Greetings - Was VERY pleased that my part arrived almost within 24 hrs from ordering online so none of my food may spoil !!! Ordered replacement relay for original part# 548071 and received your replacement part# AP2979571. My original had 1 red wire going to it (directly to the start terminal) and from that a thin bare wire wound around the external shaft of the relay over to the run terminal. I want to make sure that I now use terminals 1 and 3 and provide them BOTH with the same red wire that comes from my overload device. The serial number for the fridge is S12941259.

Thanx for such great service - Paul

Check your model #. Be carefull and do not plug in the fridg, if the start device is wired wrong, you will burn out the compressor.

Trace where the red wire goes, it probably goes to the run capacitor which is wired between the left and right black plastic ptc device terminals.
If you made a diagram which wires whent where, then just plug them into the new start device. If you failed to note the wiring, then notify us for wiring info.

I have never seen a thin, enameled red wire stuck in a compressor terminal unless it's a coil wound around a old style, mechanical start relay. From your description of the wiring, the thin, red wire is shorting the power wires between the overload and start device!
If you have a ohm meter, hold the ptc device with the tab up and the input spade terminals facing you. Measure the resistance from either input terminal to either round, compressor terminal. One input terminal will measure short to one output terminal and 5 to 10 ohms to the other output terminal.This terminal gets the fridg power wire, the other input terminal gets only the run capacitor wire and no other wire. The other run capacitor wire goes to the other input ptc spade terminal.
The other power lead goes to the klixon overload device.

Not sure where that last post came from but I DID NOT plug it in.

OK - The thin wire wound around the external shaft (with a black plastic winged piece) of the old part MAY have been red enameled but when found it is now blackened bare wire. I suspect you may be correct in that it is a mechanical relay with the windings used to pull the contacts off the start position leaving just the run contact live to the compressor.

On the second part of your post I am unsure about what you mean. 1st are you asking me to measure the old or new part or the actual compressor pins? Before I ordered this part I checked the resistance of the compressor pins - 2.2 ohms & 5.8 ohms to the top pin and 7.9 ohms between the bottom ones so I figured the compressor is good.

The old part had only 1 spade lug (at least for connecting purposes unless no remains are found for any other possibilities) and that was directly connected to a standard coated red wire from the overload relay. This is what prompted this discussion because the new directions on the new part has only options for 2 and 3 wire connections.

I do not know of any run capacitor wires unless they vanished and I see nowhere for them to connect to the old relay.

I will add also that the schematic only shows that 1 wire to the start relay from the overload. The only other wire is the neutral that was connected directly to the top pin of the compressor.

If you want me to measure the new part or the interaction between the new part and the compressor pins, I will need to pull the fridge forward and open it back up.

Thanx Again - Paul