My kitchen was flooded in Hurricane Sandy. Before throwing out everything, I am trying the appliances one by one to see if they can be salvaged.
The refrigerator, Kitchenaid KBRS19KTless than 4 years old, was flooded and toppled over by the flood waters. After standing it upright for over 5 weeks now, cleaning it and switching it on, the compressor, condensor fan, evaporator fan, lights, and the temperature controls work, but there is no cooling in the frig or freezer. The compressor runs till it is too hot to touch, but no frost on the coils in the bottom freezer even after 4 hours of continuous running.
I am wondering if this is not a major sealed system issue and anything else can be done.
Thanks very much for your help!!

If the fridg had power when it fell over, the compressor ran out of oil and burned up.

The frig was unplugged and the main breakers were off before the storm surge. Also power went out before the water came in, so it wasn't running.

And then again, this morning, the compressor appeared to be running and vibrating (I felt it again) and still no cooling. Still a start device issue? (I'm planning to replace it anyways and see, since a $50 device could save a much more expensive frig.)

When I turned off power to the unit after about 15 mins, there was a prolonged hissing sound and a slight burning smell. Is that the oil in the compressor?

Someone also suggested trying to heat the coils with a heat gun or something to 'burp' the refrigerant in case there was a bubble somewhere.

Any further thoughts?

If the compressor is vibrating and hot, but you have no cooling, you either have a bad compressor or a system refrigerant leak.