Sears review: Bad odor coming from back of unit when running & fan is on. 133

We have a Kenmore. We are having the same problem. Smell is coming from the back and the fan is blowing the smell into our kitchen. Has anyone discovered the problem. We have cleaned it out, vacuumed out the dust and the smell remains!

This is extremely frustrating! I, like so many others, have this horrific odor coming from the bottom of my Kenmore Elite 3-door refrigerator. Our refrigerator is only 3 years old. What can I do to get rid of it, besides getting rid of the entire unit? So disappointed that Sears/Kenmore has not done something about this or posted a resolution.

Having the same problem kenmore m#[protected]. brand new installed 5-21-16 I was in my living room smelled what I describe as an electrical type fire/ smoldering actually was burning my eyes. smoke detectors were not going off had everyone in the house looking for smoke or the source of the smell, I mean we were looking everywhere, crawl space, attic, garage I checked breakers looked outside everywhere. after doing a thorough search I actually considered calling the fire department. but didn't want to jump the gun since our fire detectors weren't going off. after a while we determined the smell was isolated to the midsection of the house/ kitchen. finally we isolated the smell at the refrigerator, by that time we had already aired the house out and the smell that at first was electrical smoldering in nature turned to a smell I describe as wet insulation burning or being heated. now on the second day kitchen smells like wet insulation being heated still. smell not as offensive but very concerning, intend to call sears on monday. fridge appears to be working well. by the way, bought kenmore because we had a three year old lg that had been nothing but problems paid $2300 for it. and after the first three months problem after problem until it finally thawed everything in the freezer.

Same problem and it's absolutely awful. Our refrigerator is 21 months old. The posts here go back for years. Clearly this is a design defect and Sears has kad knowledge of it for years. I'm wondering whether there are any class action lawsuits pending?

I'm also having trouble problems with the water dispenser. When you pour a glass of water I notice there are milky floating things in there. So I don't drink the water from there anymore.

Seems like it's all kenmore refrigerators with this problem. Today I'm tearing mine apart to see what it is I will post my findings later we can't take this smell any longer it's terrible!

Of course,
Horrible odor here also! Those that have sprayed something how are you getting to drip Pan to Spray something?

I brought a new 21 cubic ft upright freezer from Sears on 4/7/16 plugged it in and now a foul Oder is coming out the back have the whole house smelling horrible can't eat in the kitchen because the smell is unbearable repair called Sears can't send anyone out till 28th I will never buy ke more again it should be a class action suit after reading that a lot of other people have been having the same problem can someone please tell me what that horrible smell could be

Again, I am another long time customer of kenmore and we bought our kenmore elite just under 2 years ago. we are now experiencing the same smell and it is unbearable. solution found: sell the damn thing! sears obviously either knows what it is by now or they are ignoring the issue. why do they keep telling each individual person to contact them to discuss? wouldn't it be more effective to simply post the solution to the problem in this blog so we can all resolve the problem? it must be the same issue from nearly everyone complaining. I am going to sell mine if a solution is not posted soon. I think I will buy whirlpool, ge, or lg instead!

Not sure if i'm glad to see i'm not the only one with this problem or if that makes me even more angry. this s absolutely unacceptable. my entire house stinks and it makes me sick to my stomach. we paid entirely too much for this refrigerator to have it full our house with a dead mouse smell. kicker to this all? we bought two of them. one for us and one for our daughter and son-in-law. we've always purchased big items from sears - bet we've learned our lesson. anddddddd... my husband owns his own company and I work at a grocery store where word of mouth is going to be used. i'll make sure every person that will listen - knows how terrible this is and does not purchase from sears and does not purchase kenmore. we have no problem passing this information along at enormous speeds. I wouldn't wish this on anyone!

Solution hello, I was having the same issue. kenmore brand fridge. horrible smell coming from drip pan. we couldn't figure where it was coming from at first, then I pinpointed it to the fridge and found so many people with the same issues, and not 1 solution. I read a few people tried bleach, with little results.

What I used was "bleach cleaner" (for bathroom or kitchen) its not 100% bleach (which I have heard can feed mold actually). with the spray bottle, I sprayed enough to coat the drip pan, it smelled like bleach and death for a little while. I was discouraged but I kept at it. I ended up doing about 4 different sessions, 2 on the first day, spread out by a few hours, and 2 on the second day, spread out.. I have no had the smell return, and now when I smell the vent area, its a light bleach smell and that's it. I hope this helps.

