How to Troubleshoot & Replace Whirlpool AP6023677 / WPW10662129 Run Capacitor

After watching a few videos on this site and on You Tube it seemed like the most likely culprits were the starter and the capacitor. I found them easily behind the back panel near the compressor and easily unplugged them. I found the part numbers on this site and ordered them. After a 5 minute installation the compressor came back to life, and my 10 year old refrigerator has a new lease on life. 

One day both sides were not blowing cold air. I noticed a lot of frost on the inside of the back side of the freezer. Turned off the fridge, cleaned the coils under the fridge with a brush and vacuumed it all out. The compressor was not turning on, probably due to all the dust causing the capacitor to overload. Replaced the defrost thermostat, and capacitor at the same time as preventative maintenance. I think replacing the capacitor would have solved the issue, but I did both just in case. Parts were inexpensive and a fast fix. Highly recommend. 

Checked website to check solution. Said probably was starter switch or capacitor on compressor. Ordered both but only had to install switch. Started it up and heard compressor turn on,2 hours later freezer was at 0 degrees and fridge was at 40 degrees. Cost me $47. Saved hundreds. Thanks APP 

Ordered a new run capacitor and put it on. 

Removed backing with a socket attached to an electric screwdriver. Then, I released the clip holding the relay and capacitor, disconnected both, and replaced them. Note: the metal clip no longer fits, as the replacement part numbers are slightly smaller than the original. After plugging the fridge back into the wall outlet, the compressor kicked on almost immediately and was re-freezing shortly after. 

I don’t think I needed the capacitor and relay, but while I was at it I figured I would. Originally we found we had an issue when water cane out of the ice maker. The freezer was hovering around freezing and the refrigerator was about 33 deg. I unplugged the refrigerator and it came back on and ran about a day. The next night, same thing. This time cycling power did not seem to help. Removing the rear cover where the control board was and moving it around allowed it to turn on next time I plugged it in. That didn’t last long. Once these parts came in I swapped and all seems well after several days now. I assume a relay was bad on the control board. At first I thought it was defrost related, but I found the compressor tried to start and the condenser fan came on but quickly went out too. It was as if the run command was interrupted. I do have a noisy damper that seemed to start a few days before this issue. It may be unrelated, but I am goi g to swap that as well. You can’t find refrigerators in stock and $100 is worth it to save $100’s more in food. 

Initially, using the reset procedure for the defrost timer seemed to work (shut off for few minutes, and turn back on), so we replaced the defrost timer board. Also replaced the starting relay and capacitor on general principles. This did not fix the issue (still would not start at all). Talked to a very helpful agent at appliancepartspros.com, and we were able to trace the issue to the thermostat switch (explaining why moving the thermostat control to off and back on sometimes fixed the issue). Shorting the switch resulted in the refrigerator running normally (though continuously). Have now ordered a replacement thermostat switch, which we are confident will fix the issue. The agent was patient and very helpful! Hardest part of the project was getting the control panel bezel off to get at the defrost timer board and thermostat. 

Had to replace a switch connected to the compressor. 

Replaced the thermostat and the kick on compressor capacitor. 

Capacitor bad, replaced. Replaced relay/start device since I was already there.