the new parts are improved? I also noticed the timer was an 8/30 rather than a 10/30 like the original. The fridge is working better than when it was new so evidently defrosting every 8 as opposed to every 10 hours is better for my unit.

Long story short:

Buy the correct crimp/butt connectors before beginning replacement of the thermostat and proactively replace the defrost timer since it is rather inexpensive.

just followed the instructions from part select website - everyone is a repair man with the easy to follow and attention to detail the videos provided - time will tell I replaced the defrost timer and thermostat at the same time - the refrigerated was running a lot and the freezer was icing up on the back right of the freezer compartment mostly - " it has been doing this since the day we bought it from sears - we had a repair man over more than once but still had the same problem and had to max out the controls to keep things close to were they were suppose to be temperature wise. we also purchased a few extended warranties The freezer was running around 15 degrees and running all the time. The heating element checked out at 35 ohms so it must be ok. Will let you know in a few days. One serviceman even tried to say it was frosting up because we didn't have ac lol

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.

Defros timer was easy I finished it in about 15 minuts but the defrost themostat was hard.I had ploblems with the wire conectors and the tape I had to use Twist-on wire connectors.I hope I will not have problems later.So far 1 week later it is working.I can't belive $50 saves me $600.Thanks to Part Select for the video and how fast they shipping my parts in less than 2 days.