Before you call
Refrigerator not cooling
A refrigerator that is running but not holding temperature usually has an airflow problem rather than a dead compressor, and airflow problems are often something you can see. Work through these in order — they are the same first four things a technician checks, and any of them can save you a visit.
- 1
Check whether the freezer is still cold while the fridge is warm.
This single observation splits the diagnosis in half. Freezer cold and fridge warm points at the evaporator fan or the defrost circuit — cold air is being made but not moved. Both compartments warm points at the sealed system or the compressor, which is a different repair with a different cost.
- 2
Pull the unit out and look at the condenser coils underneath or behind.
Coils packed with dust and pet hair cannot shed heat, so the compressor runs longer and longer for the same result. Vacuum them with a brush attachment. In coastal San Diego the dust is salt-laden and behaves like felt insulation; this is the most common finding in Point Loma and Pacific Beach, and it is free to fix.
- 3
Listen at the freezer wall for the evaporator fan.
You should hear a fan whirring inside the freezer when the door switch is held in. Silence with a running compressor means the fan has failed or is iced solid. Ice on the back wall of the freezer is the same story: the defrost cycle is not clearing and the evaporator has frozen over.
- 4
Run a piece of paper around the door seal, closing the door on it.
If the paper slides out without resistance anywhere along the seal, the door is leaking warm air and the unit will never catch up. Gaskets perish and hinges sag; both are inexpensive. In Coronado and along the coast, check the hinges as well — salt air seizes them and the door stops sitting square.
- 5
Check the vents inside are not blocked by food.
The vents between freezer and fresh food are how cold gets distributed. A box pushed against one produces a fridge that is warm at the top and freezing at the bottom, and it looks exactly like a fault.
Where to stop
When to call a technician
Not for our convenience. These are the points where carrying on is either unsafe or makes the repair bigger.
- Both compartments are warm and the compressor is silent or clicking every few minutes.
- There is ice on the back wall of the freezer that returns within days of being cleared.
- You can smell a sharp chemical odour, or there is oily residue near the compressor — that is refrigerant, and it is a sealed-system job.
- The unit is a built-in or professional series. The diagnosis is platform-specific and the parts have real lead times.
An on-site diagnosis is $65.00, credited toward the repair if you go ahead. If this page has already fixed it, better still — you owe us nothing.