My refrigerator is making a slightly louder noise than normal and there is a strange odor? Any solutions?

Question

It almost has a paint odor on our first floor of the house where the refrigerator is but I looked behind the refrigerator and nothing is leaking out. It is obvious by looking in the freezer that things defrosted as all items have a layer of frost on them that wasn't there overnight. Any suggestions?

Answer 1

Well if you have a GE/Hotpoint ice box then that smell might be a defrost heater gone bad. The heaters are made of glass tubes.

Answer 2

Time to defrost and especially clean the compressor and radiator elements on the bottom of the fridge with compressed air or anything...you likely have a dirt / dust buildup under your fridge.

Answer 3

Check the condenser fan under the fridge and the freezer fan to make sure they are working.  Also check to see if the coils are clean underneath.

Answer 4

Ours is doing the same thing its not cooling,...loud something running in back like a motor thats stuck.

Hubby isnt home.I cant remember what they told him it was but its almost cheaper to get a new one than the 600 to replace whats wrong with it.

Answer 5

I just had one do something similar. I have two things I had to do. First I had to blow out the dust from the motor is was bad too. The second was I had to turn it off for 24 hours and completely defrost everything. It has gotten so hot and humid that the frig just couldn't keep up with all the build up inside. Once I defrosted it and turned it back on I have had no problems at all. My soda is ice cold!