Came home today to find that everything in the freezer was soft, temp at about 55 degrees. Been very reliable since my brother gave it to me back in 1998. Back then he was getting rid of it because it died and his wife just wanted to by a new upright freezer. I think I replaced the thermostat, but I can't remember.

Anyway, since I can't remember what I replaced or what the symptoms were back then (never plugged it in until I got the part replaced), here's what going on.

Plug it in and a few seconds later it shudders and sounds like the compressor kicks on. A few seconds after that it kicks off and goes quiet for a few minutes. When it's quiet, if I turn the control dial to cooler, it'll immediately kick on, shudder and back off.

It's always had a bit of a shudder when it's running the compressor.

So I'm wondering, is this just another bad thermostat/thermistor, a relay, or more likely the compressor?

Thanks for the help.
Stromm.