RTG15VGCF2A Frigidaire Refrigerator - Instructions

First, I unplugged the appliance. Safety, first.
Than I removed the shield which was held in by screws. This covered the fan, thermometer.
The defrost thermostat was taken out, with a little extra force. The wires on the defective part were no longer attached to the part. The instructions were easy to follow in replacing the defrost thermostat. I stripped the coating on the wire, attached it with the enclosed electical bugs. The assy was able to follow, and the part went back on. The refrigerator is working perfectly. I couldn't have done it without the help in diagnosing the problem and with the speedy delivery of the new part. Thanks for all your help and the ease of the installing the new part!

The BIG problem was getting the old drip pan off. The bolt on top of the compressor was too long to allow the removal of the old drip pan. I removed the old drip pan by cutting most of it away with tin shears then cutting the remaining part of the pan around the bolt with a hack saw (taking care not to damage freon lines and raising the pan above the threads of the bolt so as not to damage the threads). I still had to cut half the bolt away with a hack saw by replacing the nut and cutting a third of the bolt away (above the nut), so the new pan would fit. Putting the new pan on was a breeze after that. It may be easier to just cut the bolt off altogether on top of the compressor and use the wire clips per the instructions supplied with the kit to install the new one.

Removed old thermostat and replaced. really easy.

Wasn't sure if it was the derost timer or the heating element. Since the timer was much cheaper, I bought it and crossed my fingers.
My story is like the others. Unplug the refrigerator, snip the old wires, strip back the wire insulation, use the supplied connectors to attach the new defrost timer to the existing wiring.
Success! My coils no longer freeze up.
Only difficulty is I am a large guy, and fitting my upper body into the freezer was challenging.

First I remove the back panel which had 4 screws. Then I removed the ice maker. The icemaker is held in place by the 2 screws that requires backing the screws out just a litter, than lift up and remove the electrical connector. Used a volt ohm meter to check the resisitant in the heater element and the defrost timing switch. Both tested good and that left only the thermostat. Removed and replaced the thermastat swich. I cut the ends of the old switch and crimp the ends of wire with the crimps that came with the swict i purchased from parts select. My refrigerator is working properly and making ice like normal.

tested defrost timer and heater. And then tested defrost timer with ohm test($6 at hard ware store) Closed and would not open replace and tested freezer take 30mins to get switch cold and retest.

1. Turned off the cooling cycle and unplugged the refrigerator.
2. Removed all of the shelving and bottom basket.
3. Removed rear covering in the freezer section.
4. If frosted over, manually defrost coils with hairdryer.
5. Located original thermostat and after marking the wire locations cut the wires and removed the Thermostat.
6. Connected matching wires using a lighter to melt the wires together. Wrapped repaired wires with electricians tape.
7. Unable to install the thermostat in the recommended location (freezer is a tight fit) the new part was installed at the original location.
8. Replaced the rear cover and shelves.
9. Plugged in the refrigerator and set the cycle back to cooling.
10. Monitored freezer coils couple of days/weeks depending on how fast they freeze over (slots at bottom of cover) to validate if problem solved.

My fridge side had warmed up to 70 degrees but the freezer side was still cold. The coils inside had iced up. After thawing with a hair dryer, it froze back after another week. I removed the old defrost thermostat and wired the heater strip directly and turned on the defrost timer. It began melting the ice so that ruled out the heater strip being bad. I couldn't get a reading with my ohm meter on the defrost thermostat so I took a chance and bought the part. Installation was a breeze and it fixed the problem.

removed two screws, replaced the handle, inserted original two screws and tightened.

I guess that's pretty good for an old woman (age 72).

Followed the instructions provided in your video, took less than 15 minutes and works like new. Thank you for the parts and the advice.

Top freezer took off the panel in freezer and melted the ice around coils and found the defrost thermostat and replaced with the new one. Just followed the instructions from your video on line. Freezer works just fine now. Refrigerator is 38 years old.

Took old defrost pan off, put new one on. Had to bend new defrost pan a little for it to fit..

Refrigerator started frosting up and running all the time.I'd defrost it and it would frost up again in about a week.The timer seems to be work so I just guest it mite be the Defrost Thermostat.I removed the duck in the center and back panel in the freezer compartment defrosted it and switched Thermostats and replaced panel and duck, going to lower compartment of the refrigerator.So far it seems to be working a little more time while tell.

The old drain pan had a 1 ½” tall bushing attached to the center of the pan. The new pan did not have this bushing which was great. I had to cut about 1 inch off the bushing to remove the old pan. Also after cutting the bushing I had to screw the bushing off after cutting the old pan from the bushing. I installed new pan onto the ½” of threads that was left on the top of the compressor. Checked repair two days later all was great.

1. Unplug the refrigerator.2. Remove the storage rack and back panel in the freezer. 3. Locate the thermostat. 4. Defrost the freezer coils , i used a hair dryer. 5. Remove the thermostat from the cooling coil and then clip the connecting wires close to the unit. 6. Strip the ends of these wires and connect these wires to the wires of the replacement unit using the supplied wire connectors. 6. Heat seal with a lighter the connections using the water shield sleeves provided and further wrap connections with electrical tape. 7. Reconnect the thermostat to the cooling coil at the location it was removed from. 8. Replace the freezer back panel removed earlierand the storage rack if you have one. 9. Plug the freezer back in. My refrigerator has been working ever since the repair. There are several YouTube videos available that walk you through the diagnoses and repair process. They are very good.