[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