Fridge Not Cooling but Freezer Is Fine? Causes & Fixes

Fridge Not Cooling But the Freezer Is Fine — What's Wrong?

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Written by the Absolute Repairs team and technicians, from real repairs and installations across Gauteng

This specific combination almost always points to one part of the system — here's how to narrow it down.

Quick answer: On a fridge-freezer combo, a warm fridge with a still-cold freezer usually means the air duct or damper that moves cold air from the freezer to the fridge compartment is blocked with ice or has failed, or the evaporator fan that circulates that air isn't running. It's rarely the compressor, since the freezer is still working.

Sandton Bryanston Hyde Park Morningside Fourways Dainfern Waterfall Bedfordview Midrand Centurion

French-door and side-by-side combo fridges — common in larger homes across Sandton, Bryanston, Hyde Park, Waterfall and Bedfordview — are exactly the models where this fault shows up most, since they rely most heavily on ducted air rather than separate cooling systems for each compartment.

Why this pattern points away from the compressor

Most modern fridge-freezers use a single cooling system: the freezer compartment is cooled directly, and a fan pushes some of that cold air through a duct into the fridge compartment to cool it too. So if the freezer is still properly cold, the compressor and refrigerant system are almost certainly working fine — the fault is somewhere in how cold air gets from the freezer to the fridge.

1. Blocked or iced-over air duct

This is the most common cause. The duct connecting the freezer to the fridge compartment can ice over, especially if the door seal is letting in warm, humid air, or if the fridge has been overpacked and blocking the vent. Once iced over, cold air physically can't reach the fridge section. A full defrost (unplug the fridge for a few hours with the doors open) often temporarily clears this, though if it recurs quickly, the underlying seal or fan issue needs fixing.

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2. Faulty evaporator fan

This fan pushes cold air from the freezer through the duct into the fridge. If it's failed or is running slowly, the freezer stays cold (it doesn't rely on the fan directly) but the fridge section warms up because the cold air isn't being circulated to it. A failing fan sometimes makes a faint whirring or clicking noise before it stops completely.

3. Damper/thermostat control fault

Some fridges use a motorised damper (rather than just a fan) to control how much cold air flows into the fridge section, controlled by a thermostat. If this damper is stuck closed, or the thermostat sensor has failed, the fridge won't get its share of cold air even though everything else works.

4. Door seal letting warm air in

A worn or torn door seal on the fridge section lets warm, humid air in constantly, which the duct system then has to fight against — sometimes enough to keep the compartment noticeably warmer even if the airflow itself is fine. Check for a torn or flattened seal, or run a piece of paper test (close the door on a sheet of paper — if it pulls out with no resistance, the seal isn't sealing).

What you can check yourself first

Don't overpack the fridge shelves near the back vent — it can physically block airflow
Check the door seal for visible tears, warping, or gaps
Try a full defrost if you suspect the duct has iced over — unplug for several hours with doors open
Listen for the evaporator fan — it should be faintly audible when the compressor is running

If a defrost doesn't resolve it, or it recurs within a few days, the fan or duct heater (used to prevent icing) likely needs replacing — this is a same-day fix on most models. See our fridge repair Midrand page for the specific brands and faults we handle most in that area.

Still not sure what's wrong?

Our technicians diagnose on-site across Gauteng for a flat R350 call-out fee, which goes toward the repair if you go ahead.

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Recent jobs

Siemens side-by-side fridge warm and dispenser leaking: evaporator fan motor and cracked water pipe replaced

Kempton Park · Siemens side-by-side fridge-freezer with water dispenser · Fixed: evaporator fan motor replaced, cracked water pipe replaced

This Siemens side-by-side fridge in Kempton Park had two problems at once: the fridge section wasn't getting cold, and the water dispenser leaked every time someone pressed it for water. On a side-by-side like this, the cooling coil (the evaporator) sits behind a cover in the freezer, and a fan blows the cold air from there through to the fridge side. When that fan motor fails, the freezer can still feel cold while the fridge slowly warms up. We took off the cover, which you can see in the first photo, and replaced the faulty evaporator fan motor. The leak was a separate fault: the water pipe that feeds the dispenser had cracked, so water escaped whenever it was under pressure. We replaced the pipe and checked the dispenser for leaks. Both sides were cooling again and the dispenser was dry. Tip: if your fridge is warm but the freezer is fine, listen for the fan at the back of the freezer when the door is closed. If it's silent or noisy, the fan motor is a likely cause, and it's a much smaller repair than a gas fault.

Siemens side-by-side fridge with the freezer evaporator cover removed to replace the fan motor in Kempton Park

Siemens side-by-side fridge water dispenser working again after the cracked pipe was replaced in Kempton Park

Defy fridge warm while the freezer stayed cold: sealed gas system repaired

Greenstone Hill · Defy fridge-freezer · Fixed: sealed system repaired at the compressor pipework and recharged with gas

The customer's Defy fridge-freezer in Greenstone Hill had a cold freezer, but the fridge section was very warm. On this type of fridge, the gas runs through the freezer first and then on to the fridge side, so when the system is low on gas or partly blocked, the freezer can still get cold while the fridge never does. That's why a working freezer doesn't mean the gas side is fine. Our technician repaired the sealed system on site, brazing the pipework at the compressor, which you can see in the photos, and then recharged it with gas and ran it until both sections were cooling properly. Tip: if your freezer is cold but the fridge is warm, check first that the fridge vents aren't blocked by food and that the thermostat hasn't been turned down. If both are fine, it's usually a gas or defrost problem, and it's worth getting it checked before the compressor is put under strain.

Technician repairing the sealed gas system on a Defy fridge in Greenstone Hill

Brazing the compressor pipework on a Defy fridge that was warm in the fridge section, Greenstone Hill

AEG side-by-side: freezer cold, fridge warm

Midrand · AEG side-by-side fridge-freezer · Fixed: air damper replaced · Done within 24 hours of booking

The freezer side was holding temperature, but the fridge side kept warming up. On a frost-free side-by-side like this, the fridge doesn't have its own cooling. Cold air is fed across from the freezer through a motorised air damper. We tested the damper and found it faulty, so it wasn't letting cold air through to the fridge compartment. That's why one side worked and the other didn't. We replaced the damper, and the fridge side came back down to temperature.

AEG side-by-side fridge-freezer with water dispenser in a Midrand kitchen

Faulty air damper removed from an AEG side-by-side fridge in Midrand before replacement

FAQs

If the fridge section is running warmer than about 5°C, perishables (dairy, meat, leftovers) should be moved to a cooler or the freezer temporarily until it's fixed, since food safety risk increases the longer it sits above that temperature.

Sometimes, if the cause was a one-off ice build-up from a door left slightly open. If it recurs within days, there's an underlying fault (fan, duct heater, or seal) that a defrost only masks temporarily.

Most evaporator fan or duct heater replacements are done on the same call-out, typically within an hour or two once the part is confirmed and available.

Unlikely if the freezer is genuinely still cold — the compressor serves both compartments through the same system, so a failing compressor would affect the freezer too. We confirm this on-site with actual temperature readings rather than guessing.

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Fridge Not Cooling But the Freezer Is Fine — What's Wrong?

Why this pattern points away from the compressor