[ct54531]

At my wits end. The problem started with freezer working/refrigerator warm. Defrost issue, right? But the heater works. I can see it come on and off. And tested the continuity for the thermostat and heater and it was good. I have replaced all three thermistors and the mother board. And still the freezer works great but the refrigerator side wont get properly cold.

A couple of anecdotal observations: I don't see the damper door opening. When I first turned the unit on after it being off for a while, it opened but only for about an hour as far as I can tell. And doesn't seem to be opening at all now. (But I'm not looking in all the time.) And if I manually open it, I can't feel any cool air coming through - and, yes, the evaportor fan is running. In fact, it seems like the evaporator fan is running all the time.

Also, this unit has a readout on the front of the top of the door frame with just colder/warmer settings from 0-9. Whenever I open the door, there are no numbers there. But just touch any of the colder/warmer "buttons" and it comes on - at 5. Does that tell me anything?

[richappy]

You either have a air blockage in the freezer, or a blocked air return in the fridg section by the crisper.

[ct54531]

Thanks very much for the reply. The bottom return isn't blocked for sure. I can see my fingertip through it.
But I wondered about a blockage in the freezer. I had the ice maker motor out to check the evap motor to see with my own eyes that it was working. What could block it. Or, alternatively, the blockage could be the closed damper. Any harm if I prop it open to see if that cools the refrig side?
Thanks again.

[richappy]

Try jaming the damper door 1/4 open with a wad of duck tape, just make sure it sticks good so the opening and closing action of the door will not dislodge it. I have done this before. It is possible the door motor is bad, but rather rare. The damper motor is impedance protected so it will not be a problem.