The cooling coils on my refrigerator are frozen. I'm assuming that the defrost thermostat is not functioning. Where do I find the part on the refrigerator? Could the coils have frozen up from turning the controls on too high after the frig was turned off for a long while. I need help, please!

Put your food in an ice chest or two, the frozen food too. Then turn the thing off and let it warm up to room temperature so that it completely defrosts. Pull it away from the wall. There may be a venting area on the back, or maybe it blows its warm air out of the front. Pull off the grates and clean it out. It's probably full of dust bunnies. Turn it back on without any food in it. Use a midrange temperature setting. It should cool normally. If it doesn't then you need to have it repaired.

I'm a girl though, so perhaps there is a better method. It has worked for me twice though, two different fridges same symptoms.