Well apparently we are not the only ones having an issue with the same refrigerator. We have cleaned and scrubbed and threw away food we thought was the problem, when all along it has to be the refrigerator itself. Sears, please do something about this product.

How in the world can this be happening to all of our refrigerators and the company is not on here offering help other than the standard send us an email. I just can't stand the smell and how can I have guests over when my kitchen smells. This is not a cheap priced refrigerator and it upsets me to think that all of you complained and there is still no clear cut answer. There has to be someone in charge that all the emails can be forwarded so they can realize we need help. It is not as if I can go out and buy a new refrigerator every few years.

Same issue. 3 month old Kenmore Elite 79043 24.1 cu. ft. 33" Bottom-Freezer Refrigerator – Stainless Steel.

Defrosted some carnitas and juice spilled. Going to try @kr23 's solution to pour peroxide or bleach and hot water through that internal drain.

By the way, this Kenmore Elite series is made by LG in Korea. Sears not what it used to be.

Have the same smell problem with the sears kenmore elite triple door. The smell is unbelievable. Cleaned out the whole refrigerator to no avail. I can't believe sears designed this unit without a removable drip pan. Very disappointed with sears. Tjf

Wow, I also though I was alone! let me tell you, whatever liquid is collecting smells like death. I called sears and they wanted to charge for the service! this is a new fridge!
I am really disappointed how it was handled. my husband is trying clean the drip pan but I am afraid that it will collect again.

I have a rotten smell removed the cover and found mold in the rear left hand side drip pan. My model is the Kenmore 596.[protected] just purchased this new August 2015. Today is December 19 2015. I will call Sears and explain my issue.

Called sears about the problem. they told me I have a limited warranty and it would cost me to have someone come out and look at it. the refrigerator was purchased in august! I thought sears was known for their great products and warranty service. I have purchased many kenmore products in the past and never had a problem with them coming out, the way they are handling this issue is causing me to never buy kenmore again. if they designed a product that doesn't allow the customer to clean it properly and safely (access to the drip pan) what do we do? poor design. I would not recommend this refrigerator to anyone merely for safety reasons, if one has to tilt the refrigerator to access a drip pan that is a safety concern to me. the refrigerator is pretty heavy. still hoping sears will recognize this flaw and do something about.

I am so glad I am not alone. I thought I was going crazy. the odor is awful. my husband calls the smell a dead rodent. I also have a kenmore elite refrigerator, 3 doors, bottom freezer. I have cleaned, I have scrubbed, I have removed every piece of food, threw away anything I thought was contributing to the odor (even though the food did not smell like the odor, thus wasting food). I have pulled the refrigerator out and cleaned. the smells seems to come from the back lower left fan. the smell is also strong at the front upper right top of the refrigerator. just don't get it. I will call sears tomorrow and talk to them about the problem. the refrigerator is only a few months old. we shall see what they say.

My kenmore fridge came with the house we just bought in september 2015. here it is in november 2015 and we though something dies under the fridge... until we realized it only smells when we open the fridge and freezer doors. it has been smelling like death for almost 2 weeks. we cleaned everything out and cleaned with a pinesol and bleach solution. this did not help! we have removed the back bottom panel. we have cleaned the drip pan as best as possible... however there was nothing in it. you cannot mistake the smell of death as nothing else smells like it... but we have not found any dead carcass. I would think that even the smell of death would fade after a bit... but not this smell! its so bad! I so wish that when sears responds to these complaints... they would acknowledge the problem and post a solution instead of just telling people to contact them. since we just purchased the house and used extra money for move in costs... I do not have an immediate option to purchase a new fridge right now. this is so awful!

We purchased our kenmore elite french door model [protected] in 2013, after 6 months that dead animal/vomit smell was coming out from the sides of the refrigerator since it was slid within cabinetry. we thought it was the wood floor rotting behind the refrigerator at first but then I pulled it out and removed the bottom back cover to expose to fan and bottom tray to find a molasses type brown sticky paste all throughout the bottom tray of the refrigerator. sears came out a ordered a pan to replace on my brand new refrigerator. the plastic pan was delivered to the house, but with further research, the way they wanted to replace the pan was to tip the refrigerator on its side to do so. that's a no-no with compressors, you don't tip them on their side. sears eventually replace the refrigerator... guess what? it's happening again! that brown pastey molasses that smells like vomit is back. let's see what they do now... my attorney is on standby.

