The compressor in my Frigidiare refrigerator is having trouble starting. The thermostat will call for cooling, after several seconds I'll hear a click (presumably the thermal protection in the compressor?), the fan motors will speed up, and then after several more seconds, I'll hear another click (thermal protection again?) the fan motors will bog down, and the cycle repeats. Sometimes it'll manage to start, sometimes not.

The condenser fan is running, so it doesn't seem to be caused by high head pressure.

I'm not sure if I have a bad capacitor or the compressor is dying, or what. Guidance on how to further troubleshoot would be appreciated. I have a digital multimeter as well as an amp clamp, so feel free to get technical. I'm going to dig into it this afternoon and take some readings.

It was indeed a bad PTC. It rattled, and tested bad according to the tests I found online. Replaced it and it is running fine.

I had a bad thermostat a few months back that was causing it to short cycle....I wonder if that caused the PTC to die.

Thanks for the assistance!