Liebherr refrigerator not cooling, or the alarm keeps going off

First: which alarm is it?

• Door alarm. It sounds when a door or drawer has been left open for a while. Check that every door and drawer is fully closed, and that nothing inside is stopping it from shutting. Once it’s closed, the alarm stops.
• Temperature alarm. It sounds when a compartment is too warm, and the display usually shows the warm temperature or a warning. You can silence it with the alarm button, but that only stops the sound. If it comes back, the refrigerator isn’t keeping up.

A temperature alarm can sound for a normal reason: after a power outage, after a long door opening, or after loading a lot of warm food. Give the unit several hours. If it’s still too warm the next day, something is wrong.

Checks you can do yourself

1. Close and check every door and drawer. On models with freezer drawers, a drawer that’s off its runners won’t seal.
2. Look at the gaskets for tears or sections pulling away, and close the door on a strip of paper at several points. It should hold.
3. Read the temperatures with a thermometer. The refrigerator should be at 40 °F or below and the freezer at 0 °F.
4. Look at the back wall of the freezer. A sheet of frost or ice there points to a defrost problem, not a door problem.
5. Check the display. A black display or buttons that don’t respond is a control fault in its own right.

What we actually find on Liebherrs that aren’t cooling

A defrost sensor fault and a frosted-over freezer

On a NoFrost Liebherr the freezer defrosts itself automatically, and the electronics rely on a sensor on the evaporator to manage that defrost. When the sensor reads wrong, frost builds up, airflow drops, and the freezer can’t hold temperature. On a Liebherr CS 2060 in Seattle, the freezer was frosting over and not cooling properly, a typical problem on this model. We fitted a new defrost sensor from Liebherr’s sensor repair kit (9590 206-02) and mounted it at the top of the evaporator, as Liebherr’s instructions specify, not just back in the original spot.

A refrigerant leak in one sealed system

Many Liebherr refrigerator-freezers run two independent sealed systems, each with its own compressor, so one side can stop cooling while the other keeps working. On a Liebherr CBS 2062 in Seattle, the rating plate lists separate R134a charges for the freezer (121 g) and the refrigerator (122 g). The freezer side had leaked. We replaced its compressor and heat exchanger, and the repair has run past its 1-year warranty with no callbacks.

Controls, power boards and ice makers

The same CS 2060 in Seattle also had a dead control panel: a black display and buttons that didn’t respond. We replaced it on the same visit. On another CS 2060 in Lake Forest Park, the ice maker stopped first, and months later the freezer section did too; the fix was a new ice maker assembly and then the main power board on a second visit. On an HC 2060 in Shoreline, the ice maker assembly had failed.

When to call

• A temperature alarm that comes back after the door is closed and the unit has had time to recover.
• Frost or ice building up on the back wall of the freezer.
• One compartment cold and the other warm.
• A black display or controls that don’t respond.

Sealed-system work requires EPA Section 608 certification. Max is EPA Section 608 certified.

Authorized Liebherr service

Ace Appliance Service is an Authorized Liebherr Service Provider for residential Liebherr refrigerators, freezers, ice makers and built-in refrigeration across Seattle, the Eastside and the North Sound. We diagnose first and give you the price for approval before any work begins, and Liebherr repairs carry a 1-year parts and labor warranty. See our Liebherr repair page for more.