Old fridge dying

Refrigerator & Freezer Repair
1

My fridge seems to be dying. This fridge doesn’t owe me a thing – it’s over 25 yrs old and has always been rock-solid – but I’m planning to replace it within about 6 months (after a kitchen remodel) and I’d really prefer to limp it along for a few more months. Doesn’t seem worth a $$service call$$ for that, if I can avoid it.

Symptoms: a month ago I came home to soupy ice cream, thawed meat, etc. I put a temp probe in the freezer and it was right around 30°F. Scratched my head and tried to figure out what was up, and then after a day or so it suddenly started freezing again. Freezer temps dropped down to the 5°F range, though they fluctuated between 0 and 10. Then yesterday the freezer was back up to 30 again, and it was 40 by last night; fridge is in the mid/high 40’s.

  • Freezer control is set to max cool, fridge set to mid-range. (I figured that would leave more cold for the freezer?)

  • Fan is running OK.

  • Compressor is running.

  • It’s chilling, but apparently not enough. There’s cold air blowing into the freezer. (Bottom freezer BTW)

  • Last time it was running warm, I pulled it away from the wall and noticed the back of the fridge was very warm. I’m not sure if it’s like that when it’s running properly.

Defroster running non-stop? Compressor working intermittently? Thermostat gone wonky? Any suggestions how I can keep this old horse on the road for a little longer?

2

My fridge appears to be similar (if older) to this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ogjPQ_G_No

I pulled the back panel of the freezer compartment to expose the cooling fins. No sign of ice. The fan in that compartment appeared to be spinning fine, blowing lots of air.

EDIT: Hmmm. I’m pretty sure the freezer was at 46° when I started tearing it apart to expose the fins. I buttoned it up again and came in here to post this & do some other stuff – and now, maybe 10 minutes later, it’s at 33.9° and falling. Literally all I did was remove the ice maker (which is dead anyway), remove the back-panel screws, pull the panel out to look at it, and put the screws back.

3

With some additional testing & diagnosing, I think I’ve found the problem. The condenser motor (cooling the compressor) was stalled. I gave it a nudge and it started spinning, and the temp dropped 4 degrees in 5 minutes. It’s an Emerson 483079 fan motor, which doesn’t seem to exist, but it looks like this is a match: https://www.amazon.com/833697-Whirlpool-Kenmore-Refrigerator-Condensor/dp/B00H3JSRWE

Time to go hit the appliance stores in town!