Why is my fridge back panel frosting up after replacing parts?
The replacement damper motor does not come with a new foam gasket, and the old one cannot be swapped over. If this extra gasket is missed during installation, the new damper will quickly freeze up. This causes the back panel to frost over within days and prevents the refrigerator from maintaining a proper temperature.
What the numbers show
Counted from the threads quoted below. How we count
- People have been saying this in most months since September 2026.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
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Why is my fridge back panel frosting up after replacing parts?
- 1Unplugging the unit for a full 24-hour manual defrostDid this help you?
- 2Replacing individual components like the defrost thermostat, evaporator fan motor, and thermistorDid this help you?
- 3Hiring a technician for professional repairsDid this help you?
- 4calling the appliance repair company back to fix the mistakeDid this help you?
- 5popping a bit of backer rod around the damper to seal the air leakDid this help you?
- 6ordering a new foam gasket separately when buying the replacement damperDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“The fridge was failing to get to a proper temp (freezer was fine). Had a tech out and he replaced the damper motor. Now the replacement part is freezing up.”source ↗
“When you order the damper for that machine you need to also order a new foam gasket cause you can’t swap it over and it doesn’t come with one.”source ↗
“I’ve done the exact thing they did and gone behind some of my coworkers who did the same. It’s easy to miss.”source ↗
“after 3 days, the back panel of the fridge frosts up as shown in the picture. The freezer is hovering 5-10 degrees F, rarely going to 0. Any reason the fridge still frosts up? 😢”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
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