We purchased the kenmore elite model 74023 bottom freezer refrigerator in february 2015. this week we came home to an awful smell, smelled like a dead mouse/stinky feet/bad fruit. disgusting. well, after moving the fridge to check for a dead mouse (didn't find one), cleaning the fridge thoroughly, pulling our oven out and cleaning inside and out, even changed the plumbing under our sink thinking it might be gunk in our pipes. tonight I could smell it coming from the floor, so I got down on my hands and knees and it's clearly coming from the bottom of the fridge. we are very unhappy about this, especially after reading all the complaints here. has there been a good solution? we paid $3000 for the refridgerator - I would never recommend, and i've been a fan of kenmore appliances for 30 years. maybe not anymore. any suggestion sears?

Hello all:
I am not sure why I did not see this particular issue when searching online if there are any issue with the kenmore elite 3 door model. my model is [protected]. I have the exact same issue as everyone report in this thread. I bought my fridge a little over a year, 8/2014.
The bad odor just start coming out from my fridge since yesterday. what the heck? yes, the smell is very bad and smell like something is dead get stuck in the fridge.
Is there any solution offered by sears?

Having same issue with our kenmore elite 3 door. awful smell coming from the back of the refrigerator. whats causing this smell and it is safe to keep running?

I am having the same problem, smells like a dead animal or rotten fruit, I bought new water filters and cleaned, bleached with the same smell coming back and it destroys all my food with this dead animal smell even in my eggs, butter ...Help please

Hi there! Hope this will save your money and efforts. We had the same problem several days ago. We loaded up the freezer with fresh pork. There was some blood under the bags cause they were not sealed and it took several days to freeze the whole batch of fresh meat. In several days a terrible odor spread in the kitchen. We found out that it was coming from under the fridge. Then I found this site and complaint. Obviously blood dripped down to the drain pan and fan was blowing the smell to our faces. Finally we decided to clean the drain pan. We removed Toe Grille, took bottles and any fragile stuff outof the fridge, turned the fridge its side to the wall, tilted it to the wall to get to the bottom, unscrewed the drain pan, washed it and screwed it back, put the fridge back. Now it's working as before, no smell.

I have the same problem with the bad smells. Elite side by side with Bottom Freezer. 2 years old.
Our smell is like old dairy product. I have cleaned all interior surfaces with bleach, Smell continues to come back.
Why isnt SEARS doing something?
mro1mike@msn.com

Our fridge is a kenmore, sticker says model 596.[protected] (which google brings up as kenmore 23.9 cu. ft. french door bottom-freezer refrigerator - stainless steel item# [protected] | model# 71313)

Smell issue is resolved. hopefully sears tech support sees how we fixed the problem so they are able to better advise any future complaints from their customers. and it only cost us a bottle of hydrogen peroxide, hot water, towels, and our time! in the future I will be careful to ensure that nothing falls down the vents at the back of the fridge compartment. i've attached a photo of one of the vents, for those who don't know what i'm talking about.

If you think this might be why your fridge stinks, then check it out. using a flashlight we could see very clearly that liquid had dripped back there and that that's where the horrid smell was coming from, causing both the fridge and freezer to smell.

Will post back later with effectiveness, but so far we are having positive results. We emptied the fridge and freezer, and unplugged it, then dumped hydrogen peroxide and hot water into the vents at the back on the bottom of the fridge. The liquids immediately spilled through the freezer vents (have towels handy!) and flushed out the spilled blood. The smell has dissipated. Hopefully we have poured enough water to flush out anything that might remain in the drip pan (that we cannot get to).

Currently experiencing the same problem with our fridge, but we figured out that the smell is due to blood spilled from a thawed steak that dripped into the fridge vent in the bottom back corner. It also smells like a dead mouse. We are currently trying to figure out how we are going to clean that vent to get rid of the smell.

