Regarding repairing or replacing a refrigerator, the Consumer Reports guidelines are:

Repair or replace?
When to pull the plug on your old fridge

Simple do-it-yourself repairs such as replacing a refrigerator or freezer gasket nearly always make sense. Typically, you'll also find a troubleshooting section for more serious problems in owners' manuals and on many manufacturers' Web sites.

Should you pay for a repair or buy a new model? The answer depends mostly on the age of the refrigerator, its cost, and the cost of the repair. Here are some guidelines from our in-house experts:

When repairs make sense.
Your fridge is under warranty or less than four years old (three years for top-freezers). Those under warranty may require a factory-authorized technician; readers have found them on a par with independent repairers.

When repairs might make sense.
Your refrigerator is out of warranty and is between four and seven years old. Readers paid between $100 and $200 for repairs. But you might want a new model even at this stage, given today's quieter models and added features. Better energy efficiency is another plus: Energy Star models built in the past year are about 40 percent more efficient than conventional models built before 2001 and 50 percent more efficient than those built before 1993.

When it pays to replace.
The repair costs more than half the price of a comparable new refrigerator. Our data also show that it doesn't pay to fix a less-expensive top-freezer refrigerator six or more years old or a bottom-freezer or side-by-side eight or more years old. Thanks to better recycling programs, less than 10 percent of your old refrigerator is likely to end up in a landfill. Check www.GreenerChoices.org for the nearest recycling program.