Refr/freezer alternately gets too cold and thaws

Is your milk or eggs freezing? All the cooling in the refrig and freezer spaces is done in the freezer. Sometimes, the control labeled freezer temp controls a vent between the freezer and ref space, allowing air into the ref side. the other control determines run time. try turning thefrz setting up to raise the ref temp.

Since your freezer control is the main thermostat , and your refrig control is only a damper , lower your freezer setting and turn the refrig control mid way . This will make the refrig run less , and keep the air flow moving , throughout the complete unit . When the airflow stops , by turning down the refrig control ( closing the damper ) , all the cold air will settle in the refrig section , thereby freezing everything in the lower section .
Since the water line runs thru the freezer door , too cold in the freezer section , will cause the water in the line to freeze . I would also suggest installing a dispensor heater ( pt. # WR49X10173 ) , which would hopefully avoid water line freeze , in the future . This part comes with installation instructions .

You can use a hairdryer on the frozen parts.
The fridge gets its cold air from the freezer through a vent(damper) between the freezer and fridge.The fan in the freezer blows air through it. There is a flap you adjust with the fridge temp. control. Make sure it's opening and closing when you adjust the fridge temp ..

The doors not being shut can make it freeze up,Just thaw again and make sure the doors get shut each time and see what happens,just post back details if it doesn't work after thawing

I'll assume you don't have much food/items in the freezer section. Because you have the fridge set on the max cooling setting and the freezer set higher than the mid setting, it could be that you have frozen the cold air passage from the freezer to the fridge.

If you can, 1) remove all contents that would spoil; 2) turn off the fridge 3) open both doors and allow the fridge to manually thaw out completely (this will speed up the opening of the cold air exchange passage between the freezer and fridge, which is likely blocked and frozen solid. Have plenty of towels handy to soak up the water from the defrosting process,

After a FULL day of being left off and doors open to thaw out, check for any further thawing and dripping water inside, if present wait another 8 hours (you really want to get it thawed out the first time!) When that's done, reset BOTH temperature controls to the factory mid-point setting (5?) as marked on your control knobs.

The key to having a refridgerator run properly is to allow for it to run at the factory settings for at least 24 hours BEFORE you adjust the controls higher and/or lower for each section. Adjust it up or down in ONLY 1 setting increments so as to not cause ice build-up and freezing of the internal air exchange passages.

Also, as you've relegated this fridge as a garage "beer & backup" unit, make sure to keep the freezer as full as possible to make it run as efficiently as possible. You can freeze jugs of water and pack it with cheap thrift store bread to help it run correctly. An empty freezer has to work harder to keep just air at freezing temps. As such, it will pass much colder air into the fridge, and cause these types of freeze ups. By the way, turning up the temp controls only makes it worse and just results in a total "freeze up" inside the cabinet panels that you can't easily see or get at to rectify, hence the reason to shut it off and let it fully defrost.

When you're done, you should have your fridge back in action working like it should, but remember, don't rush temperature adjustments, even thou we all want those frosty beverages, it'll take a couple of days to achieve the desired "chill" you're likely used to getting when it was your primary fridge.

Hope this helps and Best Regards! Semper Fi!

The problem is a defrost problem. The freezer coil has frost on it and thus restricts the cold air from flowing. This affects the refrigerator as it gets its cold air from the freezer. The ice will not make if the temperature is above 12*F and this also is why ice cream is like mush.

sounds like you need a new thermostat or cold control for the unit. take the model number and make to the parts house and they willl get you a new one. when you take the old one out be sure to put the new one in the exact same place. here's a good web site to read up on the installation http://www.appliancerepair.net/apnet/frameset?http://www.appliancerepair.net/apnet/refr/toc.htm
good luck

One or more of your defrost components(defrost timer or board, defrost heater, defrost thermostat/ bi-metal) are bad. Unless you removed the inside back wall in freezer and completely thawed the evaporator, it will not cool properly.

check your defrost timer

Might try unplugging for a few hours and then plug it back in. There is a possibility that it slugged the compressor and there is a restriction in the line. Sometimes when the compressor fails to stop running in cold air the liquid gets back to the compressor. It can cause a bit of gunk to be picked up out of the oil and carried to the expansion line and plug up the line. Maybe turning it off will let the plug fall free and not replug the line. Worth a try anyway.....