On Fri, 02 Feb 2007 22:10:30 -0500, wrote:

I noticed that ice cream was starting to melt in the freezer of my
1979 GE side by side Ref/Freez combo. I removed the frozen goods
and put them outside. I new there was a reason for this cold weather.

I had this problem once before and the drain in the freezer was frozen
and plugged. That is not the case now.

What I have noticed is the fan that is positioned to blow on the
compressor comes on from time to time but shuts down after only
running for about five seconds. I believe this symptom is related to
the problem I am having.

The refrigerator seems to be fine but I haven't put a thermometer
in it yet to confirm this. The unit seems to be fairly clean from dust
in the coils and the drip pan is dry.

Help. Any pointers to what the problem may be?

Replace the fridge. The new ones are energy efficient and will pay
for itself in a couple of years.