This is a Hotpoint top freezer model, just over 11 years old. Noticed a loud growling sound yesterday morning and later discovered that food in freezer was beginning to thaw. Both freezer and fridge are no longer getting cold.

I removed bottom back panel and cleaned out dust from fan. Fan spins with no problems and is fairly quiet.

I removed cover in back of freezer to expose the evaporator coils. Evaporator fan is running fine and blowing air. Coils are not frosting up, there are no ice chunks, coils are not partially cold. The coils are not cold to touch.

Previously, in last 6-9 months, I noticed an occasional chirping sound coming from the unit. I figured that may have been the ice maker.

Needless to say, with the fridge/freezer out, no Thanksgiving leftovers for me this year!

Should I expect the compressor (black canister located in bottom/back of unit) to be icy-cold to touch as well as the copper tubing that is connected to the compressor to be icy-cold and frosted? Right now, after running for a couple of hours, the compressor is pretty much room temperature, maybe a little cool from the fan that is blowing on it.

I removed the motherboard and found a bad solder joint. I re-soldered it and it looks like the fridge is back in business. Thanks for your advice!