WRF995FIFZ00 not cooling to set temp or making ice in either icemaker

[anuclearfam@gma]

Model Number

WRF995FIFZ00

Brand

Whirlpool

Age

1-5 years

After overloading our refrigerator at the holidays, our WRF995FIFZ00 refrigerator was not making ice in either the freezer or the refrigerator door. Defrosted unit and replaced icemaker fan, no changes. Also noticed the freezer was not maintaining temperature. Set at -5 and reading 29 on a thermometer. Refrigerator temp seems ok. . Thermistors tested and reporting same temp as thermometers. Fans seem to be working ( can't confirm condenser fan). No idea what to do now! Many thanks for the forum...love ut!

 

[Jake]

Hi, Do you see/feel any frost build-up on the back panel inside the freezer?

If so, do the test I mentioned here first:

FIXED - Whirlpool Refrigerator WRF995FIFZ00 - Ice Maker not working, vent is hot

The other day my wife said our WRF995FIFZ00 was out of ice. Sure enough, it was bone dry. Recently I changed the water filter (there was still ice in the ice maker then), and about a week ago the freezer door was left open an inch or two. There was a lot of ice built up on the evaporator...

www.applianceblog.com

I'm attaching your tech. data sheet below.

Do--->Service Test - 91 Run a Forced Defrost
• Activates the Forced Defrost.
• When ON is selected and exiting Service Mode, defrost will be executed.
• When OFF is selected and exiting Service Mode, defrost will NOT be executed.

Let us know if the defrost heater comes on, the defrost heater is located at the bottom of your evaporator coil, which is located behind the bottom vents on the back panel in the freezer.

Hold the door switches in.

Also Do--->Service Test - 89 Run FC Defrost Heater
• When entering this Service Test, Defrost Heater turns on and stays on for 5 minutes or until the evaporator thermistor goes above 60°F (16°C).
• “--” will be displayed while the operation is executed.

FC stands for Freezer Compartment.

 

[anuclearfam@gma]

Completed. Refrigerator and freezer left empty and open 36 hrs. Restarted and now Refrigerator set at 33 degrees and Freezer at -5. Running at 44 and 37 respectively 24 hours later.

 

[Jake]

Ok, keep your eye on it.

 

[anuclearfam@gma]

Freezer still not dropping below 35 ( same temperature in refrigerator) and no ice. Any ideas?

 

[Jake]

Sounds like possibly a sealed system problem then. Look and take a photo of your evaporator coil, we need to see the frost pattern of it.

Normal would be a thin layer of frost on ALL the coils from TOP to BOTTOM.

Look at the very bottom photo below where it says NORMAL FROST PATTERN.

 

[anuclearfam@gma]

When we first defrosted the freezer, it had a freeze pattern on the evaporator that looked like the picture you provided that indicated "no air flow across the coils."

After the defrosting and troubleshooting process, this is what it currently looks like: (see picture of coils attached)

The upper right has some frost. The remainder of the evaporator coils are barely cool to the touch.

The upper left hand of that picture shows the fan that supplies cold air to the ice maker in the freezer and in the fridge door. We replaced that fan and it seems to be working properly (good air flow to both locations).

In front of the evaporator coils sits another fan, (presumably the evaporator fan), which mounts on to the evaporator cover (see two pictures of cover and fan))

That fan does appear to be working properly based on air flow we can feel, and sound of the motor running.

I'm now wondering if there's something that is keeping the coils from getting sufficiently cold. Any ideas?

 

[Jake]

The upper right has some frost. The remainder of the evaporator coils are barely cool to the touch.

That's a sealed system problem, look at the sealed system problem photo I posted above.