The freezer is not getting cold enough on my Maytag MRT118FFFE08 top freezer refrigerator. It’s only 2 years old. When it was new, the freezer stayed at zero degrees, but now it typically hovers around 4-6 degrees, sometimes going as high as 8-16 degrees. It will freeze enough to make ice cubes, but ice cream is soft and things freezer burn easily. The fridge compartment temp seems fine @ 34-39 degrees.
The evaporator fan in the freezer is running OK and the fan for the compressor coils is running as well. I tried cleaning out the coils in the back but there was no change. The compressor cycles on & off as you would expect.
I called a couple of legit local appliance repair places and they wouldn’t touch it. Both said it sounded like a sealed system problem and that I would have to get Maytag involved.
Maytag suggested signing up for the extended warranty so I reluctantly went for it, but I’m wondering if that was a mistake. I have a nagging feeling that they will just come out and say that it’s operating normally. I can still cancel the warranty extension - and the impending service appointment, if I do it soon.
What do you think?
Pete, if the fans are running and the compressor is running, but it will not pull the temperature down to 0, it sounds like a sealed system issue. You can pull the evaporator cover off and look at the coils. There should be a frost pattern from top to bottom on the coils. Appliance Repair Help & Troubleshooting
Thanks for replying.
The freezer actually does go down to zero and even below, sometimes as low as -4f, but it doesn’t stay there. Typically the temps sit at around +3 to +14.
Recently I had a Maytag contracted tech come out to look at it. I described the problem to him and he immediately replaced the evaporator fan without testing it. Although I thought I heard it make noise very occasionally in the past, I told him that I thought the fan was OK, as it would come on and blow plenty of air and there was no frost in the freezer. He recommended replacing it anyway.
The temps didn’t seem to change to any real degree after the repair. I don’t know how often the refrigerator should be auto defrosting, but if that’s what’s happening, it seems like it’s doing it a lot. Often it will stay at an elevated temp for at least 30-45 minutes before the compressor comes on & it drops down again. Some of the time it will drop down to +5 degrees or less, but more often than not it’s only for a few hours or so, then it goes back up.
Could the fridge be going into defrost mode at regular intervals - like every 4 to 6 hours - and that’s why the temps are varying so much?
Here’s a couple of pix showing typical temps (min & max are for the last 24 hrs):
1hr duration, evening, 8-11
4hrs duration, mid-day, 8-11
