[Wendy]

Hello,

I'm hoping that I may get some suggestions here on my noisy refrigerator.

I have a GE side-by-side with ice maker and water dispenser that is 18 years old. I've never had a lick of problems with it until I cleaned all of the lint, etc., from under the darn thing this week. (I should have left the dirt there. )

I am now getting a kind of loud rattle or a very large cat purring sound which is then followed by a chirp. LOL This happens every few seconds when the fridge is running and it is getting to the point of hammer time.

I'm thinking compressor, but now I'm not sure. Any suggestions?

Thank you for your time and the opportunity to troubleshoot.

[richappy]

I have fixed a few of these, it's probably your compressor. Remove back panel and verify noise from the compressor. Remove compressor mount clips and tilt the compressor till the noise stops. One of the compressor internal support springs is now weak and tilting keeps the compressor away from hitting the housing. Now just shim it up with something like a large rubber gromet.

[Wendy]

richappy,

Thank you so much for the quick reply.

I will do as you have suggested within the next day or two and let you know if it worked.

This thing is a monster and hard to move. I have to wait for the man of the house to help me.

If this doesn't work, is it fairly easy to replace the compressor? I noticed that you do have them for my model. I would purchase here and either do it myself, or have a friend do it that knows about freon. I wouldn't feel comfortable doing this myself, 'cause I might blow the house up or something. LOL

Again, thanks a ton!

[Wendy]

richappy, I fixed the problem!

Looking at the back of the fridge, bottom right by the freezer, was the compressor. That wasn't the problem, but I did notice that the fan to the left of the compressor was banging on or hitting that metal shroud (not the 3 piece bracket) that the fan blade is enclosed in. I just gave it a tap to the right, and the racket stopped. I don't know how that shroud got out of whack though. Possibly when I was cleaning.....

I am concerned, though, that I noticed that that little fan blade has some back and forth movement in it. Is it supposed to do that? I will keep a listen out for that noise, as now I know what the problem was.

I"M HAPPY!

Thank you so much for the help! It's much appreciated.

[richappy]

Tighten the nut that holds the blade to the motor. If it's the bearings that are bad, click on your model # to get one. Any lateral play in the bearings= new motor time

[kooler]

This is not uncommon, clean a filthy condenser coil and fan blade then the fan motor quits immediately afterwards... All that dust/lint creates a higher load on the motor and wears it out, even slows the rpm... Replacing a condenser fan motor is an inexpensive repair if you do it yourself but make sure to replace the blade too if the original was bent when you were cleaning underneath... Remove the blade and place it on a flat surface to see if all the wings are touching and there's no wobble... Otherwise a bent fan blade will only wear out the new motor bearings... cheers, kooler

[regexmaster]

Originally Posted by richappy

I have fixed a few of these, it's probably your compressor. Remove back panel and verify noise from the compressor. Remove compressor mount clips and tilt the compressor till the noise stops. One of the compressor internal support springs is now weak and tilting keeps the compressor away from hitting the housing. Now just shim it up with something like a large rubber gromet.

Thanks, indeed - I has this same problem, and this seems to have done the trick.

Given that this indicates a problem in the compressor, should we consider this a solution that buys us a bit of quiet time, but continue shopping for a new fridge, or can the compressor go on like this indefinitely? The fridge is 14 years old, so I am inclined to keep shopping.

[richappy]

As long as it will not rattle all the time, the compressor should be ok.

[regexmaster]

Great - thanks again!

[billne]

I have a built-in KitchenAid/WhirlpoolKSSS48QJX00 refrigerator that was 2 days over the 12 year warranty that stoppedcooling. KitchenAid graciously covered theparts. The service people replaced thecompressor, evaporator and dryer. Whenthey replaced the parts, they found a corroded hole in the back of therefrigerator where the tubing runs from the bottom to the top. The refrigeratorwas cooling nicely, but developed a strange noise, like a gurgle. The noise isn't constant and is now like arubbing. It comes and goes, but also ispresent after the cooling system stops, like a fan rubbing. I had the service man back and he couldn'tfind anything. He said that it could bethe coolant flowing through the system. Heasked me to record the noise, but I couldn't record or even use a phone totransmit the sound to my wife. I got abearing stethoscope that mechanics use to trace a noise or check bearings. Ichecked the compressor, the input and output tubes, the condenser coil in the upperunit. The noise is detected on the backof the refrigerator, behind the evaporator, closest to where the tube comesout. The noise can be heard inside thefreezer. I took the cover off the evaporatorand fan and put a switch on the fan to see if that was somehow the problem, butit wasn't. But the noise inside thefreezer was gone with the cover in place, but not screwed in place! I finally traced the loudest noise to the toptube of the evaporator just before it goes out the freezer to the back. Is this a coolant noise? Or something in the way the repair wasdone? The way the evaporator coil andtubing was installed? The way the tubingwas routed? The noise is getting louderand the cooling is less. The bottom ofthe freezer was usually at 1°F after the repair, but now the lowest is 9°F andmany times in the 12-16°F.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.



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