Model Number: ZIC36NABLH
Brand: GE
Age: More than 10 years
This fridge is nearly 18 years old, but had been working with no issues until last year, at which point the freezer began to struggle keeping ice cream frozen; fridge portion worked fine. Turning the freezer setting to 9 didn't help, and I had neglected to clean the condenser coil which had a solid layer of dust on it. Nonetheless, it was still marginally working.
I had to massage out a dent in the freezer door, and to do that, I dismantled it and manually closed only the light switch (3 switches total that the freezer door activated). I noticed that the coil in the freezer behind the white sheet metal cover had frost on only the bottom portion of it (heavier in the bottom left corner of the coil); opening the freezer door switches defrosted it while I fixed a dent.
Upon reassembly, both the freezer and fridge can't get past ~50˚. Defrost timer appears to work; it advances on its own; manually advancing it shuts off and the on the evap fan, etc, though the compressor doesn't seem to fire (it is warm-not hot-however). Repeatedly cycling the timer resulted in the compressor turning on once or twice, with what sounded like some freon activity, and the temp did drop a couple of degrees, but not more than that.
I have ordered a compressor relay, capacitor and new defrost timer - arriving tomorrow. I guess I most suspect the capacitor booster, as it sounds to me like the compressor isn't firing reliably or regularly.
I'm wondering if there is anything else I should be troubleshooting here. Any help would be appreciated.