What's wrong with my fridge?

Defrost timer or if it is electronic adaptive defrost control

Like the first guy said, the defrost board is blown or the defrost heaters are blown.

Or, just wait for Missy. She'll know EXACTLY, but you better put up your make and model number or she won't answer.

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Please don't do what that guy below me said and just start running off buying rebuilt compressors or used refrigerators. That isn't the way to troubleshoot stuff. It could be any one of a thousand little things, but it sure sounds like defrost board or heaters to me.

Replacing parts that don't need to be replaced can get expensive. It could very well be low refrigerant, but refrigerant doesn't leak out of a closed system without a reason. It could potentially be an overloaded system blowing a high limit pressure or thermal switch, but this doesn't happen much either. Since the thing works at all, I wouldn't guess blown compressor.

Like I said, one of a thousand little things.

HVAC Tech.: Could be that the compressor is overheating, the thermal breaker is turning off the compressor and it can take as much as 12 hours before it cools enough to allow restart. There are several causes for this to happen, so you will need a technician to check it out for you. The better way to go would be to buy a used one with a warranty ( they run around $150) from a used appliance dealer, as the repair could be three times that. Good luck!

It's not going into the defrost cycle