Please help! Our side by side Kenmore refrigerator quit cooling and we traced the problem to a faulty relay or overload on the compressor. The fan ran all the time but the compressor would never kick in. It would hum and then click off without starting. Because of some extremely helpful info on this site (thanks!) we were able to test the resistance on the compressor and everything added up - there was a reading of 2, 9 and 11. Also, it was not grounded. So, that was good news. We weren't sure at first because when we took the relay off a few days ago, it did not rattle and was not burned looking. However, a repairman said that it could still be a bad relay. Needless to say, we were relieved when the compressor checked out okay. Yesterday we went to an appliance parts store and the manufacturer parts were not in stock, so the man my husband talked to recommended a combination relay overload (MA-IC13 by MA-Line) that he said is very popular and he sells a lot of. However, when my husband got home and tried to put it on he ran into some problems because the part has 2 lines, but our refrigerator has 3 wires (blue to overload, black that was spliced and connected to overload and also to relay, and white to relay). As he is not an electrician, he just guessed and wired the the white wire and one side of the black wire to the relay overload and wired the other side of the black wire and the blue wire together. Well, after plugging in the fridge, the fan started running, but the compressor never even attempted to kick in. Today, my husband talked to the guy from the part store and he told him to just wire the blue and white wires to the relay overload and cap off the black wires. Well, now the compressor hums and clicks off, but the fan doesn't run at all. Is there some way to get everything wired up properly so it will work again?? Is it even possible to use this part with our particular refrigerator? Even if we can get it working, is this okay to use long term or should this just be a temp fix until we can get the manufacturer parts in? Sorry this is so long, I just wanted to give all the details, so hopefully someone can help us. Thanks so much!!

The compressor is a tecumseh...is that bad? I'm attaching a few photos of the relay so you can see for yourself. Do you need any more info from me? Thanks for the quick reply and for your help!!!

it should tell ya on the package but some are wired not to industry standards but if its the kind i'm thinking black goes to common white to start and red to run then bllack wires are to your power source but before you hack the refrigerator wires get an old extension cord and wire it to that one to hot one to common and see if comressor will run with justy that and nothing to frig will come on but comressor if it works that way first then the compressor mightg last a little longer but you are just buying time those compressors were'nt very good and usually failed within 5 years you might have compressor warranty left depending how old it is

The windings check ok but that doesn't alweays mean its good How old is it? Those Trios all had the same issue with compressor.You can replace the compressor for about 500

It is about 8 years old. The repairman didn't actually look at it. I called him and after describing the problem to him, he agreed that it was either a bad compressor or bad relay. I asked him if it could still be the relay even though it didn't look or sound fried and he said yes, it could still be bad. He personally doesn't even replace compressors anymore because of the cost involved. Told me it would probably be best to just replace the fridge if it did turn out to be the compressor... As we're on a bit of a tight budget, we tried to figure it out ourselves. Are there any last resorts or is this pretty much it? If we can get it fixed for $500, that is less than a new one, but is it a good idea to spend that much on an 8 year old refrigerator?

Again, thanks guys for all your help, you've been more than great.