RD17F6DT3A Gibson Refrigerator - Instructions

I first thought the defroster heater broke - took the back wall of the freezer off and cooling fins were fine. Then took the defroster timer out and opened it up. The contacts were badly burnt so the compressor and fan ran during only part of the cooling cycle. Replacing the timer took less than 5 minutes - turn off the power, remove one screw to take out the control box, cut the ground wire (new timer housing is plastic and does not have a ground connection), remove two screws to unmount the timer, unplug the old timer, plug in the new timer, fasten with two screws, put the control unit in and fasten with one screw, turn power back on.

Turned off Refrigerator by thermostat switch in Freezer Compartment,(allowing for light to work in freezer). Then removed all food from freezer side,then all shelves & basket drawer. Next, unplugged refrigerator from electrical source. Removed back of inside of the freezer. Located the Thermostat for defrosting cooling coil. Removed and replaced with new part.(Tip-unplugged the wires for the original thermostat, remove from freezer and cut off and splice with connectors provided with new part, it's easier because you're not trying to do this in the narrow space of the freezer). Then attach the thermostat with new bracket and plug thermostat wires back in, replace back panel, shelves, plug in power supply, turn thermostat switch in Freezer to normal setting. Wait for Freezer to cool and replace food. It's currently working like new. BTW I thought I need a defrost time as well...however after I ordered that part and received it, I turned the existing defroster timer manually with a straight ended screwdriver very slowly and it cycled and the defrost rods glowed/functioned just fine. Therefore I didn't replace defrost timer. I'll save the new timer for future repair if needed. All in all it was fairly easy, and I didn't have to buy another fridge. I was really pleased with the service of this website...and the parts arrived very quickly via Fedex. Thanks www.partselect.com ! KJ

I original tried to repair the motor but was not able to. I remove the screws on the back plate and removed the the back plate. Removed the shroud for the motor and screws, unplug the power connection and removed the fan motor. Installed the new fan motor and reassembled everything. The refrigerator is working great.

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.

Part Select suggested probable causes and supplied videos of how to make the repair of a 25 yr.old refrigerator along with the specific parts to order. I was about to trash the old refrigerator but after replacing the parts for a total of about $40 and 1 hour of time it works fine now.

The instructions given to me by part Select were very good.I replaced the Timer- checked the heater with oham meter it was good- checked the door weather striping it was good and replaced the thermostat with new .So at this point I may need to call a professional unless some one has another solution.

the first thing was just trying to find parts for a very old product. i searched around till i somehow came across the part select website. and, eureka they had the gaskets ! then, i had a need for door shelf caps. and again, there they were on the exploded schematic ! with the purchase of these plus parts for the door, washers and center and lower hinge pins, i was able to renew our refrig and save a lot of money. removing both doors was very easy and all was done with a minimal amount of manual labor. now the doors are tight and closely evenly.

Ordered new parts, removed old parts, put in new parts. Done.

I watched the video you had on-line and it was simple. Thank you so much

Emptied freezer, removed fan motor cover (2 screws), removed fan and motor (2 screws), removed old motor from bracket and reassembled with new motor, transferred fan blade from old motor to new), re-installed new fan/motor (2 screws) and reinstalled cover...

there were three possible problems the timer, the thermostat, or the heating element.i replaced the timer first as that is the problem 65% of the time and that did not fix the problem, i replaced the thermostat and that did fix the problem. after watching the video on line from parts select i took the back off of the freezer from the inside, defrosted the coils with a hair blower and then swapped out the thermostat which pops right off and i spliced the old connectors to the new thermostat. the heat shrink tubing that came with the part was a little to big so i put a smaller peice on each side for water proofing. that is what the cigarette lighter is for to supply heat to the heat shrink tubing.now that i have fixed that problem i may tackle the ice maker next

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

After reading other posts, I decided to change the defrost thermostat, so I watched the videos, and did that. It got better, but the problem persisted, and the ice was still building up in the freezer section. So I decided that the problem was with the defrost heater. I ordered a new one, that was here under 24hs (using the Fedex ground). I replaced it, measured the old one and saw that it was not passing any current at all (so it was really burnt). Now the fridge is good as new, maintaining the proper temperatures both at Freezer and Fridge sections. Thank you Parts Select ! With $ 70 in parts I was able to get back my appliance working !!!

Unplugged refrigerator. Removed control knob and cover. Unwired control and removed same. Removed plastic tube from old capillary tube and placed on new unit. Installed and wired in new unit, making sure new unit was in the "off" position. Plugged in refrigerator, turned control knob to the first numerical setting, and was rewarded with the startup of the refrigerator compressor. Voila!