[handyingilbert]

Our GE Side by Side refrigerator is not working correctly. It is cooling, but both sides are not getting cold enough. The refrigerator is down to 55 and the freezer is around 35. The ice maker is not working either and it is on. I blew the dust out of the coils under the fridge earlier and that did not help. Are there cooling coils somewhere that need to be checked?

Thanks

[woodchuck]

Evaporator coils behind the panel in the back of the freezer are probably iced up. Defrost system failed. Defrost heater, defrost thermostat or control panel.

[handyingilbert]

Would those coils be inside the casing somewhere? All I can see in the back is the cover for the control board and the cover at the bottom of the casing. Would they be accessable from the inside or the outside?

[woodchuck]

Inside the freezer behind the panel on the back wall. There is a fan at the top and the coils are under the fan all the way to the floor usually.

[handyingilbert]

I removed the panel and removed all the ice. I did not have any idea what was wrong, but the heater looks burnt out. Is that the only part I will need to replace? It is holding temperature again.

[woodchuck]

It will run ok for a couple of weeks until in builds up again.
You're lucky if it is the heater. Using a multimeter see if there is continuity from the end of the heater to the other end. If not ,replace the heater. If there is then the problem is probably the adaptive defrost control which is part of the computer control box. Part 801 on this diagram and parts list.
GSS22WGMD Parts List