[pkirill]

We woke up yesterday and the fridge was off due to a tripped breaker. Flipped the breaker back on and the fridge seem to be working except for the "burnt ozone" smell of fried electronics. The fan under the fridge was running, and the compressor was running and air was blowing into the refrigerator and freezer (side-by-side model). While I was under the fridge, I noticed that the compressor was very hot to the touch, but not knowing any better I just left it alone. But while I was down there and had everything open, I replaced the two water valve units that supply the icemaker and water dispenser. Later that evening when I checked to see if we now had ice, I noticed that the insides were no longer cool and lukewarm air was blowing into both sides.

I researched the issue (mostly thanks to this site) and I think it comes down to the relay-thing that plugs into the compressor. I pulled the part and read the number - 216008902. But most of the part supply sites say it has been discontinued and replaced with 5304426651. My issue is that I just spent about $100 on parts for the valves, and this part would cost another $100 (approx) and I'm not sure it will fix the problem.

SO my question is: based to the description of events, does it sound reasonable that the electronic thing that plugs into the compressor is most likely the problem? If there are more electronic things that could be wrong, I'd prefer to put the $100 towards a new refrigerator.

Thanks for any help and sorry about the long post!

[woodchuck]

If the compressor was running, the relay or starter would not be the problem. Compressor would be the problem. I would get a new refrigerator, with the age of that one.