Hello all. I am new to this site. I have been browsing around and this seems like a very helpful site with lots to learn.

I came home today to all of my frozen food not so frozen.
Noticed that the fan was running but now blowing cold air.
I removed the back panel inside the freezer and the coil was not cold.
I then removed the back plate on the refrigerator and noticed that the fan was blowing but the compressor was not turning on. I unplugged the refrigerator and let it sit for about 3-5 minutes. When i plugged it in the compressor turned on and then within 30 sec it shutdown.
I saw that there is a capacitor under there with a orange wire and white wire connected to it. I removed this capacitor and now the refrigerator will stay running. Is the solution just to replace the capacitor?? Is there something else wrong that can cause this?? I also noticed when i pulled the fridge out from the cubby that it is recessed in that the back intake vents and coil were extremely covered with dust. i cleaned it all off. could this have caused the compressor to overheat and not turn on. after cleaning all of this i then reinstalled the capacitor and fridge has been running for about 2 hours now with no issues. did the compressor just need more than 3-5 minutes to reset itself. any ideas??????
sorry for all the questions, just trying to learn and not get ripped off.

thank you,
Greg