8ED20ZKXAW00 Whirlpool Refrigerator - Instructions

just snapped it on,

First, I removed the two thermostat knobs, then the snap-on plastic cover. Then, I removed the 4 screws holding the housing for the timer, thermostats, etc., and dropped it down enough to remove the timer and the wiring harness going into it. Installing the new one was the same process, in reverse. Quite simple!

Replaced refrigerator cooling control. No luck. Replaced freezer cooling control. No luck. Coils were icing up. Unplugged frig and allowed coils to defrost. After more poking around, found that condenser fan was not spinning. Touch it and it'd start. That was definitely in need of replacement. Replacement was easy. Refrigerator is now running as it should.

Our spare 25+ year old Kitchenaid refrigerator (side-by-side model) refused to produce cold air. I could hear mechanical sounds and things "clicking", but the temps kept raising. This specific unit only had cooling coils in the freezer, and some ducts that route cold air into the fridge.

I emptied the refrigerator completely, removed the ice cube bin and shelves, and left it unplugged for two days with the doors open. Once everything was dry, I plugged the unit back in -- within 8-10 hours, the unit was cold again. Lights worked, and fans in the freezer and back of unit worked. However... once the compressor turned off, it never came back on. This told me that the root cause lies with components that control when to turn off/on the cold flowing into the coils.

I looked up my model on PartSelect website, and looked through their "likely to fail" list for my model. The defrost thermostat and defrost timer were at the top of the list, and symptoms made sense. Those two parts arrived within a week. The defrost timer was easy to install -- unplug old, plug in new. The defrost thermostat involved cutting existing wires, stripping a small section of sheathing, and attaching the wires to the new part with crimp caps and electrical tape. The electrical tape was there to cover the exposed area of the crimp cap and bundle the wires together. (I used 3M's "Super 33+".) Finally, reattach the harness to the socket, and attach the other plugs and grounding clamp.

After re-attaching the rest of the required components, I plugged the unit back in. After about 24 hours, it had gone through at least one cycle and was appropriately cold. After letting it churn for another couple days and watching it closely, I felt confident that the problem had been fixed.

** Side Notes **

Definitely use caution around the fins on the coil. For my unit, the harness plug is directly above the fins, and required some effort to safely remove while not slicing up my hands. Extra long screwdrivers and patience helps a lot. Put a wedge behind the wheels of the refrigerator so that it doesn't back away from you while you work. And, of course, do all this while it is unplugged.

** For the PartSelect Website Maintainers **

If possible, please provide some better guidance on where to place the lead coming off the defrost timer. The Youtube video was nice, but some clarity on which pole/spade to attach it to (and where to find that info, besides "consult your manual") would help many people.

After spending $250 on repair by calling appliance repair professional who changed relay in the fridge, the problem was not solved. I had to manually turn the switch off and on again to make sure my fridge would maintain its temperature. I read some similar problems on this web site, watched instalation video and decided to give it a try. Part came in very quick and it took me (female) 45 minutes to install the new part and refregirator worked like a champ. I would never call professional again until I try fixing the problem myself.

My tenants moved out of my rental property and abandoned their refrigerator there. The freezer door would not close properly because someone had previously removed the lower door support bracket and failed to replace the lower bracket shim that positions the lower part of the freezer door properly out from the refrigerator cabinet causing the door gasket seal to bind before the freezer door was fully closed. I removed and replaced this lower door bracket with a new shim made up of serveral thicknesses of cardboard to achieve this spacing and freezer door now closes and seals properly. They had never connected a water supply to the refrigerator although this model is equiped with an ice maker and in door ice and cold water dispenser. The access panel on the back of the unit had been previously removed and discarded. I made up a new access panel from cardboard and connected the water line to the solenoid valve. Valve was so old it would barely open when valve energized and water flow was too slow to make proper sized ice cubes and fill a water glass. I purchased a new water solenoid valve and replaced ther original valve and cured that problem. Replacing the access panel cured an improper cooling problem because with panel removed, most of the air flow bypasses the condenser coils. Lastly I replaced the upper tubular light bulb and the lower light socket I purchased here and installed a 40 watt bulb in the new light socket. Presto! I was able to turn non working abandoned refrigerator into a workable unit.

I removed the drawer and the shelf. I looked at the support on the other side to figure out how to insert the new one. Due to the shape of the "hook" part of the support, and the hole it needed to go into, I figured out which way I needed to insert it to be able to twist it so it would stay in place. From another online hint, and from talking to a repairman at a local shop (who had ordered me the wrong part) I knew I needed to twist it after inserting it. I used a pair of pliers to twist it counterclockwise, about a 3/4 turn. I put the shelf in and re-installed the drawer.

When we moved into the house, we cleaned the fridge and broke the glass shelf and thats how it has stayed.Then I finally got over my fear of ordering things "online" and within a week, we had a new shelf which just slid into place.
The shelf was packaged so well that even the UPS guy throwing over our locked gate didn't break it.
Thanks Part Select....job done !!!

First I removed the end caps off of the front piece and put the new end caps on the front piece and put it back on the refrigerator door.

Ordered shelf support stud kit. Product was promptly delivered, and contained the parts as shown on website. Took longer to open the package than to replace the missing shelf support bracket. No problems. Would order from them again.

Removed old thermostat and replaced with new one. The video link in the shipping email was great - really detailed even though it was a simple fix.

lifted door 1/2 inch and put blocks of wood under the door and replaced the lower hindge cam.

Searched my issue on the internet then chose part select to see if bi-metal thermostat was available and it was so I ordered part which was under $30.00 incl. shipping. I then went to You Tube to watch how to replace the part but most importantly to find out where it was located and degree of difficulty. Replacement was rather simple and it fixed our 22 year old fridge. I must add that when I looked up the part it also told you what percent of the time that particular item actually fixed the problem based on others experience. I thought that was neat info. as I felt better about ordering something that may or may not fix my problem. Thank you,

The repair video was a great help in this specific repair and matched my refrigerator model exactly. The only issue was an apparent design change in the thermostat that I received. The location of the electrical leads has changed. It might be worth mentioning this in the video. Polarity is not an issue in this case, but if it was, it would be worth noting in the video. So far the refrigerator has been operating normally.

My fridge was not cooling properly as I would have to tap the thermostat at times to get it to kick on again. Ordered the temperature control thermostat from this site t and watched video on how to install. Not hard at all and did it in under an hour. Fridge is working like new..