Our Bosch fridge freezer has started to make a loud and ominous clattering noise as the compressor starts up, it then continues to run quietly. There's a recording of it on my Google Drive
The compressor starts up with a loud rattle about 3 seconds into the soundtrack after which the compressor can be heard running quietly, there's another loud clunk at 11 seconds followed by a subdued click at about 15 seconds. Before this started happening I think it used to start up with a single clunk, similar to but quieter than the one at 11 seconds, followed by a click similar to the one at 15 seconds.
The noise doesn't happen every time it starts which makes me think it might be associated with the changeover valve for switching between fridge and freezer.
Any thoughts on the likely cause and whether it's a sign of impending total failure. The freezer is an old (> 20 years) frost free one and logic suggests this is probably the time to be replacing it but none of the likely models currently on the market seem to offer such good flexibility of storage space so we're tempted to consider a repair if it's practicable.