I have a 3 year old side by side Fridge Freezer, our problem has just happened twice. The coils behind the back panel were frozen up with ice and would not allow cold air into the fridge part, that's how we noticed a problem. I used a hair dryer to defrost the coils, this I did 3 weeks ago, today the problem is back. The Model is a GE GSH22KGRE. We all know it costs an arm and a leg to get a repair man out. Can you please advise what would be the first part to test? Would it be the defroster heater? Everything else works fine. Our problem is the coils are freezing up behind the back Freezer panel.
Would appreciate any advice.
Robert
:confused:

My side by side used to do the same thing. Yes, it is the defrost heater timer switch that is kaput. Test that first. What is essentially happening is that the coils get totally caked with frost as they are not defrosted enough and the hair dryer is the quick fix until you can afford to buy the part and do it yourself or get a repair person to charge you an arm and a leg.

I just replaced my fan motor in the refrig compartment for $30 and totally bypassed the repairdude. I keep getting postcards from him wondering where my money is.

You can call up local appliance repair places in the yellow pages once you determine what the part is and shop around until you find a store that has it in stock. I had to call 3 stores before I found the fan motor in stock. You can sometimes get parts cheaper online but you'll have to pay for the shipping charges. It usually ends up the same cost whether you have the local store order it for you or you order the part yourself online.

Do you have a fix it yourself book on side by sides?

No I don't have the book, but sure could use one. Is this timer easy to change?

Cheers.

Robert

I understand after spending a while on the web, there is no timer, the control is in the motherboard, any ides about that, does that mean the whole motherboard needs changing?

Robert

Yes it needs changing. The whole part goes.

I appreciate your help, can I bill you if it's not the motherboard!! (Just kidding) Thanks again.

Robert We don't need the freezer here in Calgary it's minus 31 outside right now!! Minus 41 two night ago.

Experiencing the same type of problem, I ran across this site. This dude takes a logical approach to solving a problem. http://www.appliance-repair-it.com/GE-refrigerator-repair.html