Refrigerator isn't cooling down?

Question

Our old fridge has been in the garage for about 8 months. We went to plug it in at about 3 pm today to hold stuff for a party tomorrow, and the refrigerator section is not cooling down. The freezer is cool/cold, but the refrigerator is not cooling down.

Why is this happening, and is there anything I can do to get it working for my party tomorrow?

Thanks!

Answer 1

It would help to know more about the refrigerator.  Does it have a separate freezer section, or does it have one of those cute little freezer boxes that hold a couple of ice cube trays and a can of juice or two?  Either way, since the freezer is working, the cooling unit seems to be okay, though it might not be operating well enough to cool the whole thing. Maybe you have a refrigerant leak, but I doubt it.

Some refrigerators have a blower and port that send cold air into the refrigerator.  Perhaps yours is blocked (mouse or something?), and you could clean it.  You should also check the "coils" in back of the refrigerator to see if they are full of dust.  If so, get the dust off.  You could vacuum them free with a brush-end vacuum cleaner, or you could use a long refrigerator brush or something like that.  You could even use the blower on your vacuum cleaner, but that will have dust flying everywhere.  

Offhand, I can't think of anything else that would allow a quick do-it-yourself fix.  If it is more serious, some repairmen will do emergency house calls.  

Or you could even resort to putting blocks of ice inside the refrigerator section.    Anyway, good luck.