I have the same issue. I have a 2009 Kenmore elite. We have done the same as all of you. We have replaced the filter, the water line, bleached and cleaned the back drip pan, cleaned out the fridge, freezer and icemaker. everything has been disinfected and after leaving the fridge empty for a week, the water still tastes foul. I am appalled. I think we should fill a class action suit. Those interested please let me know at revdirector67@yahoo.com

My refrigerator is only a couple of months old...(Kenmore, side by side w/ice-maker.) I have been smelling a horrible smell for weeks now (my husband can't smell good so It appears as if I'm crazy). It smells just like a dead mouse, like other posters are saying. I have cleaned everything to no avail. Today, I pulled the fridge out again, thinking the smell is inside the wall behind it. I decided to take the cardboard off the back to look inside-when the fan came on, the smell hit me big-time. The unremovable drip-pan is empty. I'm wondering if it's a burning smell of some sort? Plastic heating up? The motor is loud sometimes, but if we shift the fridge is quiets. We can't ALL have dead mice, can we? Do they all come from the same mouse-infested warehouse? Or is it really plastic heating up?

I was pleased, and not pleased, to find this post. I have a Kenmore Elite, side by side, bottom freezer - have had it for about 4 years. I have had many issues with the water leaking in the back piping that leads to the freezer. I have spent a lot of money, and my friend has spent a lot of time and money repairing it. Then, we too, started to notice a rotten smell in the fridge. It permeates the water and the food making everything awful to eat. What I have seen on this site is that there is no recompense to customers for this problem by Sears. I am so disappointed. My friend replaced my water filter, replaced all of the hose piping to the filter, and I cleaned out the entire fridge a few times. After 3 months, the smell continues. I will see if the drip plan can be cleaned. I am appalled that this is not a class action suite.

Is there no solution to this problem. I purchased my Kenmore Elite less than 2 years ago. The horrible smell is giving us headaches. I have cleaned it and still no help. Has Sears figured out a solution? I think the smell is making us sick!

We had the same problem and are so thankful to these comments because they saved us a lot of time and frustration. The smell has been horrid but after doing the following (see below) the smell seems to be gone, at least 24 hours later. So we will keep our fingers crossed and let you know if it doesn't work.
For the record we have a KE refrigerator that we bought about 6 months ago. Two weeks ago it started to smell like death.
Here's what we did-
1. Take back panel off refrigerator.
2. Unplug it and then do you best to get all the water and slime out of the drip pan. We used paper towels, cotton balls on skewers, Qtips - whatever it takes to soak up the water/scoop out gunk. Note that the drip pan is somewhat compartmentalizalized, so you have to get into different areas/sections to get the bacteria-sludge-smelly water out. You will need a flashlight and some determination, but after about 30 min the deed was done.
3. Open a window. Pour straight bleach - like 1/2 a cup - into drip pan. Let it sit and repeat #2. After you have flushed with bleach, get some air/oxygen for yourself and let it sit for a few min.
4. Take a straw or dropper or turkey baster and squirt a few drops of bleach into the various compartments of the drip pan.
5. Close up the back and turn it back on. It will smell like bleach for a bit - you may need to open some more windows - but this was welcome in comparison to the death smell that was previously emanating from this terribly-designed refrigerator.
It's been 24 hours and all smells normal. I'll let you know if anything changes. Good luck!

We had the same foul odor coming from our refrigerator after the holidays. We called our contractor neighbor to look at it. He found a gel type liquid in the drip pan under the fan. He recommended we unplug the unit, and get paper towels in there to get out as much as possible. Spray with Lysol to loosen up the gunk. My wife got most of it out, however it is very bad engineering as the pan does not come out. The working around the pan is very small. Who knows where the gel came from? maybe a turkey that was defrosting? not totally sure. Still an odor there. Next time she has time to mess with it, we'll spray a degreasing solution and spray/mist water on it... It is a foul odor and was driving my wife nuts as she's home all day. Maybe a few more times cleaning it will rid our kitchen of the foul odor.

