Kitchen Large Electric Appliances - refrigerator clunks when compressor shuts off

I have a 1994 GE electric refrigerator. It works fine. When the compressor shuts off there is a loud clunk, or maybe thunk. Is there something loose back there, a loose mount perhaps?

Check that the refrigerator is level and the external mounting of the compressor is secure. Otherwise, you are looking at compressor replacement due to loose internal mounts.

Will check and post result.

Thanks much

And it could run for years, or fail next week. Start saving for a new fridge.

I doubt it's economically feasible to repair a 14y/o unit.

I poked around in back and here's what I found. The external mounts are solid. I could make the compressor clunk rocking it on it's rubber mounts, giving credence to the internal mount theory. The fridge isn't level, tilts back. I will level it and see if that lessens the noise.

A new compressor is ~$215 plus installation.

Is catastrophic failure of the compressor a safety issue of any kind?

Thanks guys

If it fails, I don't THINK its any huge issue. Except where do you put yer food while you wait for the repair? Cause you know it will fail the day before Thanksgiving or Xmas eve.

You might want to check on that install charge, prob some Appliance Techs out there that wouldn't even know how to do it.
I wouldn't doubt that the labor could run as much as the part. And you'd still have a 14 y/o fridge with a brand new compressor.

I have another fridge.

I'm, as we speak, looking on Consumer Reports for ratings of new units.

BTW, its been making this noise for a few years now. Although lately its been getting a little louder. It doesn't make it all the time and how hard it clunks varies.

I had a GE of about the same vintage...maybe a year newer. Started making the noise after about 6-7 yrs (?)...it was still in the house when we moved in 2007...lol. Like I said, it can last for years, or fail tomorrow.

And exactly as you describe...sometimes it was nothing, sometimes more of a "tink", and sometimes a "clunk".

Yours doesn't happen to be a top freezer unit does it?

Why yes, it is. And a matter of fact, I was mistaken re: the vintage. It is a 1995. It's noise is just like you describe.

I think they must have just made some "clunkers" back then...LOL...I kill myself!!

The internal parts of that metal compressor case is mounted on three springs. One or more of those springs are going bad, it may run that way for years, or quit tomorrow. Put a dollar in a jar for every time it makes that noise, and you will have the money for a new refrigerator in no time.

H.

I had an old something in the early '90s that did the same thing. I left it with the people that bought the house with the warning that tomorrow or in 10 years the compressor will die. That unit was given to us with the same warning. It replaced a 5 year old GE that had an inefficient compressor. GE made some then that had disolvable composite parts in the compressor. GE offered to pay half for the repair. I thought, one half of a doubled repair bill would still cost the same. I said, no thanks, and haven't bought GE anything since.