Amana refrigerator fresh food control does not work at all

If your freezer seems to be working, then the problem is probably in the freezer section. If you remove the inner shield of the freezer and see a lot of ice around the evaporator coil then your defrost circuit is not working. If the fan is not operating, it will not blow cold air into the fresh food side. If the cooling tubes between the freezer and fresh food side are blocked or frosted up that would not allow the cold air to pass.
Since you say it is an Amana, I would suspect either the fan or the defrost circuit.

Our Amana afi2538aes is doing the same thing. Had a repairman out. He called tech support at Amana. They had him adjust the "thermistors" but it is colder than ever running at 28-30degrees in the fresh food compartment despite being set at 46 degrees. Tech support also recommended installing some sort of "ice bin seal kit to take care of the problem" according to our invoice from repairman. Repairman was told that the ice bin in the fresh food compartment puts cold air out (to keep the ice frozen) which freezes the food in the fresh food compartment. I called Amana and the rep I spoke to said he couldn't find record of this being a problem with the model but tech support told our repairman "we've had a lot of problems with this happening."

Refrigerator temperature control set too cold or faulty Fresh Food thermistor.

Adjust refrigerator temperature control or check thermistor.

1 Refrigerator section too cold
2 Refrigerator airflow not properly adjusted
3 Check air flow.
Just too much information for this page. If you would like the long version please let me know. I am a Technician and have the tools and the answers if you would like my assistance. I will go out of my way to help you and would rather tell you this first so please do not rate unless I assist you Thanks, Sea Breeze

ice maker will not work if freezer is too warm . it must be 15 deg or lower and if fresh food is that cold then the food is frozen. the freezer needs to be 0 to 5 deg and the fresh food side 38 def is best . / you may be having a defrost problem and the cold coil is packed with ice and prevent ing air flow .. ck for ice in back of freezer .. mm

Good day,
Usually caused by the machine in a cool area or room, along with the machine not getting enough door action, both freezer and fresh food.

Domestic refrigerators are designed to be used as just that. Domestic refrigerators.
Normal kitchen temperatures, followed by minimum of 7 freezer door openings per day spread over 14 hours as well as 22 to 26 fresh food door openings over the same period of time.

In other words, it's not getting enough activity daily. Common problem in doctor offices.

The best model for that type of application in the past was the Amana bottom freezer model. where the primary control was located in the freezer, nailing the freezer temp, and the top controlled by a pneumatic damper controlling the fresh food section, but I do not know if their current model still uses that system.

One option,space permitting is a small chest type freezer added to what you have.

Good day,
One user claims that the return air vents or vent located at the bottom rear of the fresh food compartment, have collected enough junk to block the cold air from returning to the freezer compartment. You can clean them out but I cannot verify that solution.

The crispers are located in the coldest part of the fresh food compartment.
This problem can occur when the machine gets light usage especially in colder weather, when the machine running time drops and the air in the fresh food stratifies, causing to cold air to pool in the bottom.

Normal may no longer be normal. Controls by their design will tend to run colder as they age. You might try tweaking the control warmer.
Patience and time are the most important tool you have to work with in dealing with this issue.

get a thermometer and adjust the control to the desired temperature

First of all, before you do anything, clean the coils under the refrigerator. I couldn't tell you how many refrigerators I've 'fixed' that needed nothing more than the coils cleaned. Dirty coils can cause a multitude of problems, many of them with the exact same symptoms that would be expected when refrigerant components fail. Dirt is the #1 enemy of any refrigeration unit.

If that doesn't help, since both sides of the refrigerator get warm before the compressor kicks back on, I'd suspect the fresh food temperature control thermostat. Not an easy fix for the average homeowner unless you've got specific skills in appliance repair.

Before you do anything, try this. Turn the fresh food thermostat all the way up, the set the freezer setting at a higher than normal setting. The way the system works is that the fresh food thermometer turns the compressor on and off and the freezer control simply controls how much of the cold air from the freezer is diverted to the fresh food compartment.

If you turn the fresh food thermostat higher, the compressor will run longer and adjusting the freezer control to a higher setting will allow less cold air into the fresh food compartment, forcing the compressor to run longer in order to cool it to the thermostat setting.

If the settings have to be abnormally high, this is a workaround, rather than a fix. To get a permanent fix, you'll probably have to replace the fresh food control thermostat.

I hope this was helpful to you or to anyone reading it.

The fresh food compartment is cooled by air being blown from the freezer compartment into the fresh food compartment.

There is a panel, or door if you will, that separates the freezer and fresh food compartments. The freezer temp control determines how much cold air is allowed to escape into the fresh food compartment by opening or closing this panel.

In your case, the door must be stuck all the way open, allowing all the cold air to be diverted into the fresh food compartment. The compressor cycle is controlled by the thermostat in the fresh food compartment and thus 'short cycles' because the fresh food compartment acheives normal temperature while the freezer is relativel warm.

If the panel is restricted from moving (stuck in the extreme open position, for example), the fresh food compartment will get VERY cold while the freezer will be warm.

Try thoroughly defrosting the refrigerator. Possibly an accumulation of ice is preventing the panel from moving and/or is diverting all the cold air from the freezer into the fresh food compartment. It's a free fix and may solve your problem altogether.

If that doesn't help, or helps only temporarily, you may have a problem with panel/door/flap itself or the linkage that connects it to the control mechanism. Unless you're skilled in appliance repair, checking and repairing these components will require the help of a service technician

Hope this was helpful. Good Luck.

Check for a frost buildup on the interior back wall of the freezer. If you find this, a problem exists in the defrost circuit (heater, terminator or control).

Also verify that the evaporator (freezer) fan is functioning.

A failed damper control can cause this condition as well.

Proper product temps are 0 to 10 in the freezer and 36 to 42 in the fresh food compartment.