ED5LHAXWQ00 Whirlpool Refrigurator compressor not starting

[hmiBarryLSalter]

Hello Samurai Community,

Here is my issue: Compressor doesn't start.

Open doors: Lights come on (got power)

Freezer door: there is a red light flashing twice.

Sequence:  Plug in power, lights come on but dimmed, seconds later I hear the loud CLICK, and the lights come up to normal brightness.  after a little while, click again and lights dim, seconds later loud click and lights are normal.

What I've done: I got the frig from my parents not working.  Plug in, and nothing.  Light yes, fans yes, no compressor sounds. 

I bought a brand new starter but not the capacitor.  I put the OLD capacitor on to the new starter and plug it all up and now I have this.

Known: Obviously the old starter is bad. 

MY QUESTION:  Is there a way to "correctly" test the old capacitor like with a VOM, or do I need to just buy a new capacitor to rule that out?  Or is the compressor for sure gone?  If so, what should it cost me to replace /or have replaced the compressor here in Phoenix?  I'm more apt to toss the thing but I want a good working back up frig.

Thank you appliance family in advance of any good advice lol

Barry,

[isaac]

Might be a defrost control failng on your unit,  however the capacitor can be checked by MFD setting on your meter,  

[evaappliance]

The capacitor is hardly ever bad , never hurts to check it though, With your symptoms,  usually if you put a new relay and overload on and it doesn’t start you will have a bad compressor 

[ALeksandr1100]

Here are a few signs that your compressor has been broken:

• The first external sign of a malfunctioning compressor is an increase in temperature in the refrigerating chamber, up to its defrosting.
• The second sign is if your compressor is making a lot of noise, vibration, or grinding
• The third sign is a puddle of oil under the compressor
• The fourth sign is if your compressor hums a lot, but the refrigerator does not cool
  Here a little bit more about this.
  As for the capacitor, yes, you can test it with a multimeter. During the connection of the capacitor, the reading should smoothly increase to 1, if this happens quickly, then most likely there was an open circuit inside and it is not working properly, if the multimeter shows 0 then this means that a short circuit has occurred inside the capacitor. But for a start, it's better for you to visually inspect the capacitor, perhaps even in appearance it will be clear that it is faulty (various bulges, holes)