[dwfd46]

We noticed our refrigerator was not cooling properly. The bottom freezer compartment appears ok and the fan is running, just no cold air in the refrigerator portion. I did notice a lot of frost on the rear panel in the freezer. I read the other posts about the defrost problems with these models and tried putting the unit in "forced" defrost mode using the controls in the refrigerator. The bottom drip tray filled up rather quickly and that seemed to help somewhat. Do I need to empty the freezer overnight with the unit off and let it defrost thoroughly? Bad defrost board possibly?

[Gene]

If it did defrost when you forced it into the defrost mode, then the problem is a bad control board (#5 on the diagram). There is no separate adaptive defrost control in this refrigerator. It is a good idea to let the refrigerator completely defrost before run it with the new control board.

- The control board Part number: AP4366538

Here is the Service manual.

Here are the breakdown diagrams and Replacement parts for MAYTAG MBF2256KEW Ref - Bottom Mounts | AppliancePartsPros.com

Gene.

[dwfd46]

Thanks Gene! I did notice that the coils and back wall of the freezer were frosty, and could tell by the sound of the freezer fan that it was working pretty hard. Also, there were a couple of items in boxes that had fallen against the back wall of the freezer and were blocking a vent on the right side. After moving stuff around some and running the defrost mode a couple of times I have cold air blowing back into the refrigerator again. I'm HOPING that's all it was, but I'll replace the board if it does it again. I also ran the open damper test cycle and it appeared to work fine, however the defrost thermostat and defrost circuit test showed "S", or defrost thermostat shorted? as described in the service manual. Thanks again for your help.