High temp red light on in my upright freezer... no fridge in this model.... do I still have to remove a panel and check the coils?

The high temperature alarm or the red light indicator came on because the internal temp is high. This means that the temperature inside your appliance is still too warm. Keep your freezer/frig door closed and the light will go out in a few hours and you'll then be able to adjust temp or keep it as it was before defrosting.

Best to You

the red light is a temp warning light and will not respond unless the temp goes way above the set temp

red light flashing means temp. is too high (not freezing) just an indicator to let you know that there is a problem
let me know: the freezer temp. (use a temp. reader)
any unusal ice build up on the back freezer panel?
is the freezer fan running?
compressor running?
parital frozen foods?

need to know so i can help you

I'm sorry to have to tell you that this sounds like a very expensive fault to fix!
Either your fridge/freezer has degassed (lost the refridgerant gas) through a small leak in the pipe system behind or inside the freezer compartment, OR the compressor (what you called the motor) has started to fail.
Either way, these are very expensive repair jobs. It's possible to replace the compressor within about an hour, but if your model is out of guarantee, there will be around a £50/60 Call-out charge and the compressor will cost between £75 and £150 depending on the model.
Alternatively, if the fridge/freezer has lost gas, the engineer would have to try to find the leak - this could be IMPOSSIBLE if the leak is within the pipework inside the back of the fridge or above/below the freezer compartment.
I'm sorry to say that it's looking like you may have to part with a lot of money - or say goodbye to the fridge/freezer you have!

If the coils are frozen up already,putting the setting to coldest is the worst thing to do.Even though inconvenient,try unplugging for substantial amount of time (3 or 4 hours) to allow the coils to defrost.Be prepared for water leakage during this time.If this seems to work , chances are the defrost timer or defrost heating element are bad and the problem will recur after a week or two.

The red light bis indicating that the temp is too high, if you can ,turn the thermostat to a colder setting, if this makes no difference, then you have a serious problem, you will have to call an engineer.
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Thanks.

It could be a few problems to do with electrics, but try this first:

Red light on for High Freezer Temperature Warning
or freezer not cooling, but fridge is and a lot of noise from compressor.
Also, fridge drain hole blocked, water in bottom of fridge.

This is a common fault in Hotpoint Fridge Freezers and can also happen if the door has been left open or has been a power cut.

1. Turn off fridge freezer, or at least turn down the freezer temp to minimum, though not ideal.
2. Open freezer door and remove all drawers.
3. Remove the back panel on the inside of the freezer. This is held in place with 4 screws, which might be 6mm hex head or star allen head. Pull the panel out.
4. Behind where the panel was, there is a cooling element for cooling, pipes, and below this a temperature sensor. If the fridge freezer is not switched off, then fold together a few layers of tinfoil and wrap around the sensor.
5. Use a hairdryer to slowly melt the ice. Melt it around areas where it appears to be hanging on, such as the corners of the cooling element or bolts, as well as any thin sections below the main block of ice around the cooling element, which will be supporting the main block. Use a plastic ice scraper to remove ice but not near pipes or sensor.
Warning: Be careful using electrics around water & melting ice & drips.
6. Below the cooling element, there is a drip channel & drain hole. If this hole is full of ice, pour a small amound of warm water down, leave for 10 seconds and pour a bit more until clear.
In the fridge, clear the drain hole in the same way.
Warning: Do not pour a lot of water down, as this water drains onto a tray above the hot compressor at the rear of the fridge freezer to be evaporated by the heat of the compressor and the tray will only hold a small amount.
7. When all ice is removed, dry all moisture. Put the shelves back. Close door. Turn on fridge freezer. Turn up the freezer temperature to your normal setting. Turn on fast freeze if available. After 1 hour, check with a thermometer. It should be cold enough after 1 or 2 hours.

The red warning light will not go out?

1. Has the fridge freezer just been
installed? If so, this is normal and the
light will go out when the correct
temperature has been reached.

2. Has the fridge freezer been loaded
with a large quantity of food? If so,
the light will go out when the correct
temperature has been reached.

3. Have the doors been closed
properly?

if i read the english right, the compressor runs but the freezer fan only runs for a short time. no fan then no cooling. there is a fan stat so that the fan only runs when the evap is down to temp. this may be faulty. also on some hotpoint, the fan switches off when door opened. check door switch operating ok. this may also explain problem with fridge lamp

You'll need to tear into it to answer these questions. I suspect the defrost cycle isn't working or the fan is broken. The best way to see what's going on is to take everything out the freezer drawer and remove it. Then take the back panel off the interior rear wall of the freezer section to expose the coils. The coils should have a very even white frost pattern on them (not frozen solid anywhere). If they are frozen up then the air can't flow around them to cool the fridge properly. If the coils seem "normal" with frost only then is the fan just above them working? That fan circulates cold air to both fridge and freezer sections. Let me know what you find out in order to lead you to a repair part.