Hi, I've got a 21 year old Montgomery Wards refrigerator (Model# hmg194527a) that started acting up last week.

I noticed water dripping when I opened the freezer one day so I grabbed the refrig / freezer thermometer and sure enough it was sitting around 20 or 25 degrees and the frig was sitting around 47 degrees. I cranked both the frig and freezer controls up a bit to make it a little colder but the fan (evaporator?) wouldn't come on. (The fan that blows the cold air into the freezer/ frig)

I pulled it out from the wall and noticed the condenser fan was spinning really slow, so I unplugged it, vacuumed the underside (which I did on a normal basis), plugged it back in and then I had to smack the fan around lightly for a while to get it to get it to start spinning a little faster. I popped the cover off the back of the fan motor and put a couple drops of 3-in-1 oil on it and it didn't seem to make any difference at the time so I figured it was a goner.

I woke up the next day and the condenser fan was running full speed again, the blower was blowing the cold air and the temps had dropped back to where they were supposed to be. (Actually a little colder since I'd turned them up.)

I thought everything was fine then it did it again the next day.

So, I guess "everything" seems to work. . . just not when it's supposed to. Whatever causes the (I assume) evaporator fan to kick on isn't doing it's job.

When it was working fine I could open the freezer, or frig door and within 30 seconds it would "kick on" and start blowing cold air. After if acted up the first time no amount of time with the doors open would cause it to kick on, but then. . . when it started working "right" again, it would kick on when I left the door open again for 30 seconds.

It seems like it may be something as basic as a relay not working all the time, but do they even have relays on the motors or?

I would say thermostat, but I tend to want to rule that out because it seems to pick up temperature change with the doors open when it's working "right".


I'm extremely mechanically inclined, but I just don't know much about refrigerators to know where to start with troubleshooting.

I can drive a multi-meter if someone can tell me what to test and what the specs are supposed to be.


Anyway, sorry for the long winded post. I do realize it's an old refrigerator and I'd just replace it, but we just spent most of our savings for the down payment on our new '07 Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon, and have Christmas coming up, and a vacation the week after Christmas. . . so, if I can fix it cheap to get us till the middle of January then I'll be all set.

Thanks,

Hip.