My Kenmore refrigerator has developed a low decibel high pitched whine or hum. It did not always make this noise. I would equate it to a constant ringing sound in your ears, which is incredibly annoying. Keeping me up at night annoying.

I've unplugged the freezer fan and it is not the source. It seems to be coming from the compressor area. According to the schematic there is a condenser fan as well, but I am not seeing it anywhere. There is a fair amount of white grease like substance running down the sides of the compressor. I assume this is not normal. I will post some pictures of the compressor so you can see what I am talking about.

Anyone else had this problem before?

I have always thought that that noise was the compressor going bad or leaking freon - you will most likely need to replace the compressor and recharge the freon. if that is an older refrigerator you might be better off replacing the fridge itself but i would wait to see if you get any other advice