WRS20MQRCD0 Westinghouse Refrigerator - Instructions

Remove the cardboard access cover at the bottom back of the fridge. On the left side, locate the run capacitor. Remove it by prying it loose from its socket, after first removing the wire hold down clamp. One wonders why the clamp is there, which makes it difficult to get the run capacitor out. Be careful not to disrupt in any way the copper refrigerant tubes. If you mess them up, you will have wasted your time and effort trying to repair the machine. I was lucky, since a failed run capacitor is the problem only about 12% of the time, based on what I’ve read. Hallelujah! It was the problem with my fridge.

Installed salvaged pan cover edge guards from broken pan cover. I installed new pan cover in grid.

freezer section remove ice trays ,shelves,unplug ice tray.use 1/4 nut driver remove back panel,use hair dryer thaw ice from evap coil ,unplug tstat remove install new one.plug in ice maker,put back panel back on ,ice maker and shelves plug refridgerator back in

Unplugged fridge, opened the door, used flat head screwdriver to pop off old switch, unplugged wires, plugged in new switch, popped it back in, and plugged the fridge back in. 2 minute fix.

raised the sides of the drawer front up, then pulled the front straight up. Then put the front in the slots of the new drawer and pushed down. I gave it a light tap on the top corner and it locked into place. I put my food stuffs back in the drawers and slid them back into the refrigerator. Job done in about eight min, for two drawers.

Ordered the Capacitor and the Thermostat Control. Parts were received in a matter of a few days, easy to install, but did not fix the problem. Had to call a repairman to fix the problem (compressor relay - this part not available to order for this model number with Parts Select). Will continue to use Parts Select in the future for other parts, but not happy that the actual part I needed was not available - had to use other methods.

replaced it

I used the tool at Partselect that in theory allows diagnostic of the problem to be repaired. The result was that more tan 90% of the time with the introduced symptoms it had to be the thermostat. I order the part, got it quickly and installed. It did not fix the problem. So, be careful with the diagnostic tool, because it is just based on what most people buy when they have a particular problem. Videos for installation are great. If diagnosis was better, this would be fantastic. In my case there might be a different problem.

I simply removed 4 screws holding the casing and then 2 more holding the timer. It was very easy. I then replaced the timer by unplugging and plugged the new one in. I replaced all the screws and the job was done. Less than 30 minutes. I was very impressed with the shipping time. When I ordered the part, I had it the next day.

Traced issue to defrost timer ( burned compressor & element contacts). This unit is mounted next to the temperature adjustment control in the refridgerator area - right in front. Removal of plastic cover provided easy access to the timer. Unit unscrews from the mounting then unplugs. Installation is reverse of removal.

Ordered a new defroster timer and replace old one. It works just fine. A $35 repair vs a $500 new appliance.
Cool.
GWE

removed broken end caps, took a small screwdriver and simply applied a little pressure to release them. Pushed new end caps into place (they just snap in). Presto done!!

First of all thanks to all who posted their stories, because those stories helped me to narrow down what could have gone wrong with my fridge. I did not know how frost-free refrigerators worked at all, reading your stories and doing some on_line research I understood the theory behind the work. My freezer was working constantly, but fridge was warm, cold air would not reach to fridge because freezer was completely frosted.
I had ordered defrost heater, defrost timer and thermostat. I was sure one of these parts was the problem.
First I used flat screwdriver to turn the timer manually untill frdge stopped running(timer is on the left bottom corner behind the black decoratve plastic under the door) . Waited about 20-30 min, checked ,freezer was still frosted. I disconnected the fridge from the wall socket and took shelves out from freezer compartment. This is where hair-dryer came in handy or you could wait till ice would melt on its own, which could take long time.Then loosend 2 screws on left wall that were holding icemaker unit half-way , unplugged the icemaker and took it out. Then took the light-bulb and cover off. Next I unscrewed and took the posts out that were holding shelves in place. Then I took remaining screws from back wall out and gently pulled back cover up then forward a little until I could see electrical connectors behind the cover and unpluged them. Back wall cover was ready to come out. I discovered thick wall of ice covering entire cooling unit. Used handy hair dryer again. When the ice melted, I saw the thermostat was busted open ( Iguess water or moisture got into the unit, then froze and ice pop-openned the cover damaging one of the connecting wires). I diconnected wires and changed the thermostat , which was very easy, just one clip holding it in place . Then plugged the fridge and checked if heating unit was working by touching it. Negative. Closed the door and let fridge run for 15 min, turn timer with screwdriver until fridge stopped working, cheked heater again- wallah it was warm and then it got really HOT! and melted all of the new frost build-up(a sign that thermostat was working). Closed the door waited another 15-20 min, fridge came-on on its own. Unplugged the fridge, pulled it forward from the wall and used sponge to drain the water from holding tray- about one half gallon of it. This is a good time to use a vacuum clener to undust the back and under the fridge. Then put everything back, in reverse order, ofcourse. Cleaned fridge and freezer compartments with warm soap and winneger solution (really good- this was a present to my wife who took our two little daughters to grandmmas and out of my way), put everything back and turned the fridge on recommended settings. Its been 5 days allready and it works great ( I used thermometr to check temperature inside the fridge and freezer). I'm thinking of returning defrost heater and timer back.Thanks PartSelect.Com, I saved lots of money. Hope this story will be helpfull to someone.Thanks for your time!

Took about an hour previously to deice freezer, timer was running,drain was open, jumped defrost thermostat out and heater was O.K. Defrost thermostat was just a plug and play item, the time involved was in taking the freezer apart to get to it.

Inserted the caps into the bar and snapped in door. That's it.
No tools needed! Hope it last another 20 years