Knocking noise about every hour or so,lasts 5 or 10 sec's. just started after 7 years .

SOURCE: Knocking noise when compressor chuts off

this is a problem that has been going on for close to 35 years. back in the day some genius decided to redisgn the compressers made by tecumsah. they made a rotary compressor in other words the compressor inside the housing turns 360 degrees rather than being pumped from a piston that went up and down.this rotary compresser spun around very fast and when it shut off the three springs that held the compresser would sort of bend a little. as time went on this weakening of the springs would cause the compresser to hit the housing, thus creating a knock or ping or whatever else you want to call it. so customers would call up factory service ans say their refrigerator was making noise. so a service tech like me would go out hear the sound and order a new compresser. after a while the replacement compressor may or may not make noise. after a few years tecumsah said that they would no longer credit the service companies for noisy compressor problems and that the noise was the nature of the beast. so depending on variables such as who you talk to when you request service and the tech who shows up at your house you will either get a new compresser or not. i hope that explains your problem to you it's hard to write all this down rather than standing in your kitchen and telling you in 45 seconds good luck. you can take this all the way to the president of whirlpool if you get no satisfaction

SOURCE: Stopped cooling but i can hear running

The overload/relay is probably bad .This is the part plugged onto the compressor , with 2 or 3 wires plugged onto it . You can easily replace this part . Be sure to have your model number when ordering .

SOURCE: The fan is running, but the refrigerator and freezer are not cooling. We cleaned the coils... any other suggestions?

Check the compressor and the relay. Make sure they are working when you turn on freezer and fridge to the max. If the compressor does not start then you need a new relay. If the compressor starts then it is your thermostat that has gone bad and must be replaced. you can find the parts on repairclinic.com and order them with instructions on how to remove the bad part and install the new part

SOURCE: Knocking sound

If this is a short (2-3 second) muffled snare-drum sound every 5-10 minutes, we have a similar problem, but we drew a great technician the second time around. Fortunately, the tech heard the problem as soon as he arrived. After considerable disassembly and testing (we were able to replicate the problem on demand by de-energizing and re-energizing the refrigerator) the trouble was traced to the flapper door between the freezer and refrigerator compartment. The motor is tryng to close the door, but gear damage is not letting it. It keeps trying and the sound keeps repeating. Another sympotom is that the freezer does not hold temperature well and the refrigerator is too cool.

Hope this helps.

SOURCE: Refrigerator not cooling, compressor runs for 10 sec

Good day,
Either the start relay mounted on the compressor is hanging up and the protective overload is shutting the compressor down, or the compressor itself has an internal problem.
You can remove the relay from the compressor pins and take it to an appliance parts house for testing.
They will be happy to check it or you. If defective, replace. If it checks out O.K. then you have an internal problem with the compressor and it will take a qualified tech to sort it out.