Hello Melanie;
My name is Peter. I am a retired field service technician.
You do not have a refrigerant leak. Refrigerant is clear in color.
You have a water leak. The black sticky substance is either coming from your bottom condenser cooling coil or just general dirt under your refrigerator that accumulates over time. The coil under your refrigerator collects dirt as well.
You need to pull the refrigerator out so you can get behind it.
Unscrew the bottom back cover. Inspect for the water leak source. Your condensate drain pan may be leaking or dislodged.
The water line to your ice maker may be leaking.
Your water supply shut off valve to your refrigerator may be leaking.
SOURCE: Fridge leaking oil on the bottom right side
OK, usually if you see an oily substance that you are sure is not from the fridge contents it's oil from the sealed system. When a leak in the sealed system happens the refrigerant gas leaks out and the lubricating oil also leaks out. I'm afraid you may be in this situation. As the refrigerant leaks out the cooling efficientcy drops off quickly and eventually there is no cooling at all. You would have to use a refrigerant leak detector "sniffer" to locate the leak and then have a certified company repair the unit. Sadly, the cost to do a compressor replacement and leak repair is 2/3's or more the cost of a new fridge...
SOURCE: The refrigerator side is warm
is there a heavy frost build up on the back wall of the freezer?? is the fan in the freezer working??
SOURCE: Frigidaire Model #FRS22WRC Side by Side leaking
Check the bottom of the freezer side is there a sheet of ice???
SOURCE: Frigidaire plhs267za side/side water dispenser leaks while ice maker cycles
You have a bad diode on the water valve connection frigidaire has a kit for this fix..
5303918287, 5304418384 DIODE KIT frigidaire
SOURCE: Frigidaire side-by-side model # FRS26H5ASB4 making humming or buzzing noise
I had the same problem. I found the buzzing noise was caused by ice build up around the fan motor inside the freezer. I believe water must have leaked down around the fan during a defrost cycle. I removed the ice maker, the ice cube bin and ice dispenser auger motor. It sounds complicated, but it isn't too bad. The ice maker and auger are connected with quick connect plugs. So just unplug, remove the screws and remove them from the freezer. You will need to remove several other screws as well, I believe 11 in total as well as the top freezer rack. This will give you access to the white aluminum panel that runs from the top of the freezer to about halfway down the back of the freezer. After you remove the aluminum panel you will see the fan about half way down the freezer. I found a lot of ice around my fan. The fan blades were hitting the ice causing the buzz. Remove the ice and the buzzing is gone. It took me an hour to complete this repair. I hope this helps.
12,286 views
Usually answered in minutes!
That black sticky substance sounds really alarming, and the fact that it's coming from the fridge is scary. My fridge has been leaking brown fluid from a similar place, but it's not sticky or black like yours. Still, it's a little unpleasant, so I'm going to call a refrigerator repair service and have them take a look at it as soon as possible. Maybe you should do the same. http://greenesrepair.com/services1
×