Cold Control Thermostat

I have a 1978 Kenmore Side by Side refrigerator and I ordered the Cold temperature Thermostat because there was a loud continuous "buzzing" sound coming from the area of the Temperature Control knob in the refrigerator side.

I received the part the day after I ordered it which was not expected. There aren't any real accura ... Read more te installation instructions on your site, but there was enough to point me in the right direction. I understand that there could be a difference in model number and even the brand because this is not the original replacement part, but a generic replacement that "fits" several brands. I unplugged the refrigerator and got started. I took off the control knob and plastic cover to reveal the metal cover plate for the control / thermostat. I removed the light bulb and started to remove the screws holding the cover plate in place. The first problem I encountered was that there are five (5) screws holding the metal plate that covers the part instead of the four that were mentioned. After removing the cover plate, I removed the two screws that hold the cold temperature thermostat in place and disconnected the three wires that were attached to it and removed the old part.

I then compared the old part to the new one and noticed a couple of differences.

1. The new one is larger and the mounting bracket doesn't fit properly. I had ot mount it from the inside of the cover plate.

2. The new part doesn't turn all the way to off on the plastic cover. It has a full range but it turns on and shuts off at "1".

After getting it mounted and hooking up the three wires with connectors to the new part, I unrolled the sensing wire and pulled the plastic tubing over the bare wire. There was about 8" too much tubing, so I just cut it off with a diagonal cutter. I then ran the wire/tubing back in the same place as where the old one went and coiled the excess inside the metal compartment behind the new part.

Finally, I put the metal cover plate back in place with the five screws, put the light bulb back in, snapped on the plastic cover and pushed on the knob. I plugged in the refrigerator and it seems to be running fine with no noise. It wasn't a very difficult process, but it would have been easier if I knew about the differences in the old and new parts.