RT17F3YMGC Gibson Refrigerator - Instructions

Instructions from partselect were very clear and probable cause made it easy to narrow things down. I have the manual for the refrigerator that shows the location of the defrost timer. Very surprised that it turned out to be a cheap and easy fix.

Removed the timer, installed the new one. Great service from part select

After some troubleshooting to ensure the thermostat and heating element were working, determined that the defrost timer was the problem. With the defective part, I was able to manually advance the timer to activate the defrost cycle, but it wouldn't do so on its own. Unplugged the refrigerator from the wall. Timer is located in the refrigerator compartment at the very top. The compartment houses the cooling thermostat, the light bulb and the defrost timer. Using 1/4" nut driver, remove 4 screws holding compartment cover to top of fridge. Lower a bit to access electrical wiring. Wiring harness can be unplugged to work on the timer away from the fridge which makes it a bit easier. Timer is mounted with 2 phillips head screws. Remove screws and unplug timer from wiring. Install new timer, plug in wiring, secure with the phillips head screws and remount entire compartment.

Unplug the refrigerator unit from wall. I removed freezer rack, plastic light cover, the ice rack shelf on the right side, then removed the plastic back cover panel, (4) retaining screws, gently tilting the panel toward me, unplug the wiring harness by depressing the clips on the side of the plug, removed panel from unit, set aside. If the unit was froze up, so I defrosted the cooling coils carefully with a common hair dryer until it was thawed. Be careful not to touch or bend the coils , since they are very fragile and SHARP! I located the old thermostat unit attached to a straight length of coolant line. The new unit looked like the old one, so it was easy to locate. I cut the two wires of the old unit close to the round base to make sure I would have enough wire to reconnect. Since my new unit did not indicate a polarity(Neg or Pos), I just wired each wire I cut to one of the new unit. I used the shrink tubing provided and heated the shrink till it was fully melted. I double ck'd to see if the wires were basically waterproof and a good connect. Also, before I replaced the rear panel, I made sure that both wires I had spliced had a drip loop to it so water would not drip down into the newly spliced union. Also made sure the wires will not interfere with the colling fan on the back of the rear panel. Reverse the procedure in reassembling. Plug in unit, and wait and listen for the unit coming back on..I kept a regular thermometer in the upper and lower compartments. Allow 24 hrs. for the unit to return to normal operation. It may defrost several times till the whole operation is back in sync.

I order defrost timer then replaced it but it seemed doesn't work. I order defrost thermostat again then it worked fine until now. Thanks. Part selects.

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.

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.

Removed screws that fastened bracket to fridge. Next, I replaced the motor and carefully lined the brackets up so the motor would rotate smoothly. Put the fan blade on the motor and screwed the brackets back on the fridge. Motor kept popping out of alignment while I was screwing the brackets back in but I kept snapping it back in till it stayed.

replaced the defrosting timer and saved a lot of $ by doing it my self.

unplugged frig,removed bottom front cover and loosend 2 screws at bottom front left and slid defrost timer out from behind metal panel,unplugged the old and plugged in the new.frig works great.

Followed instruction vedeo from partselect. THANKS!!!!!

Watched the video once. Removed four 1/4 inch screws with a nut driver unplugged the unit, took out two screws securing the timer. Replaced did all of this in about 10 minutes. It was "exactly" as the video showed and it's worked perfectly since the replacement of the faulty timer. I saved a $75.00 service call minimum and the part was more than likely cheaper from Part Select than from the repair facility. Although I'm a pretty good handy man, you would not need any experience to make this repair. The instructions are precise and the part fit perfectly.

tested the thermostat, cleaned the coils, checked seals all clean. defrost timer did not cycle so replaced it but issue not resolved. even though freezer was working while refrigerator was problematic, proceeded to open freezer panel. discovered that fan was not pushing cold air into refrigerator compartment due to ice build up in connecting tubes. cleaned ice and replaced panels to positive result

Problem not consistent. OK for 2-3 weeks, then freeze coils. Mark and observe the defrost timers manual rotating adjuster. Timer would stop mid cycle. One revolution equals 8 hours of compressor run time followed by 30 minutes of defrost. Replacing timer took 5 minutes.

Based on the diagnosis on this site I thought the 66% odds of the problem being the Defrost Timer looked pretty good, $30 including shipping versus a Sears tech phone estimate of $250-300. BINGO! Just follow the online installation instructions and don't forget to use the reset switch as described. Works like new! THANK YOU