A Frigidaire Refrigerator That Got Loud, Then Warm, in Pasadena

A Loud Noise, Then Melting Ice, on a Frigidaire in Pasadena

A homeowner in Pasadena called A+ Appliance Repair and Maintenance about a Frigidaire refrigerator with a telling sequence of symptoms. First it made a loud sound. Then the noise stopped, which might have seemed like a relief, except that soon there was water where the ice had been, and the ice maker had stopped working. Read in order, those symptoms tell a fairly clear story, and it centers on one part: the evaporator fan.

Following the sequence

The order of the symptoms is the key to this one. A refrigerator makes its cold at a coil called the evaporator, and a fan, the evaporator fan, blows air across that cold coil to circulate it through the freezer and into the refrigerator. That fan runs constantly, and when its motor begins to fail, the first thing that usually happens is noise. A worn fan bearing gets loud, grinding or humming as it struggles.

Then the noise stopped. On a failing evaporator fan, silence is not good news; it often means the fan has finally quit turning altogether. And once the fan stops moving air, the cold stops circulating. The freezer loses its ability to stay cold, the ice maker no longer has the cold it needs, and the ice that was already made begins to melt, which is exactly why this customer saw water where the ice used to be and an ice maker that had stopped producing.

So the loud sound, the silence, and then the melting ice are not three separate problems. They are one part, the evaporator fan motor, going through the stages of its failure, first noisy, then stopped, then the loss of cold that follows.

Why the ice maker went with it

The ice maker's trouble is a downstream effect. An ice maker depends on the freezer being cold enough to freeze water, and the freezer depends on the evaporator fan to circulate the cold air. When the fan stops, the freezer warms, and the ice maker can neither make new ice nor keep the existing ice frozen. That is why addressing the fan, rather than the ice maker, is what actually solves the ice problem; the ice maker was never the real fault, just the most visible casualty of the lost airflow.

The repair

Our technician serviced the evaporator fan motor, restoring the circulation of cold air the refrigerator depends on. With the fan moving air again, cold could once again reach the freezer, the ice maker area, and the refrigerator compartment. Our technician confirmed that cold air was circulating properly and that the temperatures were returning to where they should be, verifying the airflow was genuinely restored rather than assuming the new part had solved it. On an airflow failure, confirming the cold is actually reaching where it needs to go is the measure of a completed repair.

What to watch and listen for

This kind of failure gives you warning if you know the signs. A new noise coming from inside the refrigerator, especially from behind the freezer wall, is often the evaporator fan starting to go, and it is worth acting on while it is still just a noise. Ice that starts to melt or an ice maker that stops, combined with a freezer that is not as cold as it should be, points to a loss of the circulating cold air. And a refrigerator that recently made noise and then went quiet, followed by warming, is a classic evaporator fan sequence. Catching it at the noise stage, before the fan fully stops and the food and ice are affected, is always the easier path.

About A+ Appliance Repair and Maintenance

We service Frigidaire, Whirlpool, LG, Samsung, GE, KitchenAid, and every other major refrigerator brand throughout Pasadena and the surrounding San Gabriel Valley. Our technicians are certified and carry common parts, so an evaporator fan repair like this one can usually be diagnosed and completed in a single visit.

We quote the price upfront before any work begins, we waive the service call fee when you move forward with the repair, and every completed repair is backed by our full repair warranty. If your refrigerator has made a noise and then started losing its cold, or your ice is melting and the ice maker has stopped, we can find the cause and get the cold circulating again.