Hi. Opinion would be valued on this. Have lower freezer mounted Fisher and Paykel, probably about 8 years old. Noticed that the fridge is not holding its chill, getting worse to the point of basically not working. ALSO, that the Freezer IS still working fine BUT, the seal on the FREEZER door is stuffed (Fridge door seal is OK) and there is quite a bit of icing up in the freezer, mainly down the front of the door and trays.
So, I don't know much about fridges, but am guessing that this icing up is also occurring in parts you can't see and effecting somehow the flow of air in the main part of the fridge or something. Would that sound likely? If so, before I run out and spend big, is it worth replacing the Freezer door seal (about 60$), then turning the whole thing off for, I dunno, a few hours till it all melts, dries out etc. Might that get it back up on its feet? Or am I just wasting time?
Cheers
Simon
If it's a frost free freezer then you don't have to let the thing thaw and dry out first. Just replace the seals, which are very important for the thing to work as it should, then just close it back up, and let it run. If the new seals do the trick, then all the frost inside should be gone by the next day. A faulty freezer will effect the way the refer part works, so definitely try replacing the seals first.
I'm a road scholar, I've been down that road.
If the fridge part is a blow through from freezer, check the air passage is clear (not blocked by a lettuce leak or something) and check that the fan is still working.
Definitely replace the door seals and while you're at it empty the fridge and turn it off for at least 24 hours or so if you can.
Turning it off for a decent time has two benefits:
There may be ice blockages deep on the air vents that turning it off for an hour or two won't defrost. I scored a 3 year old fridge a couple of years ago because the owner was too impatient to find the problem. They just wheeled it outside and bought a new one, by the time I picked it up it was good as gold 
Secondly, when you replace the seals leave the inside door panels loose for the time you have it turned off. Even a tiny split or loose freezer door seal will allow small amounts of moisture laden air to be sucked into the door cavity and freeze the condensation every freeze cycle. This needs lots of time with the door panels loose and able to drain away to fix. And don't underestimate how much ice is inside the doors so put several towels down.
No expert... But I've got a few working again that had noise, compressor, leaking, and temp issues. I clear them out into iced Eskts. Turn them off and pull them out from their built in. Get in behind and inspect and clean drip tray under compressor. These get full of 'fluff' as do compressor coils. Apparently we are supposed to clean them every six months but who does. Most combos run the freezer and this in turn cools the fridge. 90% of the time the problem is the drain hole that runs from freezer to drip tray. Turning it off is not enough, you need to insert a plastic snake into pipe to clear ice or muck that blocks them. This fault can lead to fridge temp and water pooling. May not be your issue, but quick free fix if it is.
You say the seals are not good. That lets in air, and air has moisture in it.
The frozen moisture has iced up the insides of the fridge where you can't see so the internal fan is blowing over a small block of ice rather than over a freezing set of cooling fins.
Some of the noise might be the fan chipping over the ice block which has grown into the fan. If it's a metallic scraping noise that will be the most probable explanation.
The cheapest fix is just turn it off for a day at least, leave the doors open and maybe blow fan into it until the water stops dripping out the bottom of it.
You can also fix the seals while you're waiting for it to defrost.
This sort of stuff happens mostly in summer time when the door is being opened a lot by small people opening the fridge and staring inside as if something really nice is about to appear in there. Sometimes it does, which reinforces the habit. I know that 'cos I used to do it. 
Cold jelly,.. 
Ice cream,. fruit salad fizzy drinks ,.
If you've got lots of money to spare, call up a repair man. He can turn it off for half a day while he's pretending to do a complicated repair, and then turn it back on having done nothing except wait for it to defrost, then charge you $400 for a really big repair. 
edit,.. Oh, chris has sort of said it already, so,.. what chris said.
Hi -- appreciate all the words of wisdom. Definitely going to follow up on some of that, wheeled the unused bar fridge up from he garage and that is taking care of a few essentials, plus ice and esky, so should be able to give it a real good defrost, clean out, and get a new set of seals on. Thanks for all the advice!
Happy, sailing, kiting, surfing, whatever….
Cheers
Simon
Select to expand quotesurfinbird said..
I'm a fridgie and agree with chris
Ex fridgie and I second this.
Select to expand quoteevlPanda said..surfinbird said..
I'm a fridgie and agree with chris
Ex fridgie and I second this.
I can count up to potato and I third this.
