I have a Sears Kenmore Elite, approximately 2001 model, side by side, refrigerator that stopped cooling. I'm a common consumer that is fairly handy, but I called a sears repair man to come fix it because I just didn't want to deal with it.
I noticed a puddle of water about 3 feet in diameter on the floor in the front of my fridge. I could hear the freezer running but there was no cool air blowing in the freezer or fridge. I think the water on the floor was the food melting, but I'm not completely sure. Anyway, the freezer and fridge were no longer working.
When I first brought my refrigerator home a few years ago, I had to take the molding off of the cabinets and ram it in its spot against the wall. It was a very tight fit. I figured I'd never get it out of there in one piece and feared the day I had to paint the wall or have to fix a broken fridge. Besides, I've wrecked a floor at my last house pulling a fridge out from the wall. For this reason alone I justified calling a repairman.
The sears repair man was in his 50s and kind of grumpy. He had my fridge out in the middle of the floor by himself in less than a minute by just grabbing the front of the fridge low and pulling. I was impressed. Within 2 minutes he diagnosed the problem as being the relay switch part#(2204307) and gave me an estimate of $215 for part and Labor. As always, I asked if its any cheaper if I pay cash to see if I could get a break. The repair man said, "Sears doesn't care how you pay."
After he closed the work order and packed everything up I asked him if the defrosting coil should be as hot as it is? If you don't know what this is, its the heating coil that warms the casing of the freezer where the door meets. It heats up to prevent frost from forming. The wall that separates the fridge from the freezer was getting so hot that you couldn't touch it for more than 2 seconds without having to pull your hand away. This has been happening for last 6 months or so. Everything I read on the subject said either this is normal or that I should keep my coils clean. The repair man, Jim, said "it's probably the fan". He pulled my refrigerator out again and saw that the fan wasn't running. He said the fans don't run constantly but if the unit is running the fan should be running too. He checked to see if there was any obstruction in the fan blade, but here wasn't. It turned out to be a bad fan motor part2206036. The fridge ran great after that.
He said the relay switch probably died because it got too hot from the fan not working. He charged me another $96 for the part and said there won't be an extra charge for the labor. It took him 10 minutes to change the relay and at most 20 to change the fan motor. Total bill was about $310. The relay looked very easy to replace, just a matter of unplugging wires from the old and putting on the new. You'd have to remove the access panel from the back of the fridge, of course. Same with the fan motor only you have to swap the fan blade from the old to the new motor.
I must say, I'm very pleased with the service Sear's gave me. The man was very knowledgeable and fast.
Thinking back, I do remember an occasional faint burning smell in the kitchen for about a week or two before this all happen.
Three weeks later I get a call from Sears asking if I want to purchase a warrantee for my fridge. 3 years $250, 2 years $175 and 1 year $96.
Anyway, I'm hoping someone will learn from this post just as I have from many other post. Please take the time after your next repair on anything to post what you've learned. Its a small price to pay for such a great benefit to someone else.
~TD