So a few weeks ago my Kitchenaid Refrigerator stopped being cold. The freezer is fine but the fridge is not holding a temperature. When we saw that, we cleaned out the coils, pulled it out, unplugged it and reset it a few times. It cooled a couple times, but would always go back up to room temperature. I pulled out the fridge and checked the back panel, cleaned the coils from the back and made sure that the condenser fan was working (which it is).

My next step was to take it apart to replace the evaporator fan. When I got it apart, there was a giant ice chunk near where the freezer temperature sensor was. Originally, I noticed this build up on the outside of the back panel forming around the temperature sensor, but pulled the ice off from the outside. Now behind the panel I noticed this giant ice chunk. I went ahead and defrosted it completely. When it was defrosted, I saw some sort of grey patch / wrap around the pipe leading to the radiator in the freezer section. The ice had caused the patch to unwrap some and the sticky end part wasn't holding well. After defrosting I re-wrapped the pipe but I don't think it was a great seal.

While it was disassembled, I plugged it in to make sure that the evaporator fan was working. The blades spun easily with no power and when it was on, the fan did turn on. I reassembled the fridge, and plugged it back in. It cooled for about 6 hours or so, and seemed to get down to the target temperature, but in the morning it was warm again.

Any ideas what to try next? The temperature sensors are at least reporting the right temps (0 in the freezer, and about 70 in the fridge). What should I replace or look at next. Any idea what that wrap was around the pipe (I should have snapped a picture but I was eager to see if the fridge worked again).

Any help would be greatly appreciated.