Just replaced burnt out fan in mine the whole condenser &fan was blocked with so much lint that froze up fan &it burnt out good clean new fan works fine but I think I might have to sack the maid .
+1 actiomax
If one bit is cold and the other isn't, it is often just a fan problem. On many, the fan moves freezer coldness to the fridge. Often a good clean out (removal of dust n hairs n fluff etc) fixes it. Fridgie mate told me that often just the act of moving it out from the wall and taking the back off is enough to get it going again as all that crap falls out.
So as you know the freezer seal is stuffed, yeah replace that but whilst u r at it defrost and clean any grey crap off fans / fins etc. Could be $60 and half an hour that saves you $1500.
Possible that the defrosting heater element is not working? Frost free fridges have a heater element that melts all the frozen ice off the condenser that is hidden in the back of the fridge. That is what makes the 'hissing' sound you hear, as the ice drips onto the heater element and sizzles. The timing relay that turns the heater on failed in our fridge a couple of years ago.
I have a lot of experience with fridges
A lot of experience
I visit mine about every 7 minutes. I rigorously go through everything in it, nibble on a few things, move stuff around, wonder what that jar of stuff at the back is (the label fell off it years ago), wonder why nobody has thrown away the jar of mayonnaise with a use by date of June 2014 on it and generally just hang out and get re-acquainted with the fridge and catch up on any fridge based news or happenings.
Then every third or fourth visit I usually stay for longer and have a more substantial meal.
A few times a year I look on top of or behind the fridge. However I would warn you not to do this. It is not a pleasant sight. I do not know why somebody does not do something about it. Quite frankly it can not be hygienic.
Sometimes I discover new life forms in the crisper draw. I do not know why I open the crisper draw or what I expect to find in there that is edible. It is only ever full of vegetables, fruit and other hydro-carbon based "food stuffs". Who eats that rubbish ? Usually the life forms have evolved from some sort of vegetable over a number of generations. When I find them I seal them back in the crisper draw and remind myself not to look in there again.
So, yes I have experience and I can confirm two things :
1) The energy I expend in walking to the fridge is significantly less than that I seem to consume when I am there resulting in a net transfer of mass to myself
2) I have nothing useful to add to assist with your cooling issue
Select to expand quotecauncy said..
I knew a girl who was fridgid
Given the fridge advice above - bang it from behind to get the cobwebs out and it comes good?
What model fisher and pykel is it? I have the same brand around the same age that started doing the same thing. A fridgy mate of mine diagnosed it with a part that is designed to defrost something inside the fridge to allow the cold air to flow through from the freezer section. Part was probably worth more than the fridge and we just used it for drinks so I just turned it off for 24 hours every month or so when it blocked up.
Select to expand quotecauncy said..
I knew a girl who was fridgid
That's because her seal was unbroken.
Select to expand quoteUnhook3d said..
What model fisher and pykel is it? I have the same brand around the same age that started doing the same thing. A fridgy mate of mine diagnosed it with a part that is designed to defrost something inside the fridge to allow the cold air to flow through from the freezer section. Part was probably worth more than the fridge and we just used it for drinks so I just turned it off for 24 hours every month or so when it blocked up.
There is a timer, a heater, and a defrost termination thermostat, all designed to periodically stop the compressor, heat up the coil, melt the ice, and then go back to being a fridge.
In trying to troubleshoot my fridge, I replaced the timer with an electronic one, and fitted a new defrost termination thermostat. It was the timer though, and the cost to replace these spare parts, using generic versions, was cheaper for me than getting someone out to look at it. The annoying thing was that the timer in these things is mechanical, and the electronic generic replacement is not quite the same and requires a bit of customization.
I would have thought fridges these days would be electronic, but no, they are still for the most part mechanical/electric.
The surprising thing was that the coil would ice up, and even leaving it for ages to defrost, it would not be enough to melt the ice. You would have to attack it with a hair dryer (aka heatgun) in order to make it melt. The difference is that when running normally the ice build up is only a really small amount, yet when the defrost part doesn't work you end up with a coil solid with ice, which no longer cools the fridge, and doesn't defrost itself.
Select to expand quoteMastbender said..cauncy said..
I knew a girl who was fridgid
That's because her seal was unbroken.
I find firm pressure on the little button tends to initiate a thawing...follow Chis's advice and don't underestimate the amount of towels needed though.... 
