Last night a burning smell was coming from the bottom freezer,just happened to open it. This morning I took it apart, element got so hot it melted some of the right rear insulation and started to melt the plastic liner of the cabinet. The defrost metallic switch has been replaced before because of a no defrost condition.
Here are your parts
Parts for Whirlpool GX5FHTXVQ00 Refrigerator - AppliancePartsPros.com
See the attachment for the tech sheet.
Could be that the defrost thermostat contacts are now welded together.
At room temperature it should measure 56,000 ohms when open.
I am assuming the defrost heater was off when you opened it up.
If the defrost thermostats are open then it could be a bad control board.
If the defrost thermostat is deformed/bulged then replace it even if it measures OK.
If the defrost thermostat contacts do not open at room temperature replace it. Since it has been replaced before I would also replace the defrost heater as it might be pulling too much current.
GX5FH.pdf (425.0 KB)