My freezer keeps melting andre freezing. usually it is ocurring over night. when i get up in am everything is melted and blowing 29 degree air by 1 pm its blowing -11 degree air and refreezing. Response: Sounds like it is cycling on defrost mode too often.... you may have to replace the defrost timer. question again, if i turn the timer until it clicks and it cycle back on and is turn do you think it could still be the problem? Can the thermostat work intermmittently or is all or none?

Yes this is complicated for me.
But in case my method works for you here it is:
Turn off the freezer and empty it. Depends on the time of the year where to put the things you take out of the freezer.
Put boiling water in cooking pots, the pots inside the freezer and have a lot of towels handy when the melting begins.
When all the "frost" has melted and still no power on the freezer, clean it well and take a knitting needle and try to put it in the hole in the middle of the waterline. Usually some muck comes out. Leave it like that and put everything that you are going to keep,in the freezer again.
The power on and hope for the best, which usually happens.
kolbrun

Sounds like it is cycling on defrost mode too often.... you may have to replace the defrost timer

Of necessity, this is going to be a very LONG answer, BUT... it COULD save you from buying another fridge. There could be several causes for your issue, but the most likely is a blockage [usually a buildup of "frost"] of/in the duct that carries cold air from the freezer compartment to the fridge compartment.

Not all, but MOST refrigerators work by having two controls for the two zones [freezer and fridge sections]. The first control [an actual thermostat] is for the freezer, and is what actually turns the compressor on and off. The other control is for a "damper" in the duct [or, SOMETIMES controls an in-duct FAN] from the freezer to the fridge section.

The compressor system cools the freezer, and the refrigerator section is cooled by transferring colder air from the freezer.

The freezer control should be set to keep the freezer at about minus 10 degrees Fahrenheit to about zero degrees. Then the fridge damper control [usually the control with the letters A, B, C, and D] is usually set to about the MIDDLE position, hopefully to keep the fridge section about 34 or 35 degrees to a max of about 38 degrees.

SINCE you say that the FREEZER IS operating PROPERLY, I suspect that the DUCT that is supposed to supply cold freezer air to the fridge is somehow blocked, and this is usually caused by an accumulation of FROST [frozen water VAPOR] in the duct. Note, and write down the "settings" for BOTH controls. You'll need these later to restart the fridge.

Although the "fix" is a pain in the ____ it is not that difficult. Here are the steps to correct:
1. Get one or more ice chests/coolers.
2. Remove ALL contents from the freezer and place together in one, or if necessary two of the coolers well covered by bag ice to preserve the contents. Put a couple of bowls, or anything, in the bottom first to keep the frozen stuff above water from the melting ice. Then pack the frozen stuff very tightly with as little open space as possible. Then pour crushed ice on top. Several times a day, drain the melt water from the drain on all the ice chests, and as necessary, add ice to replace that which melted.
3. Do the same thing with everything from the fridge section.
4. Then turn OFF the refrigerator, and CLEAN both the fridge and freezer VERY WELL. IF you don't clean both the freezer and fridge WELL you will get mold, mildew, and probably an offensive odor!
5. Then PROP the freezer AND fridge doors open AT LEAST a couple of inches, or MORE if possible. This will allow warmer household air inside. IF you have a portable fan to blow house air into the fridge section that will cause the frost to melt faster.

In a house with no air conditioning, in the summer, the blocked duct should thaw in well less than 24 hours. If you have air conditioning and no fan circulating air into/through the fridge it could take 2 or 3 days, but in any case, after 3 days, you should be ready to test the fridge.

6. Plug the fridge back into the wall outlet, set both the freezer thermostat and the fridge control back to their original settings when the fridge was cooling properly. [AGAIN I remind you that, at the very beginning, make note of, and write down the settings for both the freezer thermostatic control, and the fridge duct control]

7. Place a thermometer on a middle shelf of the fridge [and if possible, one in the freezer also] and check it/them after about 4 to 8 hours.

