How to remove light shield compartment on gsr23ybwhss to gain access to defrost timer.

Sounds like you have a bad defrost heater, Changing it is rather involved and you must remove the freezer section back panel to gain access to the heater to check it, it sets in front of the evaporator coil. Good Luck ....

Hi and welcome to FixYa, I am Kelly.

While it is covered in ice and you try to remove it.. you will probably break it. (been there done that) Defrost it manually first. I checked your model number and it is missing the last 3 digits of the model number.... However, the inside of the units are pretty much the same so I used the model ending in BOO. See this link for a picture of the back access cover and screws:
http://www.appliancepartspros.com/partsearch/model.aspx?model_id=5160170&diagram_id=28194805#d28194805
(Items 11, 12 and 22)
The cover has 2 screws and 2 tabs. Remove the screws and gently release the tabs.

NOTE: Ice build up is usually the result of an automatic defrost cycle circuit problem or... a slow running evaporator fan. I do not recommend you even attempt to gain access at this time. (
Thanks for choosing FixYa,
Kelly

Hi and welcome to FixYa, I am Kelly.
Actually... You may have bought the incorrect part to repair your refrigerator. The symptom your describing is most often caused by the defrost heater element itself being open. (<-Burned out) The reason I say this is your unit is shutting off.... starting the defrost cycle... but NOT terminating the cycle until the compartment reaches 60 deg F. The fact that it restarts at 60 Deg F is telling you the defrost timer control AND the defrost bi-metal 60 deg F thermostat are both working normally. I would bet if you removed the evaporator coil access panel in the back of the freezer compartment that you would immediately notice the heating element in the glass tube UNDER the evaporator coils has failed or... one of the wires on the end of the heater has failed. It is not difficult to gain access to the evaporator coils. You remove all racks in the freezer compartment and ALL of the screws including the one usually under the light cover and the panel is pulled toward you from the TOP. To remove the light cover there are 2 tabs on one side of the plastic cover that you gently squeeze the cover to release it. The problem can be the defrost timer but... as you described the symptoms; I seriously doubt it.
If in the future you need more assistance PLEASE respond with your MODEL number so we can discuss exact repair procedures applicable to your unit.
Thanks for choosing FixYa,
Kelly

HI. The defrost timer will be located in the main control housing. You will need to disassemble that housing to gain access to it. The light shield will come off first, then you can disassemble the rest to access the timer.

Click here to view an exploded diagram of the housing. Your defrost timer will be labeled number 13 on that diagram.

Hi
If the refrigerator is in defrosting mode, the freezer compartment temperature will be less cold than usual. Wait 20 minutes, and you should be able to feel cold air blowing in the bottom of the compartment. If you have frost on the freezer coil, you probably have a defrost problem. Your freezer should go into a defrost cycle about twice a day. When this happens the compressor and fans shut off and a defrost heater in the freezer coil will turn on heating away the ice. This usually last 10 - 20 minutes. If the defrost coil doesn't defrost it will become a solid block of ice and this will in turn block the air from blowing into your refrigerator compartment. There are several things that can go wrong with the defrost cycle such as the defrost timer, defrost heater, or the defrost termination thermostat.

Let us know if you have something more to know else accept the suggestion.
Thank You for contacting Fixya.com

Good day,
Not really effective. In the old days the coils were exposed and could be defrosted relatively quickly.
In a frost free machine the coils are located behind the rear wall of the freezer compartment. That compartment is well insulated and you have no practical way of accessing it.
The bottom line is manually defrosting the frost free
machine involves shutting the machine down completely for about 12 hours, with the freezer door left open. For most people that would cause a lot of food to be lost.

You have made an interesting point. Actually, it's kind of ludicrous to turn on high wattage electric heaters every 12 hours or so to gain automatic defrosting. But that's the world we live in.
Conventional defrost refrigerators are still made, but only come in very small sizes.

Really need to know what motor(s) are running (compressor, evap fan inside freezer compartment, condenser fan under fridge)?? Of course, check your temperature (thermostat) settings. Side-by-sides usually have 2 of them. They should be labled for refridgerator and freezer. The freezer control usually only opens a baffle from the freezer compartment to the refridge compartment. The refrigerator temp control is the one that controls the compressor on-off cycles and the temp of refrig compartment (this keeps the refrig compartment from freezing the milk and cokes) If the freezer control/baffle is set too far open, this will cause the refrig temp control to shut off too soon for the freezer temp to get low enough. These controls can get bumped out of the correct setting accidently from time to time.
To check the following, the fridge has to be running, or in a condition where it "should be" running: If compressor is running (condenser fan should be too), check if evaporator fan (inside freezer) is running. Open (freezer) door and hold door light switch in when you check evaporator fan operation (some fans stop when door is open) If it is not running you may have a bad evaporator fan motor. It could also be a bad defrost timer, causing the evaporator (also inside back of freezer) to ice-up. This blocks the air flow over evap. Also, there is a defrost terminator switch on the evaporator coil that stops the defrost cycle when coil is clear of ice/frost (but timer hasn't ended defrost cycle). If it is defective, that could also keep the fridge from going into the defrost cycle, or taking it out too soon. If it is the timer, change the defrost terminator as well. Depending on how handy you are, you may be able to check/change any of these parts yourself. If you don't know much about elecrical stuff, you should leave it to a repair tech. Hope this helps.

check door gaskets and see if problem is moisture,or air gate to fridge compartment not working properly.I would recomend verifying defrost cycle is working by turing defrost timer to defrost cycle,it will click when engaged when unit is frozen and heater should come on if all is well,if not heater is probably culpret if the rest is new.

Your auto defrost is not working. remove the rear assembly inside the freezer and melt any builtup ice with a hair dryer. Then check the defrost heater and the defrost thermostat. If OK then check the defrost timer located either in the fridge compartment behind the temp control or under fridge in frount behind grill. A continuity test is good for timer contacts. Heater is typ. 30 - 40 ohms. Thermostat will read short short below 35 degrees and open above 45 degrees. Timer motor winding has a series capacitor and must be tested as such. Watch out for stalled or slow running motors that look OK. PS. : QUICK TEST - The timer can be turned with a screw driver through a service access hole. With the back - of - freezer plate off turn timer till it clicks and you hear compressor turn off, this is the defrost cycle (7-10min). Use it to see if the heater is getting hot.

Your model TFX20JRBKWWW uses a defrost timer part number WR9X489 located behind the light shield in the fresh foods compartment. (top back area). Just in case you need to know, the defrost heater is a part number WR51X10101 located behind the back wall of the freezer.