Help!!! I got this washer about 2 years ago, and this morning it refused to spin!!!! I tried everything and it would not spin...Help please!!!! Thx

Hi all, I have a Hotpoint model CTX21DA top freezer refrigerator that has stopped cooling properly. I took it apart the other day and thawed everything out. There was ice around the evaporator coils in the back of the freezer. We also vacuumed [B][I]most[/I][/B] of the dust off the condenser coils. The freezer got cold right away and the fridge seemed to be working for a day or two, but then it started warming up again overnight. The evaporator was all frosted up already. Checking further, both the evaporator and condenser fans are running when the compressor runs. I vacuumed the [I][B]rest[/B][/I] of the dust off the condenser. :o I thawed everything again, verifying that the water is flowing out the drain tube. I took the controls apart and found the schematic and tech info sheet they so kindly printed on thin plastic and tucked into a corner of the control housing. :thumbup: With that in hand I was able to measure the resistance of the heater as 30 ohms, versus the 33 ohms it's supposed to be. That's close enough, isn't it? Next, I found that there is an open circuit between the blue lead from the timer end of the heater and the other line from the defrost thermostat. Looking at the defrost thermostat, it appears that the leads go into a layer of potting compound that was partially pulled out of its metal shell, and the wires were no longer attached to the small posts which, I assume, connect to the contacts of the bi-metal switch. There was some corrosion in there as well. When I find something that actually LOOKS broken, I usually take it as a clue. I'm pretty sure I haven't put enough strain on these leads at any point to damage the switch myself. Does it sound to you like I'm on the right track and the part failed in use? The thermostat is available at RepairClinic.com for about $15. I'm in SE Michigan, the Detroit area, so I wonder if anybody out there can suggest a place where I could pick one up locally tomorrow? Finally, would it be okay to splice, solder, and heat-shrink the leads into the existing harness as far from the heater as possible, or would things still get too hot for that? Crimp connectors instead? I read quite a few refrigerator threads in this forum, and it gave me the courage to dig deeper into the problem. I appreciate the resource! Mike D.