My Whirlpool ED25RFXFW00 has had cooling issues for the last month and seems to be getting worse.

It will kick on and seems to just keep on running fine although I can't say for sure if it shuts itself off by itself or not. When it is running, the compressor and compressor fan and evaporator fan are all running and the freezer and refridgerator are in good working order. I have been looking at it one time when the defrost cycle kicked on and it appeared to go through the defrost cycle just fine and then turned back on cooling by itself...so I am thinking my problem is not with the defrost cycle.

The issue is that every week or so...the fridge and freezer go warm. I investigate the issue and unplug it and plug it back in and tap on parts and then the cooling starts running again and it is fine for a week. The wife gets happy and thinks it is fixed but I have really not done anything and then it stops working after a few days or a week...timeline seems to be shrinking lately.

Then today, I found a new data point. I got the fridge running yesterday after it got warm again. Today, it was running just fine and everything was frozen in the freezer and the fridge seems pretty cold. I went to the refridgerator thermostat which was at 4.5 out of a 1 to 5 scale. I turned it down and the fridge kicked off at 3. I turned the thermostat back up and the fridge will not start again. I turn both the freezer and the fridge thermostats on max and the cooling process will not start.

Is my problem with the cold control thermostat or is it with the starter relay or something else? What do I need to do to repair and what can I do to limp my by until the repair is complete?

Please help and thanks so much in advance!!!

Sure enough...after I posted the earlier message...the fridge did start working by itself shortly after. I will wait for the next time that it is not working for a prolonged period and try tapping on the cold control. Is this located behind the thermostat control? How likely is it that this is my problem? Wondering if I should just go ahead and order this part or if more troubleshooting is needed.