Top mount fridge stopped refrigerating, maybe compressor?

Hello Emily R - Do you hear anything running in the machine compartment and what type of airflow is the condenser fan providing (try removing the toe grille, located above the drain pain on the bottom right-hand side)? If you do not hear the compressor and unit is providing room temperature, it usually means the unit may have a faulty compressor or a sealed system leak. I would personally recommend contacting the manufacturer for a listing of authorized technicians who may assist you in repairing your unit and reinstalling the part that has been removed due to liability reasons.

http://www.fixya.com/support/r6234312-refrigerator_running_but_not_cold

The baffle that opens to allow cooling into the refrigerator may be blocked, broken or mis wired. These units work by just cooling the freezer and then blowing some cold air into the refrigerator whenever the fridge thermostat calls for it. The fridge's thermostat is trying to cool the refrigerator but something is preventing the cool air from getting to the refrigeration part, that's why it's freezing up the freezer

Hi,
When it gets very cold the gas (freon) in the refrigeration system shrinks....because the properties that make cold also work against you in this case...when the gas shrinks in volume it then does not work properly anymore...the hot gas does not turn back into a liquid but stays as a gas and because of that it does not cool when going through the expansion device...ie. cap tube or expansion valve. If you were to keep it in the cold all the time you could add a bit of charge to make it work, but then if you move it to warm or the weather warms... now you are over charged... just one of those "no win" deals...
They don't make these things to run in extreme environmental changes..they like it a consistent temp. all the time...

Heatman101

Some compressors are designed to be externally cooled some are not.
They have to process the refrigerant to certain pressures to operate correctly.
The specific condenser and expansion device do the rest.
By cooling a compressor artificially you make it work harder to do its' job.
Cooler is not always better.

Move the refrigerator to a room that is at least 50 degrees F.

Temps on most refrigerators are regulated by the fresh foods temp. If your garage is let's say 35 degrees, the fresh foods temp will most likely never raise enough to turn the refrigerator on. With the refrigerator never running, the freezer compartment will warm to 35 degrees, resulting in everything melting. Even if garage is a bit warmer, say 45, the refrig will not run long enough for the freezer to maintain a low enough temperture. If the garage temp falls to below freezing, say 20 degrees, the food in the fresh foods compartment will freeze. (outdoor beverage dispensers have internal heaters to prevent product from freezing !) Please don't rate this if not a Fix-Ya for you, as anything else lowers my score.

Top mount refrigerator installed in a garage and the food in the freezer is defrosting when
the temperature in the garage goes below 55 degrees fahrenheit.
On top mount refrigerators you cycle the compressor and fan/fans from the food
compartment temperature. When the room temperature gets colder than 55 F, you have
long off times waiting for the food compartment to warm enough to trip the cold control.
This long off time is allowing the freezer temperature to get high enough that food can start
to defrost.
There is a kit for refrigerators installed in applications where the temperature can go as low
as 34 F and still maintain good freezer temperatures. The kit part number is 5303918301
and it contains a heater that mounts in the control box and an instruction sheet advising
how to install the heater.
Kit 5303918301 contains:
Part # 5303950194 Instruction sheet
Part # 241532101 Heater

You will certainly have to replace the thermostat. Typical problem is once temp. is reached, it takes forever to come on.

WHEN ITS NOT WORKING DO YOU HEAR A CLICKING OR BUZZING SOUND (IF SO BAD COMPRESSOR OR OVERHEATING)SEE BELOW
ALSO CHECK THE CONDENSOR FAN IN BACK IS IT RUNNING WHEN THE COMPRESSOR IS RUNNING

when you removed the back panel inside refrig was there any sign of cooling, perhaps only top 1 pass of the coil was frosted, or completly warm no signd of frost at all?