Fridge won’t get cold? Refrigerator not blowing cold air? Your refrigerator lights are on, you can hear the fan blowing air in the refrigerator, but the air is not cold. If this is your situation, then the repair is probably going to be a reasonably easy DIY job. When your refrigerator has working lights, the inner fan (or blower) inside the fridge is still blowing and the air is room temperature, then possibly the problem is the Compressor Start Relay. The start relay is a small device mounted to the side of the compressor. It provides power to the winding for a split second at start up to help the compressor run. The other component that may have failed could be the Start Capacitor. The start capacitor acts almost like a battery to give the compressor a small boost during power up.
The purpose of this guide is to give you some options to check yourself. The parts explained above may or may not be your issue but it is worth looking into before calling a repairman. If you are not comfortable with removing and replacing parts on your refrigerator, then call a repairman.
The relay and the capacitor are what help start the compressor. The compressor is what produces the cold air to cool your refrigerator. If one of these two parts are faulty, then the compressor will not run and therefore there can be no cold air. The refrigerator can be on but if the compressor is not running the air will not be cold inside your refrigerator. This is a very common reason why most refrigerators stop cooling but keep blowing air.
If you hear a clicking sound coming from the back of the fridge, then the compressor start relay is most likely working properly and is not the issue. If this is the case then the next most likely part that has gone bad is the start capacitor. These 2 parts are cheap and can be found at appliance stores and home improvement stores, even local smaller hardware stores should have some basic parts. Refrigerator compressor parts can also be found online and at extremely reasonable prices.
How to replace relay and or capacitor on a refrigerator
We recommend unplugging the refrigerator from power and sliding it out from the wall. Remove the panel on the back bottom of the fridge and visually inspect the start relay and capacitor for signs of damage. You may find signs of melting or burned areas. These parts will be on the side of the compressor. Test the start capacitor first with a capacitance meter and the start relay. If one of these parts is burned, melted, etc, and you don’t have a meter, then you can either call a repairman, go buy a multimeter, order the part online, or remove the part and take the part with you to an appliance store and match it up with the same part.
How to install a universal relay on your refrigerator compressor
There can be other issues why your refrigerator is not blowing cold air such as a bad compressor, bad temperature control thermostat, dirty condenser coils, or even the main control board may be defective. (There is a refrigerator troubleshooting guide here that can help you even further if needed.) If the Condenser Fan Motor was defective, (the blower fan in the refrigerator) then you would NOT hear it running/blowing. This help guide is to help you troubleshoot when the fan in the refrigerator is still blowing but you do NOT have cold air.
NOTE: Remember to always check to be sure that the temperature control dials or knobs inside your refrigerator are set correctly before you start removing panels and parts!
Written by Keith Schneerer
Certified Appliance Tech · Founder, RemoveAndReplace.com
Keith has spent 30+ years repairing machines, starting as a military mechanic and later maintaining food processing equipment before moving into appliance repair. He founded RemoveAndReplace.com to share field-tested repair advice.
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I have maytag fridge,Our fridge stopped blowing cold air all of sudden, I cleaned coils underneath, cleaned back, compressor is warm and its vibrating, compressor fan is on as well, evaporator fan inside freezer is on and blowing but not cold air just room temperature air and so does the in the fridge (maytag French door fridge with freezer at bottom). Not sure what could be wrong, i dont hear click on relay switch but compressor is on and vibrating, not sure what could be issue can someone please help?
Hello I have a magic chef fridge it’s 9 or 10 cu ft in size and it’s not working right, it has been getting warm but here is the weird thing everything gets cold when I manually start the fan in my freezer to spin with my finger..sometimes it will run fine for 2-3 hours other times it will work 12 hours or more and even once it ran 24 hours since this started,when it tries to come on I can hear a buzzing sound but no fan comes on unless I start it myself..when the fan works it keeps cold fine but the fan does seem to be making a noise like it’s trying to seize up..also the electronic control panel inside blinks and revert back to the minimum setting and eventually shuts off if I dont start the fan…any ideas what this could be?
Hello I have a Kenmore elite, model#795.74053.410 fridge runs, lights work, feels like the compressor is on but no cold air at all.
My zipel refrigerator cannot freeze but the fan is working. What should I do
Have a Frigidaire refrigerator and just put a 3 in 1 started kit RC0410 on it for the second time but can’t here the compress come on compress is cold to the touch fan is running what can it be
I have a Commercial Refrigerator True Model GDM-23 and it worked fine until this weekend I decided to clean it and i sprayed water on it.
Now it won’t get cold, everything seems to be working just fine.
I don’t want to call a repair person, if I can do it myself.
Please let me know if you need any further information.
My freezer gets cold on 3 but not on 2 or 1. The fan is working but the fridge on the bottom does not get cold enough. My fridge is a national double door fridge, old type. Top freezer.