IF a frost blockage was the cause of the failure, the fridge should now be cooling properly again and when the fridge temperature gets down to below 36 or 37 degrees [F], then you can replace all the stuff into the fridge. IF none of the freezer stuff has thawed, then that can be replaced in the freezer. IF any has thawed, then cook it properly, and you can freeze it again if you want.

I know this is a lot of work, BUT... it sure is A WHOLE LOT LESS EXPENSIVE than replacing a refrigerator that DOESN'T NEED REPLACING!!!!!

take out all the food out of the freezer,unplug the fridge and get a hair dryer and start melting out all the ice in the freezer,then blow the hot air into the vent holes on the back wall until you don't see any more water dripping down through the slots in the back wall.turn the machine back on,open the fridge door after around 5 or 10 minutes and if you feel cold air blowing into the fridge you fixed the problem,if you don't feel cold air keep hitting the inside back wall with the hair dryer and keep blowing the hot air into the holes in the back wall.all that it does is the freezer gets cold and there's a fan behind the back wall in the freezer,the fan blows the cold air into the fridge side,if the air ducts are frozen the air can't circulate into the fridge section so you have to melt the ice out so the cold air can blow from the freezer to the fridge.good luck,if you have another fridge remove the food and unplug it and leave the doors open for a day and it will melt out.good luck

the air ducts are froze up,if you lost your food you can just unplug it and leave the doors open and let it melt out,or you can unplug it,remove everything out of the freezer,remove the back inside wall of the freezer and melt out all the ice that you see,then look at the right side in the back down at the bottom of the freezer there's an air duct there,melt that out and in the fridge section look to see if you can see any air ducts on the left hand side wall,blow hot air into any of the air ducts that you see,just watch out,don't keep the heat blowing on the ducts for to long,you can damage the inside of the ducts,there's styrofoam in them and the heat can damage it,good luck it might be best to just let it melt out on it's own

you can unplug it and let it defrost on it's own or you can melt out the air ducts,you'll have to shut down the freezer,remove the shelves and remove the inside back wall of the freezer section and melt out all the ice in the right hand corner and any ice on the coil.when melting out the air ducts be careful not to damage any of the plastic or styrofoam on or inside the wall,heat up the area with a hair dryer for a couple of minutes and then move to the coil,after a minute or two go back the the air duct,when you think it's melted out enough turn the freezer back on and with your hand check to make sure the air is blowing into the fridge side,if you can feel air blowing then your all set,if there's any ice left in there the defrost will take care of it.if you have another fridge to put your food in or if the food can't be refrozen i'd just unplug it and let it melt out on it's own over night and you can clean it out while everything is out of it.let me know how you make out and good luck,hope you didn't loose that much food

check to see if the fridge is tilted back a little so the top door closes with just a little shove,also if there isn't any weight on the freezer door it will pop open,put something on the door,a bottle of water that will freeze or whatever you want,it could be leaking from stuff melting from the door being open, is the water dripping from the door?the door does freeze up and will melt out if door is left open, hopefully your air ducts didin't freeze up,make sure you can feel cold air blowing into the fridge section,if not heat up the back wall where the evap fan motor is with a hair dryer the air ducts are near there and check the freezer ceiling for frozen water droplets,hopefully everything will freeze back up with the door closed.

Move the refrigerator to a room that is at least 50 degrees F.

Temps on most refrigerators are regulated by the fresh foods temp. If your garage is let's say 35 degrees, the fresh foods temp will most likely never raise enough to turn the refrigerator on. With the refrigerator never running, the freezer compartment will warm to 35 degrees, resulting in everything melting. Even if garage is a bit warmer, say 45, the refrig will not run long enough for the freezer to maintain a low enough temperture. If the garage temp falls to below freezing, say 20 degrees, the food in the fresh foods compartment will freeze. (outdoor beverage dispensers have internal heaters to prevent product from freezing !) Please don't rate this if not a Fix-Ya for you, as anything else lowers my score.

that is the normal operation

reason is that the evaporator is blocked with ice and hence no air circulation.
either
switch off for 24 hours with doors open
or
remove back panel inside freezer and melt ice off with a hairdryer