Refrigerator Suddenly Not Refrigerating. Help.

Post date: 2021-02-28 09:51:48

Sometime last night my 2002 refrigerator, which has always functioned very well since I bought my house in 2006, stopped cooling or freezing my food, though it is still humming along in a very normal sounding way. Please help me figure out a way to get a functional fridge as quickly as possible. Difficulty level: pandemic shopping conditions and below poverty-level income.

I've been trying to shop online for a new refrigerator, and the estimated delivery dates for the models I want are all in freaking April, and I'm not even being picky -- my only absolutes are that I want an Energy Star model in the 28" width that will fit my space.

I could try hitting some area used appliance shops on Monday, but I'm also wondering if I should try to fix the existing fridge. It is a 2002 model, and normally it wouldn't be worthwhile to fix such an old fridge, but these aren't normal circumstances, and I'm thinking if I could get some parts and fix it in a few days (nothing will be fast enough to save the 12 servings of meat I bought yesterday with the idea that it would last me four weeks, sigh), it might be worth doing -- it might buy me the six months or the year it'll take for shopping and the supply chain to get somewhat back to normal, so I can then get the kind of refrigerator I really want, instead of potentially being stuck with one I don't like for the next decade.

My fridge is a 2002 Maytag. The model number appears to be PTB1551GRW. It's a freezer top, single door model. The fridge sounds like it's running normally, but isn't cooling or freezing at all. Can anyone help with troubleshooting advice so I can figure out whether it's fixable, and what parts I would need to buy to fix it?

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