Follow up to my previous post. Sears came out on 12/26/2014 at no cost as I was still covered under warranty (the receipt he gave me at the end said it would have cost me $200!). Technician could smell the foul odor. He cleaned out the drip pan which he said had a substance similar to butter in it. After cleaning it and putting some good smelling stuff in there he left. All of us hoping it was fixed. Few hours later after the cleaner wore off smell was still there though not as badly. Called back Sears the next day, couldn't schedule someone to come out as the technician had not filed his report yet. Called back on Monday, 12/29, first available appt was 1/6/15 (ridiculous amount of time to wait, esp after they came out and said there is a problem). A different tech came out on the 6th. He could not find anything. Sprayed the coils with a cleaner and left. Once the odor from the cleaner wore off smell was still there. Called Sears again. Said they would have to send someone out again. I said two have already come and haven't solved it what is a third going to do? I requested a senior tech come out. I asked if he doesn't solve the issue then what would the next step be. Her reply was that they have never replaced a refrigerator just because of an odor. I said well, you are about to! Guess what? Next available appt wasn't until the 16th of Jan! Another 10 days! Tech was just here, same one that came the first time (was glad because he knew the smell and what we were experiencing). He took a few pics then went out to his van to send them to some engineers and talk to them about it. He said none of them had seen it before (one of the engineers has been working with sears for over 40 years). He said it was like a gel of some sort in there. They don't know what it is or where it is coming from. They have no solution for it. He told the engineers that if it was his fridge it would be sitting out on the sidewalk. That is how bad the odor is. The tech is recommending it to be replaced and already filed his report. The engineers, however, also have to file a report with what they recommend. He "thinks" they will also recommend replacement. Hopefully the report is filed within the next 48 hours. So, no resolution other than to replace.

I too purchased a Kenmore refrigerator back in July of 2013. The odor coming from inside of the fridge compares to a dead animal. It is disturbing to me to see that no one is willing to help resolve this problem at no cost to the consumer. I have spent about three hour in total trying to speak to someone who actually wants to help. No luck. I will refused to have Sears take advantage of their consumers who work very hard to be able to purchase their products.
Not only did I find them not helpful. but some of the customer representatives who are hired to help are nothing but short with their answers and disrespectful when they speak to you.
If anyone out there wants to complain as a group I am willing to do all the work to have everyone get what they deserve and that is the item purchased to actually work at no cost to the consumers.
Kenmore Elite Side by Side Refrigerator purchased in NANUET, NEW YORK. ROCKLAND COUNTY
Model# [protected]
There aren't any re calls on this particular model. (IT SHOULD HAVE ONE)
So far I have been giving about six different phone numbers and nobody has done anything positive for me.
I HAVE AN EMAIL ADDRESS THAT PEOPLE CAN WRITE AND COMPLAIN
shccustomerservice.sears.com
I hope you find it helpful. People don't let SEARS get away with it.

We purchased a Kenmore Elite Commercial Looking Fridge and Freezer with trim kit 6.5 years ago. This past week we have been getting a fowl...Baby poop like smell in our kitchen. We pulled out both pieces and the smell is coming from the back of the fridge and seems to be blowing out from under it. I am so disappointed in it and want this smell to go away immediately as it is very unpleasant. We have cleaned, scrubbed, vaccumed, pulled off the backa nd wiped off any accessible parts it and it is still there. WHAT CAN WE DO WITH THIS>>PLEASE HELP...there is not enough febreeze out there to get rid of this smell

Own a Kenmore side by side Model 106.51103.110. Found this site by googling Kenmore Side by Side Dead Mouse Smell and found that I am a part of a larger community. The unit is only three years old. Waves of decay-smell come and go from the bottom front of the unit. Like others, we assumed there was a dead mouse under the unit so we pulled it out, cleaned under and around, searched high and low and found nothing. Tried to clean the drip pan but, like others, was surprised to find that it is not designed to be removed (pan was clean anyway). Vacuumed the coils the best we could. Finding no resolution on this thread (if it's there, I apologize. Couldn't find it) I called the costumer service number in my refrigerator, and after several transfers spoke to a sweet gal in the Technical Specialist Department. After looking up my model #, she acknowledged that this is a very real issue that several people have complained about. "Oh good, " I thought "now I'm getting somewhere." She then told me that there are no resolutions listed on her computer to help solve the problem. "So what do you recommend?" I asked. She suggested that I set up an appointment for a technician to come out. "What will that cost me?" Her answer, "Anywhere from $59 to $99." So here is my takeaway...Kenmore knows this is a problem, their service tech knows there is a problem, I was told, "there is no resolution listed on my computer" and I should spend an additional $59-$99 to have this possibly confirmed. I recommended to the service tech that given this is an acknowledged, fairly common problem, Sears ought to send out a courtesy visit from a technician given that I already invested a substantial amount of money into this fairly new appliance that has a Sears-acknowledged problem. While she absolutely agreed with me (recall I said she was sweet) she also said she was powerless to do so. Lame, Sears. Just lame. I will watch this thread for the next several weeks hoping to hear of a resolution. But without one soon, I will have to replace the unit. Can you guess what manufacturer I will avoid?