Whirlpool Refrigerator WRV976FDEM00 Service Test 6

[Sorta2]

Model Number

WRV976FDEM00

Brand

Whirlpool

Age

6-10 years

Hi all I have been having issues with my fridge for a bit. First the ice maker went out then within a week or 2 maybe the fridge wasn't staying cold or frozen. I did some youtubing and found my evap coils were a block of ice. After thawing I did a resistance test on the thermistors attached to the evap fan, both were bad. The black one I couldn't get a steady reading on and the white one showed an open circuit. I ordered the fan and thermistor assembly and a new ice maker, and installed both.

Everything looks like it is working but it is not getting cold. I found out about the control board troubleshooting guide under the door hinge cap and went through that. On my paper there is no Service Test 6. There is a test 06 on the control display and when it does that test it flashes 03. Since there is nothing on my sheet I have no idea what this means.

I found another manual online that lists my model number and it has service test 6 as "Defrost Heater/Bi-metal" and it only has: 01 for bi-metal closed and 02 for bi-metal open. I went through all the other seemingly relevant service tests and everything seems to check out fine. There were no malfunction codes on service test 66. What should my next step be? Thanks

 

[Sorta2]

After some more reading on here, I went back and did Service test 3 again, and that damper is not working. I can still feel air blowing when it is showing 23. Would that mean that I need to replace the damper control assembly?

 

[Jake]

I'm attaching your tech data sheet below.

I do see TEST 6 for your model. So try that again first and see what happens.

Service Test - 6 Defrost Heater/Bimetal/Sensor
--->Switch on the defrost heater, wait 0.5 seconds and read the status of bimetal/sensor. Display will be blank until a valid reading is displayed (01 = Bimetal Closed/Sensor Short, 02 = Bimetal Open/Sensor Open, 03 = Pass (only in case a defrost sensor is present).

The gold one is the evaporator thermistor(aka defrost sensor) that controls the defrost heater, the white one is the freezer temperature thermistor.

Your freezer evaporator thermistor only comes with the freezer evaporator fan motor.

Here it is for your model:
W11109595 Motor-Evap


So run TEST 6 while the evaporator coil is frosted and make sure the gold one is covered in frost. Then let it stay in TEST 6 for awhile and after 5 minutes feel for heat from the defrost heating element at the bottom of your evaporator coil.

Jake

 

[Sorta2]

Thanks for your reply. But I think I have found the main issue now. After looking though other threads I decided to check out my freezer coils, the fridge has been plugged in for a couple days now and there is no frost on them at all, leading me to believe that I have a sealed system issue, and I don't have the all the tools to tackle that kind of issue. Looking back my fridge is 8 years old so kinda leaning towards just going to the clearance shop and seeing what they have.

 

[Jake]

After looking though other threads I decided to check out my freezer coils, the fridge has been plugged in for a couple days now and there is no frost on them at all, leading me to believe that I have a sealed system issue

Yes, that would be the issue then, a sealed system problem.

Looking back my fridge is 8 years old so kinda leaning towards just going to the clearance shop and seeing what they have.

That would be a good idea.

Jake