Advice on Fridge repair please (1 Viewer)

[Payne]

We have a 6 year old bottom freezer Maytag.

A few months ago we had frost buildup on inside of freezer door. Repairman came out and asked if door was possibly left open. He suggested I empty it out and shut it off for 24 hours. It fixed the problem for a few weeks before coming back again. I haven't had time to have the guy back out due to work and kids activities.

The Monday before Thanksgiving, warm fridge. I shut it off and fired it back up on Tuesday. Now the freezer appears to be great, but certain foods in the fridge are freezing. It's like the problem reversed itself. ??

Called the repairman this morning and he quoted $395 to replace motherboard and a few other parts.

This unit is currently on sale at Lowes For $899.

Does the repair sound "normal"? I'm really debating if buying a new one is the better answer.

Any similar experiences?

Thanks

 

[Sullie]

I have some free advice.  I'm not an appliance repair guy, just a diyer type of guy.  Have you cleaned the coils?  They're usually but not always located at the bottom of the fridge.  There's a coil cleaning brush you can use and sometimes you can get a shop vac hose attachment in there and clean those out.  The other thing is before you start playing parts darts (I'm stealing that from another football guy poster on here) is that I would get that part number for that motherboard and see if I could replace it myself.  You would be surprised at how easy some parts are to replace on appliances.  I've fixed my washer and dryer, stoves, dishwasher, etc. with a good youtube video.  I'm wondering if could possibly be the compressor? 

My rule of thumb is half the cost in 12 months.  If parts+labor are going to be half (or more) of a replacement item in the span of 12 months then I'll buy a new one.

 

[Dan Lambskin]

Agree I'd try giving it a good cleaning and Google model # plus issue to see if you can find something similar 

RepairClinic is a good resource too

If it comes down to $400 for a new MB or $900 for a fridge I'd probably go the new fridge route

 

[Da Guru]

We have a 6 year old bottom freezer Maytag.

A few months ago we had frost buildup on inside of freezer door. Repairman came out and asked if door was possibly left open. He suggested I empty it out and shut it off for 24 hours. It fixed the problem for a few weeks before coming back again. I haven't had time to have the guy back out due to work and kids activities.

The Monday before Thanksgiving, warm fridge. I shut it off and fired it back up on Tuesday. Now the freezer appears to be great, but certain foods in the fridge are freezing. It's like the problem reversed itself. ??

Called the repairman this morning and he quoted $395 to replace motherboard and a few other parts.

This unit is currently on sale at Lowes For $899.

Does the repair sound "normal"? I'm really debating if buying a new one is the better answer.

Any similar experiences?

Thanks

Most of these problems are easy fixes in you are handy at all.  I know nothing about appliances but have replaced a keypad on our microwave, and a couple of parts in the fridge.  Unless it is the condenser and yours if OK because it is running The fridge parts that go are usually between 10-30 dollars. 

Repair Clinic on You Tube can help, if they can`t there are so many helpful appliance repair videos. And it is much easier that you imagined. 

Frost buildup can be caused by the freezers seal not being intact all the way around.  Causing the fridge to keep working harder.  Take a credit card and go all around the seals of the freezer and fridge.  Insert it every 6 inches or so.   If it slides between the seal easily that is not good and the seal needs replaced eventually.

 

[Payne]

Thanks. At this point, I have not much to lose by giving it a shot. I have repaired many things on my own. But in this case it seems like there are many reasons why it could be doing what it's doing.

I plan to check the coils and the seals at the very least and go from there.