What this usually means
Most new refrigerator noises come from something that moves rather than from the sealed system: a fan blade catching ice, a cabinet that is rocking, a loose drain pan. On a Garrision refrigerator the order below is the order a technician works through, and the first two causes on it are things you can check without a tool. A noise that changes when a door opens has already narrowed itself to one compartment.
The symptoms, and the ones that mean something else
- Short bursts of ticking and popping a few times a day — The defrost heater warming and cooling a coil, which is entirely normal.
- A slapping or droning noise from floor level at the back — Something loose at the condenser fan under the cabinet.
- NEAR MISS: a hum with a click every few minutes and nothing is cold — That is a start-relay or compressor fault and belongs on the page for a unit that is not cooling.
What it usually is, in order of likelihood
- The evaporator fan catching ice or running on a worn bearing — This fan runs whenever the doors are shut, so it accumulates the most hours of anything in the cabinet and it is the part that announces itself first. Ranked first on a Garrision refrigerator: the motors and bearings are specified to a shorter service life, which is what puts this above the rest.
- Debris or dust at the condenser fan under the cabinet — A strip of card, a bag or a dust mat at the lower fan makes a slapping or droning noise that is easy to find and quick to clear. Ranked second on a Garrision refrigerator: this is a cabinet built to a price, so the parts where the tolerance went are the parts that fail, and they are cheap parts.
- A cabinet that is rocking on its feet or touching a wall — Compressor vibration that has nowhere to go transmits into the floor or the cabinetry and comes back as a buzz or a rattle. Ranked third on a Garrision refrigerator: the expensive failures are rare on a cabinet of this age, which is what pushes the cheap and reachable causes to the top.
The order to work in, and the reason for it
- Open the freezer door and see whether the noise stops — The door switch cuts this fan, so a noise that stops with the door open is coming from it.
- Listen at the lower grille or behind the cabinet with the compressor running — A noise that is loudest at floor level at the back is almost always this fan.
- Push gently on a front corner and see whether the cabinet moves — Any rock at all means the vibration is going into the floor instead of being damped.
Owner-side checks, step by step
- Hold the freezer door switch in and listen, then release it — A scrape or a rhythmic tick that appears only with the switch held is a blade against ice or a dry bearing.
About 5 min
- Unplug the unit, clear the lower grille and vacuum the fan and coil — Anything loose near that fan will be thrown against the shroud every time it starts.
Tools: vacuum, torchAbout 20 min
- STOP HERE if the noise is a metallic knock from the compressor itself — Switch the unit off and call: a compressor breaking up will not improve with running time.
Read this before you start
Safety
Unplug the refrigerator or switch off its breaker before reaching behind the lower grille or inside the freezer rear panel: both fans start without warning and a capacitor can hold a charge after the power is off. The cabinet is heavy and rolls awkwardly on a hard floor, so get help before moving it and watch the water line behind it, which is easy to kink or pull off.
When this becomes a service call
Call once the cabinet stands firm, the grille is clear, the ice is gone and the noise is still there — what remains is a fan behind a sealed panel or a compressor diagnosis, and both want a technician. Call at once, and switch the unit off first, for a loud metallic grinding from the compressor area or any noise that arrives together with a burning smell.
The closest pages to this one
The limits of this page
This page covers the Garrision refrigerator as a class, not one family or model line. Part numbers, wiring colours, torque figures and panel fixings differ from build to build and are deliberately not here. Where a family- or model-specific page exists for your unit, that page is the more specific answer and should be read first.
Lead Appliance Repair Technician · 12 years experience
Experienced technician with 12 years specializing in washing machine and dryer repairs across all major brands.
