[Stingrey]

My Kenmore side-by-side refrigerator is warmer than normal (~60F) and I'm not sure what the problem is. In the upper left rear portion of the refrigerator there appears to be a "vent box" that I assume is the diffuser and supplies cold air from the freezer into the refrigerator. The small plastic vents on the refrigerator side of this "vent box" were frozen over so I defrosted these. Inside the refrigerator/freezer wall (looking onto the refrigerator panel) there appears to be some type of metal sheet that is covering what looks like the same pattern as the vents on the "vent box". Whether this metal sheet has a pattern stamped out of it to match the plastic vents I don't know. The metal sheet looks like maybe it moves as a temperature control device, but if so then it is in a shut position. Is this a problem with the "vent box"/diffuser?

I think some recent repair history background may help. I'm assuming the refrigerator is around 5 years old since the owner I bought it from said it was still on warranty. The ice container was broken for a while and just a week ago I replaced the freezer door seal/gasket. Before I replaced the freezer seal/gasket the freezer would take about a week to freeze over therefore plugging up the freezer drainage hole and creating a small ice skating rink at the bottom of my freezer. I could hear a clicking or knocking during this time. A couple of months ago I had tried to empty out both the freezer and refrigerator to defrost them. They both returned to normal temps even though there was a bad freezer gasket. Now the freezer temp is fine, but the refrigerator is warm. I assumed this was because the small plastic vents on the "vent box"/diffuser were frozen over with ice. Sorry for the mini-novel. Any light you could shed on this would be appreciated! Thanks

[Stingrey]

So I took the diffuser off and it looks like that metal sheet is actually a piece of plastic that is mechanically driven to open and close. I opened up the vents about an hour ago, but just checked and saw the vents were closed even though I had the frig set on the coolest setting (7). Any thoughts? Thanks

[skintight]

Have you tryed defrosting the freezer completly because the coil could be completly frozen over andeven though the fan is running it won't produce enough cold air to keep the refrig cold.

[Stingrey]

Thanks for the response skintight. I did defrost the freezer and made sure the coils were clear of any ice. I had to defrost the freezer when I put on the freezer door gasket so that drainage could occur since the drainage hole was frozen over. Last night I took the diffuser off of the refrigerator panel to let cool air enter into the fridge. This morning the temperature in the fridge was around 25F. I'm just not sure why the diffuser vents are closing when the temperature in the fridge is around 60F.

Is this a problem with the diffuser or a faulty thermometer unit??

[Stingrey]

Anybody have any thoughts on this? Could it be a control board issue? Thanks in advance.