Here is my issue with my side-by-side...I clean my coils on a regular basis. But when I cleaned them recently (from the front with a lint brush and vacuum. I began to hear some clanking. Not sure what was happening, I unplugged the fridge. The clanking went away after plugging it back in. However, then I heard a whinning coming from under the fridge. I unplugged it again and opened the back to clean the coils from the rear. Then noticed the fridge has a fan on the right (looking at it from the rear) and a the condensor on the left. I cleaned all the coils again and the lint hangin onto the rest of the unit. I plugged it back in the whinning has been reduced but is still there. My question is two-fold. Did I mess up the fan (the previos clanging) and if so does the fan cool off the coils and/or anything else. And is the condensor not working becuase it should not whine at all?

I would like to know how the condenser being dirty effect the door heater. Since the heater is electric and the condenser is refrigerant they are two separate system, I believe. Very interesting I will be cleaning my condenser since I have the same problem. Hope it works!
Thanks

I have the same problem and I was advised that there are two possible causes of the frame heating up. One is that the cooling coils are dusty and need to be cleaned and the other is that the condenser or compressor fan is not operating. I found that the coils were clean from the last time I cleaned them six months ago but I cleaned them again anyway. Also, when I unplugged the refrigerator and plugged it back in 45 minutes later, the fan turned flawlessly so the fan is working. Hence, the coils are clean and the fan turns. After plugging back in, the refer lasts for about a week and then the frame heats up again. When I take a look at the fan at that moment, it is not turning. Therefore, I conclude that there is a sensor or a mechanism that is supposed to tell the fan to turn when necessary that is not telling the fan to turn. What I need to know is the name of that sensor or mechanism because that is the part that is likely the culprit. Does anybody know what part that could be?

We purchased a used whirlpool side by side refrigerator. Hooked it up and it works great but almost immediately we noticed the strip between the doors seemed really hot. I pulled it out and removed the cardboard panel at bottom to see if anything obvious was wrong. The coil was a little dirty so I blew it off with my compressor. The fan was running but something wasn't right. I unplugged refrigerator and noticed that the fan blades were actually bent the wrong angle and instead of blowing air toward the compressor it was blowing away. The fan is very flimsy so I started bending them the right way. As soon as I did this the hot area is no longer hot. The blades can only be bent one way...if bent the wrong way the tip of the blade hits the outer housing. Hope this helps

I read many forums and posts about this issue. I checked the condenser cooling fan which worked fine. I used vacuum and blower to clean the condenser coils and they are reasonably clean now.

But the door frame is still very hot. Is it because the fridge is just starting because I unplugged it for a few days. I don't know if there is any bad consequence to leave the door frame hot for extended period of time, so I'd like to ask here whether the frame will become cooler after several hours? The inside of the fridge seems to start to cool, but not as cool as a balanced state when the compressor stops. I only left it ran for about 30 minutes. I understand it may need several hours to completely cool down, but I'd like to know if hot frame is normal when this fridge start warm.

I also read somewhere that leaking could also cause this symptom. Could that be my problem?

Any clue is welcome, thanks!

BTW, the fridge is about 10 years old.