Question about Maytag refrigerator troubleshooting
 

Maytag freezer worked, refrigerator did not. Found evap frozen solid. Trouble shot defrost section and found the defrost thermostat was indicating it was "made up" at room temperature. Replaced it with one reflecting open circuit on the thermostat and plugged the unit in. I attempted to do a forced defrost but I never felt the defrost element get hot. The inside of the refrigerator/freezer is at room temp. Should the defrost have come on even if it was not frozen up. I did hear a relay click on the circuit board.

I buttoned everything up and the compressors/fans came on and it started cooling. Will be sometime over next day or so whether I know if it is repaired or not.

The resistance through the heating element was 35 ohms. Did I miss something? tia

Thermostat should be closed at freezing temps and open at warmer temps, usually somewhere around 40-50˚. Reset temp is typically somewhere around 20-30˚. The element should always come on when defrost is initiated if the freezer has been running. The thermostat opens and terminates defrost when the coil warms up (frost melts off).

Repeated freezing of the coil can be low refrigerant charge (especially if the coil is not evenly frozen), bad defrost timer (very common), leaking door seal or something stuck in the door preventing it closing, or something blocking the intake vent area in the freezer section (bagged foods for example).

I have found that yahoo,when I type brand and model number,all kind of help.Saved a $1000 doing my own heat pump repairs. Newer refrig, have a board controller,they suck to fix

?Is the small fan in the freezer running? It is responsible for blowing the cold into the refrigerator. Also moves the humidified air down to the drain during defrost. If compressor is running the freezer fan must run.

Also check the damper door that lets cold air into the refrigerator compartment. It will probably be behind a grille on the upper rear of the compartment.
Selecting a cooler thermostat setting for the refrigerator cabinet will cause the damper door to open fairly quickly if the board is OK.

Fan is running when compressor is running. Using the pushbuttons I was able to make adjustments to actuate the damper but have not put my eyes on it yet. I feel air coming out at the refrig section.

For the heating element to work you need to have the defrost thermostat in closed state which means that it needs to get below freezing temperature I think it should be 28F. - You can shoot liquid refrigerant on it from a duster can to see if it closes off.