Why is my fridge making a squeaking noise?

Question

Could it be that the compressor is dirty or creaky? It seems to squeak very loudly whenever the fan turns off.

Janet Pizaro · Answer

Have you tried vacumming behind the frig? Sometimes dust gets behind which would stop the air flow.A thought.

Larry Chura · Answer

The obvious starting point is to unplug the fridge, Check and see if there is hair built up on the armature of the fan motor. If there is, pull it out with tweezers. Vacuum up all the hair balls, dust bunnies and what ever other 'critters' are under there. Using just a 'drop' of 3 in 1 oil, oil the motor shaft up against the housing. A person should do this yearly.

Larry Chura · Answer

I forgot to add that compressors can make noise, but they are internally oiled with the refrigerant. If it is the compressor, time to replace the unit. Most often cheaper to get another fridge with the controls of R-12 and R-18.

Larry Chura · Answer

The Feds. call them HFC. It is a fluorocarbon It is the refrigerant gas that allows the system to be cold. They can not be just let out in the open air as it is said that the chemicals destroy the ozone. That's the reason why the gas in a/c systems had to be changed to another type. For what it's worth, it's now R-134a rather than R-12, R-18 or R-22. I'm sure that I missed some types. I upkeep my own as I'm too cheap to change them all over to the newer types.

B. Enne · Answer

If none of the troubleshooting tips the others have offered work, don't wait to do something about it. My evaporator fan motor started squeaking, a couple of days before it started making an extremely loud grinding sound...then the freezer died... I had to unplug the fridge for a few hours a day because the noise was so loud. I ended changing the evaporator fan motor in the back of the freezer...Luckily it happened in the winter, so I was able to put the food outside in coolers until I could get the piece.

The Garden Frog with C Renee · Answer

As Janet stated, have you vacuumed the coils? A refrigerator needs to have its coils free of dust and hair about once a year or more if you have pets. This will cause overheating and your compressor to burn up.
So pull out frig and take off the nuts or screws holding the screen on and take a flashlight and carefully vacuum. Do not just shove the vacuum in their carefully.
Good luck. 
Plus how old is your refrigerator?

Tova Pearl · Answer

I realized my fridge was old and does not have a fan (it has coils on the back). So I followed the last poster's advice and it seems to have worked! thanks all!

Tiurd Ferguson · Answer

Vacuuming dust from condenser and fan armature housing plus 3 in 1 on a q-tip up against the motor housing shut that squeeking mofo up and out. Silent running again. Thanks for the tips. Once again, the internet turns a dummy into a repairman.

Agnes Chrzanowska · Answer

I would just run defrost cycle on it

Why is my fridge making a squeaking noise?

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Why is my fridge making a squeaking noise?

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