A couple of weeks back, one of my clients was throwing a big party for her son’s graduation party. As such, she had quite some foodstuff that needed storing. But, within a couple of hours, she noticed that her Frigidaire refrigerator was not cooling but the freezer was working fine.
As such, not only was the food at risk of going bad but it also risked ruining the party. You can imagine her devastation.
It is at this point that she phoned me to go fix her unit. Unfortunately, I was on vacation and the best I could do was guide her on the troubleshooting steps to follow. Fortunately, this worked and she was able to fix her fridge within minutes.
And in the spirit of sharing, today, I will also be guiding you on what to do if your Frigidaire fridge is not cooling but freezer is.
Frigidaire refrigerator not cooling but freezer fine
Of course, I am assuming that you have begun by checking the basics – you have not set the fridge to the hottest setting.
Now, if the fridge is not on the hottest setting, do the following to fix it…
Confirm that you are not overstuffing the refrigerator
Simply put, if you are overstuffing your fridge compartment, it is possible that some items are blocking the air chute.
And as a result, the cold air from the freezer compartment will not find its way into the fridge.
That being so, remove any food items that might be around the air vent.
The door gasket might be bad – for bottom and top freezer refrigerators
You see, if the gasket is dirty/bad, it will result in the door not closing fully.
In turn, one of two things might happen:
- The fridge might sense the door to be open hence it won’t start cooling to save power.
- Warm room air will find its way into the fridge while the cold fridge air will flow out.
Whichever the scenario, it will result in the Frigidaire refrigerator not cooling but freezer working problems you are experiencing.
Now, the best way to test if the door gasket is to blame is by using a thin sheet of paper.
Put the paper on the door gasket and close the fridge door. Now, gently tag at the paper.
Does it slide loose?
If yes, it means that the gasket might be dirty (or it is defective).
To fix it, start by gently cleaning the gasket using a cloth dipped in warm water.
Once the gasket is clean, use the sheet of paper to test and see if this fixes your fridge.
Pro tip: During cleaning, do not use bleach as it might damage the gasket.
On the other hand, if cleaning the gasket does not fix the unit, it means that the gasket is defective.
In this case, you should consider getting a replacement gasket for your model – see current Frigidaire refrigerator door gasket prices.
The damper control assembly might be broken
To start with, the damper assembly controls the flow of cold air from the freezer compartment to the fridge.
As a result, if it is faulty, it might not allow the flow of cold air from the freezer to the fridge compartment.
So, confirm that nothing is preventing the damper from opening and closing freely.
For instance, if you see some ice chunks around it, be sure to defrost the refrigerator.
Alternatively, set the fridge to the lowest temperature and put your hand over the damper assembly.
Do you feel any cold air blowing into the fridge?
If not, chances are that the damper is bad – in this case, you should replace it (shop for Frigidaire damper control assembly on Amazon).
But before that, first confirm that the evaporator fan is running. You see, if the fan is not running, no cold air will be blown through the damper assembly. So…
Frigidaire refrigerator not cooling but freezer fine – more troubleshooting steps to try
Confirm that the evaporator fan is running
As you might already know, the evaporator fan is responsible for blowing cold air throughout the refrigerator.
And, if it is bad, it might not blow the cold air throughout the fridge as it should.
Bearing that in mind, remove the foodstuff from your refrigerator and listen to see if you can hear the fan kick in.
Alternatively, you can remove the panel at the back of the fridge and see if the fan is running.
Now, one of the common reasons for the evaporator fan not to run is if it is covered in ice. In this case, the best way to fix it is by defrosting the unit.
Something else: If the fan blades are faulty (or the fan is not running), you should consider replacing the fan assembly – see current prices for Frigidaire evaporator fan assemblies.
Pro tip: Overfilling the fridge might also result in the food pressing the back wall into the fan making it not blow cold air as it should. So, remember not to overstuff your refrigerator.
On the other hand, if the fan is running as it should, proceed to check the following other potential causes…
Confirm that the evaporator coils are not frozen
This is another pretty common occurrence for Frigidaire refrigerator won’t cool but freezer is fine problems.
When this occurs, it’s not uncommon for the small vent connecting the freezer to the fridge to ice over. And as a result, cold air from the freezer won’t be blown into the fridge.
Now, the best way to solve this is to manually defrost the unit – unplug it, open its doors, and leave it like that overnight (or for eight hours).
But, this might only be a temporary fix and it is possible for the coils to frost again soon.
As such, be sure to pinpoint the cause of the frosting by doing the following:
- Testing the defrost heater to see if it is bad.
- Testing the thermostat to make sure that it is in good condition.
- Making sure that the refrigerator doors are not remaining open for a long time.
- Making sure that the door gasket is fine – bad door gaskets might result in humid warm air finding its way into the refrigerator and freezing over.
The control board might be gone
And this is usually the case when the above troubleshooting steps fail.
Now, the best way to tell if the board is bad is to visually inspect it for burn marks.
Fortunately, if it is bad, you can easily order a Frigidaire refrigerator control board for your model.
Pro tip: The control board might be bad even though it appears fine. As such, you should consider replacing it if all the above steps do not work.
Frigidaire refrigerator not cooling but freezer fine – recap
As a recap, here’s what to do if your fridge is not cooling but freezer is:
- Confirm that you are not overstuffing the fridge.
- Check to see if the door gaskets are dirty or bad.
- Confirm that the damper assembly is not faulty.
- Confirm that the evaporator fan is running.
- Check if the evaporator coils are frozen.
- Check if the control board is bad.