I've gone through the last 7 months of posts and read everything about what could be causing this and what I can do to fix it but I'm finally at a loss.

The fridge is only 3-4 years old and is a side-by-side Kenmore (it has ice/water in freezer door but we haven't used it in months because it started leaking).

Right now the fridge is staying at 55F, the freezer is staying at 50F (obviously way too warm). The freezer has slowly been getting warmer over the past week, we figured it would fix itself if we moved some things around...apparently not.

I've vacuumed the coils under the fridge (quite dusty) and am going to clean them off thoroughly as the night goes on. I cannot pull the fridge out to access the back of it because of how the previous owners built it into the kitchen.

I took off the panel inside the freezer and there is frost on the bottom two coils and up a tube on the left but all other coils are clean (a photo can be see here). I used a hair dryer to remove the frost from those two bottom coils but it comes back within minutes after the fridge is turned back on.

Right now I have the fridge set to the "initial setting" (not coldest or anything like that). And from my research - any frost on only a couple of coils is a bad sign.

Can anyone offer me any assistance or advice?

Yes, it looks like you have a sealed system/compressor problem.

You have a full 5 yr. warranty on your refrigerator, schedule Sears to come out to look at it.

If you or the Sears tech. can't pull out the refrigerator safely without damaging something, The tech. can't do anything for you till you have your refrigerator is out from the wall and accessible, you may have to have a contractor modify your cabinets, wall or floor to get it out.

Jake

__________________
Appliance Repair School 1987-1988
Star Appliance Tech. 2 yrs. 1988-1990
Wards Appliance Tech. 11 yrs. 1990-2001
Sears Appliance Tech. 4 yrs. 2001-Oct. 2005
Jake's Appliance Repair Nov. 2005-present

If you need more repair advice help on your appliance, click Here

Look-Up & Order Parts

Shop Home Appliances

So I called the previous owners of the house and they said that the fridge is 4 years old but was not purchased at Sears, instead it was purchased at a local appliance store. I called that appliance store and told them what the problem was, the guy on the phone said that it was probably a defrost timer issue since the fridge and freezer were staying at a constant 55 degrees.

So I booked the appointment for a guy from that shop to come out and he did that today - I was at work and my husband was at home. So the guy comes out, pulls the fridge out, doesn't look inside the freezer at the coils or at the heater or anything else he only looks at the back of the fridge and says, "You're low on Freon."

Freon has been banned so the fridge can't be filled with it. My husband didn't know any better so he paid the $180 and the fridge got cold for a few hours, the freezer actually got down to 18 degrees - then a mere 2 hours later it shot up to 49 degrees (without us opening the doors).

I'm going to go to the place tomorrow and ask what the hell's going on and ask for my check back and if they don't give it back I'll put a stop payment on it since they didn't fix the problem they apparently only masked it (likely to charge us more money).

My husband said that the guy was carrying around the refrigerant as a fluid in an unmarked can and that he just used a tube to put it somewhere in the back of the fridge (he was blocking the view of my husband) so it seems very likely that he didn't do anything but swindle us out of $180.

I'll keep you aprised of our situation as it progresses.

Yes, I would demand your money back, that was a very lame excuse for a appliance tech. Thats the kind of techs. that make all of us techs. look bad.

Jake

__________________
Appliance Repair School 1987-1988
Star Appliance Tech. 2 yrs. 1988-1990
Wards Appliance Tech. 11 yrs. 1990-2001
Sears Appliance Tech. 4 yrs. 2001-Oct. 2005
Jake's Appliance Repair Nov. 2005-present

If you need more repair advice help on your appliance, click Here

Look-Up & Order Parts

Shop Home Appliances

The fridge and freezer are now sitting comfortably at 72 degrees which is exactly what our house is sitting at. I've turned off the fridge because there's no point wasting money on electricity for it to do nothing.

I've put a stop payment on the check my husband wrote to them and I'm going to call Sears directly and ask them to come out.

It's a model 363 if that tells you anything.

What sucks is that the fridge was sitting at 55 which was comfortable enough to have cool water if we kept it in the fridge now there's no point in keeping anything in it.

What do you think would cause it now to not cool at all?

It sounds like either a sealed system leak, restriction, or a bad compressor.

Jake

__________________
Appliance Repair School 1987-1988
Star Appliance Tech. 2 yrs. 1988-1990
Wards Appliance Tech. 11 yrs. 1990-2001
Sears Appliance Tech. 4 yrs. 2001-Oct. 2005
Jake's Appliance Repair Nov. 2005-present

If you need more repair advice help on your appliance, click Here

Look-Up & Order Parts

Shop Home Appliances

We figured screw it and went and bought a new fridge - it will get delivered on Tuesday.

We also went to the appliance store (a real shaddy place) and asked for our check back -- the guy who did the "repair" wasn't working today so he couldn't turn it in. The owner will call me on Monday to let me know if he gets the check - I've also put a stop payment on it and on Monday I'll be checking back in with the owner in person to get it so they can't try to cash it without my knowledge.

The only reason I chose that place to do the repair is because the original owner of the house (and fridge) said that's where they bought it and that they were good family friends. Well I'll never make that mistake again.

You have been incredibly helpful Jake, thank you.

Thanks,

Glad you got a new refrigerator.

Hopefully they will give you the check back, but I'm glad you put the stop payment on it, just in case.

Jake

__________________
Appliance Repair School 1987-1988
Star Appliance Tech. 2 yrs. 1988-1990
Wards Appliance Tech. 11 yrs. 1990-2001
Sears Appliance Tech. 4 yrs. 2001-Oct. 2005
Jake's Appliance Repair Nov. 2005-present

If you need more repair advice help on your appliance, click Here

Look-Up & Order Parts

Shop Home Appliances