FIXED WRV986FDEM01 Whirlpool Refrigerator gives PO message every 10 min

[Bobzand]

Model Number

WRV986FDEM01

Brand

Whirlpool

Age

1-5 years

Our 3 year old Whirlpool WRV986FDEM01 started power cycling about every 10 minutes followed by the PO and confirm message. At the same time that this issue has started the ice maker has also stopped working. Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated

 

[Jake]

I had one do this a couple years ago in my local area.

It would just display PO and kept rebooting and the main control board relay would just keep clicking non-stop. Pull your refrigerator out from the wall and take off the main control board cover and see if the relay is clicking non-stop on your main board.

Here's the main control board for your model:
WPW10675033 Cntrl-Elec


Don't order the main control board if that relay on the control board keeps clicking, the problem would be the compressor.

Jake

 

[Bobzand]

Thanks for the reply Jake, I will do as you instructed and see. One question though, the fridge and freezer are maintaining the correct temps and I can feel cold air flow. Could this still point to compressor? Thanks

 

[Jake]

No, if its still cooling fine then your compressor is fine.

Is the ice maker still not working?

Is the PO message gone now too?

Jake

 

[Bobzand]

No, the issue of the PO message and power cycling and no ice production still persists. One weird observation, over the last 24hrs is that instead of the PO and beep sound, it sometimes does a power cycle with a “jingle” tune. Also my wife stated that the night before this whole problem started she could hear a louder than usual purring sound when she would open the bottom freezer drawer.

 

[Jake]

Unplug the refrigerator from the wall outlet for 15 minutes, then plug it back in and see if everything goes back to normal.

Jake

 

[Bobzand]

Unplugged for about 25 min with same result. Ice production is also non existent, but temps are all good.

 

[Jake]

Ok, it sounds like a bad control board then, but that control board is over $300 and if it does not fix it, you can't return it for a refund.

So its best to have Whirlpool come out and see what's going on.

Contact Whirlpool at 1-866-698-2538.

Jake

 

[Bobzand]

Ok, thanks for the guidance and help. I’ll see which route we will take based on your suggestion.

Thanks again,
Bob

 

[Bobzand]

Hi,

I just wanted to give you an update and see if you had any thoughts on what has happened. So we unplugged the fridge for a few days and cleaned everything out as far as food and decided to plug it back in to see what would happen. Well, everything seems to be working fine and both fridge and freezer are working without any issues. What do you think happened? My wife tends to pack the freezer, could this have caused it to ice up? Thanks again for any guidance

 

[Jake]

Glad to hear its working good again.

Not sure why unplugging it for a few days was the answer, but I can't really see this as the ultimate solution, as usually problems like this will come back as no parts were actually replaced.

Did you call Whirlpool to come out?

Jake

 

[Bobzand]

So do you think I will need to still replace the board? After a complete thaw for over 48 hrs the unit has been working flawlessly for over 24hrs now. My thought was that because we over packed the freezer it caused something to ice up. We also cleaned the bottom coils out which had a lot of lint and dirt buildup.

 

[Bobzand]

No we haven’t had anyone from whirlpool come out yet. Was hoping that this was just a hiccup that the complete thaw process fixed. It may be wishful thinking, but 24hrs now and things seem to be working normally.

 

[Jake]

After a complete thaw for over 48 hrs the unit has been working flawlessly for over 24hrs now. My thought was that because we over packed the freezer it caused something to ice up.

That may have been the problem, let it keep running and see how it does.

Jake