ok here's the problem....frig on top...freezer on the bottom....the frig stopped keeping foods cold...the freezer keeps working...the fan is blowing in the freezer...but no cold air in the frig.....so wee shut everything off and noticed the coils on the rear interior walls were frozen solid with ice........let it thaw out....everything works fine.....a week later...same problem.......we moved into this house a year and a half ago with this frig it worked fine, there was an ice maker in the freezer but it was not hooked up........ so 3 weeks ago...... i ran the water line to the frig and now this is happening......could this be the problem or just a coincidence??? the tube that puts the water in the ice maker looks fine, doesn't look to be cracked or leaking anywhere in the freezer.......the frig is kenmore 165a model#596.72234200, it is less then 5 years old.

This sounds like you have a auto-defrost part thats bad, either your defrost thermostat, defrost timer, or defrost heater.

You will need to follow the help section here it will tell you how to test these parts:
http://www.applianceaid.com/frig_notcold.html#ff

Jake

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ok, i plugged in the frig after it was off for over 30 hours...it ran for a good 4 hours and the coils in the freezer had frost on them...i rotated the small turn thing on the defrost timer and nothing seemed to happen...does that mean either the defrost heater or defrost thermostat are bad?

Make sure your refrigerator is running before turning the defrost timer, then turn it and when you hear loud click and the refrigerator shuts off, then its in defrost, don't turn your timer anymore, just let it go through the defrost cycle, it should turn itself back on in about 20-40 minutes.

If the defrost timer does all this, then your defrost timer is working, its either your defrost thermostat or heater.

Jake

__________________
Appliance Repair School 1987-1988
Star Appliance Tech. 2 yrs. 1988-1990
Wards Appliance Tech. 11 yrs. 1990-2001
Sears Appliance Tech. 4 yrs. 2001-Oct. 2005
Jake's Appliance Repair Nov. 2005-present

If you need more repair advice help on your appliance, click Here

Look-Up & Order Parts

Shop Home Appliances