LFSS2312TD3 Frigidaire Refrigerator - Instructions

Had to disassemble the entire ice maker bucket. Simple and straightforward, didn't need any pictures or reference materials. Just time consuming.

PURCHASE:
Buy the terminator from the site because they sell the
terminator (thermostat) separately. Other places have it with the
wiring harness for more money. Changing it with the harness attached
is a very, very involved project. It includes removing the entire inner
liner of the freezer. The one the site sells requires only a simple
crimp splice and shrink tube.

TEST- If you have another freezer, ice or a friend's freezer available,
it is highly recommended that the new part be tested:
You will need an Ohm meter or a continuity tester. You can make one
very easily per instructions found on line.
TEST RESULTS-
a) At room temperature. An Ohm meter should show "Open".
b) After being in a freezer or submerged in ice water for at least an
hour, the Ohm meter should show "Closed".

I have installed hundreds of defrost thermostats. Very occasionally
one is defective. This project is a bit involved, so it is wise to pre-test.

HOW TO INSTALL THE DEFROST TERMINATOR (THERMOSTAT):
A) Prep
Remove Food & Be sure the freezer is warm.
Parts need to be pried upon & cold plastic breaks easily.
Tip: Put the screws in separate cups with labels. This will make
re-installing the many components easier.
Gather tools from the attached list.

B) Unplug Unit (Turning it off is not sufficient protection against shock.)

C) Remove Light Bulb (If it gets broken while working, glass may
get in the eyes.)

D) Remove Drawers (This is a bottom freezer unit with 2 drawers)
1) ) Upper Drawer:
a) Locate the 2 rectangular boxes covering the gears. They are
on each side, toward the rear of the drawer.
b) With a nylon spudger, push in the 2 clips on each box and
lift the boxes 1/4". They will stop at 1/4".
c) At the front of each track, remove 2 hex head screws with a
5/15" nut driver or a 1/4" flat bladed screwdriver.
d) Lift the front of the drawer a small amount while pulling drawer.
Lifting allows the 2 stops on the drawer to clear the track tabs.
e) When near the end of the drawer, lift the gear wheels slightly
to clear the track.
f) Put the drawer out of the way.

2) Lower Drawer With Front Door
*Leaving the door attached makes it easier to align the drawer when
reinstalling it later. It must be straight or the gasket will gap.
a) Put a thick towel on the floor, in front of the unit, so the door
can be laid upon in without scratching the handle or the floor.
b) Pull the drawer out and look at each track about 2/3 of the way
to the back of the freezer. You will see two long, white tabs.
c) Push a tab in while pulling the track slightly forward. Firm pulling
is required. Repeat on the other side.
d) Drag the towel and door out of the way

D) Remove the air grill at the top, rear of the freezer.
1) There is a clip in the center to push with a spudger.
It is easy to see in a photo of a replacement fan bracket.
2) On the right side, in the top row of square holes, is another clip
to press with a spudger while pulling that side of the grill out.
3) On the left, there is an air chute blocking the clip. It can not be
removed. With the right side pulled free, gently wiggle & pull the
left side until the clip clears & the grill is free to leave.

E) Remove the Ice Maker (Water does not have to be turned off)
1) Loosen, but do not remove, 2 screws above the ice mold.
2) Remove the one lower screw & put it aside.
3) Lift the ice maker & store it out of the way.
4) Do Not turn any wheels by hand, nor bend the bail wire.

F) Remove the Thermistor Cover (Upper Right Back Wall)
1) Gently squeeze the sides while pulling. Stop as soon as it's free.
2) Note how the thermistor & wires are installed in the cover &
thread the thermistor free.
3) Set the cover aside.

G) Remove The back Wall
1) Remove all visible hex head screws.
2) The back wall can now be removed.
3) Set it aside where it will not scratch any surfaces, as the edges
are a little sharp

H) De-Ice the evaporator with a heat gun or hair dryer.
Don't hold the heat source in one spot for long or wire insulation
or plastic components will be damaged.

I) Note the permanent ice ball in the upper-right corner.
The defrost thermostat is under this ball. Melt it with heat.

J) Install The New Thermostat
Hint- Take the thermostat to a hardware store to buy the
correct size shrink tube and crimp sleeves (butt connectors)

Installed a new Defrost Thermostat.

Removed old water valve w/ screwdriver, cut threads off old hose (as they just plug straight into new valve) & pushed hoses into new water valve. Solved both problems!!!!

Disconnect the two water supply tubes at the base of the Water Filter Base. Using a 7/16" open end wrench, press up on the blue "O" rings to disconnect the tubes. Use a Using an 8" long magnetic phillips head screw driver I was able to unscrew the 4 short screws holding the original water filter base and the immovable attached water filter. Replacement was easy. Simply slide the new base into the fixed slot on the refrigerator and reinstall the 4 holding screws. Reconnect the water supply tubes to the Water Filter Base. Install a new water filter.

The repair itself total time was quick and easy. Since the original fan blade blew apart, it was only a matter of putting the new one on in it's place. This can be done by feeding the blade between the cowling and Condenser coil and applying pressure to get it on the shaft.

If your fan is still on the shaft, simply push it off and extract it the same way. Then place the new one on the shaft.

In my case, since the part would take a couple days to get, and I had food both in the fridge and the freezer, I removed and unplugged the Condenser Fan Motor and the cowling frame and temporarily spliced a small fan I had into the line for the condenser motor. This kept the fridge working long enough to get the replacement part.

Side note. Direction of airflow is towards the Compressor, and draws air across the Condenser coils.

Hope this helps someone. :)

Watched the video on your website and you can’t go wrong.
Thanks for being there
Mike

The part i recieved, from parts select was a larger in circumfrence (<1/4) than the original. However i was not aware of this until after i treid to repair it.

I removed the broken fan from the condenser. This was very sipmle.

When i pluged the refridgerator back in to the outlet the fan tried to start up but soon began to make aloud noise, due to there not being enough clerance.

Repair was easy. Unplug refrigerator, turn off water to ice maker, remove back panel, disconnect water inlet valve, disconnect water supplies and electrical connections. Cut ends off tubing to modify to new part connections, connect tubing, connect electrical supplies, reinstall back panel, plug refrigerator in, turn water supply back on. We made sure that there was no ice build up in the supply tube into the ice maker and made sure that everything worked correctly before putting it all back together. It was an easy repair.

Easy

Old valve comes out with 2 screws, water lines removed and reinstalled on new valve just as they came off the old valve. Entire job took less than 10 minutes. Very easy replacement.

Took out the out one and slid in the new one so easy to do

Wasn't sure what parts to replace so happy to find intact entire assembly. Popped out the old, popped in the new. Back in business in less than 5 mins. Highly recommend.

Removed old ice maker , emptied ice into new ice maker and installed ice maker, it took less then 2 minutes to complete job and no tools needed , this was the easiest repair I have ever done.

Removed the glass top, replaced on new part. Then placed back into refrigerator.