If the compressor will not kick on what you have is either a bad compressor or a bad starting device. Generally the unit will try and start and after 8 seconds or so you will hear a loud tick. That indicates the relay is bad. If the compressor is bad it will usually make a loud humming noise.
The start device is plugged into the side of the compressor. Unplug the frig. You can simply take off the wires to the start device (remember where they go!!!!!) and pull it off. You have two piece, the overload and the relay. The relay is the piece that is most likely the problem. Some machines will have these put together in a white plastic block. You can shake this entire piece and if you hear loud rattling it is broken. Sometimes the relay is visibly burned and blacked where it plugs into the compressor. Anyway, if you do not have this white plastic relay/overload combo, the relay is a brown square shaped plastic piece. Shake it and see if you hear rattling. If not, chances are very good the relay is ok, and the compressor is locked up.
Compressor changes are expensive and unless the frig is extremely nice and cost a pretty penny, they aren't worth fixing. Relays and overloads should not break $100 for the parts, and any tech should be able to change one in under 10 minutes. So if it's a relay fix that puppy! good luck :D
P.S. In a RARE occasion the frig may use a capacitor, and the capacitor may be bad. The only way to check is with a multimeter or replace the capacitor and see if it fixed it. This is highly unlikely and therefore not checking from the beginning.
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