LG Side-by-Side Repair in Fountain Valley: Loud Noise From the Back
The Call from a Home Off Brookhurst
I rolled up to a home off Brookhurst on a Saturday afternoon. The customer was a retired couple who’d had their LG LSXS side-by-side for about eight years. The unit had been quiet and reliable until about three weeks back, when it had developed a low grinding noise from the back during compressor runs. The noise had gotten progressively louder over the three weeks and was now loud enough to be heard throughout the open-plan kitchen and family room. Wife couldn’t sleep with it some nights — the unit is on a shared wall with the master bedroom.
The fridge and freezer were both still cooling normally. So this was a noise problem ahead of a functional failure, which is the best time to address it.
What Grinding Noises Mean
Grinding from the back of a refrigerator can come from three places: the condenser fan motor (the one behind the kickplate at the bottom rear), the evaporator fan motor (inside the freezer compartment, behind the back panel), or the compressor itself.
The diagnostic distinction matters. Condenser fan grinding gets louder when the compressor is running and quiet when the unit cycles off. Evaporator fan grinding is more consistent because the evap fan runs on a different cycle than the compressor. Compressor grinding has a different sonic character — usually a deeper rumble with a periodic clunk rather than a continuous grind.
Sitting in the kitchen for a few minutes I could hear the noise was synchronized with compressor on-time. So it was the condenser fan. That’s actually the easiest of the three to diagnose and fix.
The Diagnostic and Fix
I pulled the unit forward and dropped the lower back service panel. Powered the unit and watched the condenser fan run. The blade was turning but had a visible wobble and was producing a steady grinding noise from the motor housing. Bearing failure — the fan motor’s bearings had worn enough that the shaft was riding eccentrically and producing the noise.
I tested the motor leads with my multimeter just to confirm the motor was still drawing current properly. It was. So the motor wasn’t open-circuit failed yet, but the bearings were on borrowed time. If we’d left it running another month or two, the bearings would likely have seized and the motor would have failed outright — which then takes the compressor cooling with it and risks compressor damage from elevated head pressures.
LG uses a fairly standard 115V condenser fan motor on the LSXS chassis and I had one on the truck. Swapped the motor and blade, reseated the wire connectors, and put the back panel together.
Powered the unit. Condenser fan came up smooth and quiet. The compressor was running normally, the audible noise was completely gone. I let the unit run for 25 minutes to confirm the noise didn’t return as the motor warmed up. It stayed quiet.
While I had everything out I also vacuumed the condenser coil — eight years of dust accumulation was significant. The coil was about 60% packed at the bottom rows. Clean coil after I was done. Free preventative work.
Total job time about an hour. Standard 3-month parts-and-labor warranty.
What to Know About Noisy Fridges
A new noise from a fridge is almost always a parts failure in progress. Don’t ignore it. If you catch the noise early — when it’s annoying but the fridge is still working — the repair is contained and predictable. If you wait until the fridge has failed functionally, you can compound the problem.
The most common noise sources in order of frequency: condenser fan bearings (back kickplate, gets louder with compressor on), evaporator fan bearings (inside the freezer compartment, runs more continuously), compressor mounts (the rubber feet under the compressor degrade and let the compressor vibrate against the chassis), and ice maker motor (when the ice maker is mid-cycle).
The compressor mount fix is the cheapest — just replacement rubber feet. Fan motors are more involved but still routine. If the noise sounds like it’s coming from inside the compressor housing itself, that’s the only one of the four where you should be planning for a bigger eventual repair.
Either way, get it diagnosed. A two-week-old noise that’s getting louder is a service call. A noise that’s been the same for a year and isn’t getting worse can usually wait a bit, but it’s worth at least getting a look at.
If you’re anywhere in Fountain Valley, Huntington Beach, or Westminster and need refrigerator service, we cover the whole city seven days a week. We handle LG refrigerator service across the LSXS, LRSXS, LRMVS, and InstaView lines. $65 flat diagnostic, waived with repair, 3-month parts-and-labor warranty.