Freezer is cold, bottom compartment warm

There is a deflector to manage the cold air to each compartment. It could need to be adjusted. I would guess there is a malfunction in the refrigerator however. When you say the bottom freezer is cold, how cold? Also, clean the external coils on the refrigerator and make sure you have good air flow around them. This will help is the heat transfer and allow the unit to operate properly. If the freezer temperature is not cold enough, you may have other issues.

Hi,

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if you can; find the vent(s) between the top and, bottom boxes (where the evaporator fan is located: closing these vents makes the freezer colder and, the refrigerator warmer, opening these vents the reverse is true.

The fresh food compartment is cooled by air being blown from the freezer compartment into the fresh food compartment. Something is restricting that air flow which causes your fresh food compartment to stay warm.

There is a panel, or door if you will, that separates the freezer and fresh food compartments. The freezer temp control determines how much cold air is allowed to escape into the fresh food compartment by opening or closing this panel.

If the panel is restricted from moving (stuck closed, for example), the freezer will get VERY cold while the fresh food compartment will be warm.

Try thoroughly defrosting the refrigerator. Possibly an accumulation of ice is preventing the panel from moving and/or is restricting air flow from the freezer to the fresh food compartment. It's a free fix and may solve your problem altogether.

If that doesn't help, or helps only temporarily, you may have a problem with panel itself or the linkage that connects it to the control mechanism. Unless you're skilled in appliance repair, checking and repairing these components will require the help of a service technician

Hope this was helpful. Good Luck.

The fresh food compartment is cooled by air being blown from the freezer compartment into the fresh food compartment. Something is restricting that air flow which causes your fresh food compartment to stay warm.

There is a panel, or door if you will, that separates the freezer and fresh food compartments. The freezer temp control determines how much cold air is allowed to escape into the fresh food compartment by opening or closing this panel.

If the panel is restricted from moving (stuck closed, for example), the freezer will get VERY cold while the fresh food compartment will be warm.

Try thoroughly defrosting the refrigerator. Possibly an accumulation of ice is preventing the panel from moving and/or is restricting air flow from the freezer to the fresh food compartment. It's a free fix and may solve your problem altogether.

If that doesn't help, or helps only temporarily, you may have a problem with panel itself or the linkage that connects it to the control mechanism. Unless you're skilled in appliance repair, checking and repairing these components will require the help of a service technician

Hope this was helpful. Good Luck.

We had similar problem. Found the interior lights of refrig. were not turning off. Found out this was a recall problem and was fixed by sears for free.

depending on the temp it could
if the ambient temp get below 32
you freezer wont come on and actually begin to get warm (insulation factor)
but the refer will seem cold because of the low ambiant temp is the temp inside
we go in the refer alot more than the freezer

if the freezer is getting cold the problem is due to the cold air from the freezer not getting into the refrigerator. There are several things that can cause this problem. The coils in the freezer icing up and not defrosting properly is one of the things that can cause the refrigerator not to get cold enough. Another problem is the fan that blows the cold air from the freezer compartment into the refrigerator, not working. When the compressor is running open the refrigerator's door and push the switch that makes the light go out. You should hear the fan blowing the cold air from the freezer into the refrigerator, when this switch is pushed in. If the fan is working then you will need to find what is blocking the air flow. Iced up coils are a common problem. The icing problem can be due to a defective defrost timer or something defective in the defrost circuit. Click here for more information. Check for these problems and let me know what you have found.
REFRIGERATOR TROUBLESHOOTING
#1 Refrigerator side getting warm Freezer still cold
Evaporator fan motor not running.
Defective defrost timer. See Defrost Diagnosis Procedure
Defrost heater defective. See Defrost Diagnosis Procedure
Defrost thermostat defective. See Defrost Diagnosis Procedure
Airflow blocked from freezer compartment.
Freezer control turned to "coldest" setting blocking air flow to refrigerator side. On most refrigerator/freezers, the freezer control closes a baffle when turned to coldest setting, and this blocks off the air flow to the fresh food compartment.
Fan blade broken.
Defective door switch on older models.
Light staying on with door closed.
2 Refrigerator & freezer compartments both are getting warm
Make sure refrigerator is plugged in and has power.
Condenser fan motor on bottom under refrigerator not running.
Condenser coil clogged.
Defective defrost timer. See Defrost Diagnosis Procedure
Defective defrost heater. See Defrost Diagnosis Procedure
Defective defrost thermostat. See Defrost Diagnosis Procedure
Evaporator fan motor not running.
Cold control defective.
Compressor overload defective.
Compressor relay defective.
Light staying on with door closed.
Compressor defective.
Low on refrigerant. #3 Freezer compartment getting hot.
Defrost timer stuck in defrost cycle.(replace)
Defrost thermostat stuck.(replace)
Ice maker stuck in harvest cycle
Light staying on with door closed. 4 Ice maker not making ice
Defective inlet water valve.
Freezer temperature not cold enough. (see problem # 2 & 3 above)
Defective thermostat in ice maker.
Defective drive motor.
Water inlet tube clogged with ice.
Defective module in newer style icemaker. 5 Refrigerator sweating around door edges
Door gaskets leaking air.
Defective case heaters.
Energy saver switch not set to reduce exterior moisture
also if require more help click the link http://www.applianceaid.com/refrigerator.html please do rate the solution .thanks in advance.thank you for using fixya.

Solution Found! The problem is when the temperature surrounding the refrigerator in the garage falls to < 45 degrees, the thermostat regulating the refrigerator will not call for the compressor to kick in to provide cooling (it's temperature requirements are being met). Since there is no demand, the compressor will not cycle, which is how the freezer is kept cold, and the freezer eventually warms up to match the refrigerator temperature. Frigidaire makes a "Cold Kit" that I ordered and installed from RepairClinic.com for $22 (Item #: 1037646; Description: Garage kit). It's basically a strip heater that runs off the control power to warm the thermostat and causes the compressor to cycle once to twice a day to keep the freezer frozen. After installation, the refrigerator stays at 40-45 and the freezer stays around 0 degrees.

Same problem with Frigidaire Gallery model#GLRT182SAW5 (dated 2002 on back of case)

Vents were blocked with ice. Vents (from top compartment to lower) located behind light. You can check by poking a chopstick up the (2) holes; be careful not to hit fan blades.

Solution:

- took freezer coil cover off in back; checked that defrost heater element was working (marked and rotated the timer in the hole next to light); checked that fan working. Found ice in the vents and defrost drip area. Got it out with hair dryer.

- cleaned compressor coils in back (check fan is rotating; also tweaked some of the compressor tubing bends to make them more smooth - read somewhere about a manufacturing defect ...); blew out drip tube from defroster while down there.

- Set the freezer control to WARM and the refrig control to COLD (THIS SHOULD IMPROVE AIR FLOW FROM TOP TO BOTTOM).

- Put thermometers in top and bottom. Checked that refrigerator cycles (not running continuously). Checked that cold air is coming down from (2) vents behind light.

OK: so far, so good. Lower compartment is 40 or under. Top is under 18.

CONCLUSION: Suspect marginal design. Had problems with another similar model where defroster ice doesn't drain correctly, pools and refreezes. Leading to blocked vents as well as blocked defroster drain and similar problem including dripping water from top to bottom and warm bottom.

MAYBE KEEPING THE FREEZER CONTROL AT WARM GETS AROUND THE PROBLEM?? ANYWAY, ITS WORKING FOR ME FOR NOW !!