ok guys, I think i've found the problem. this time I'll start at the end. I believe the start relay/ overload switch is bad. after doing some research, it seems these often go bad in about 3-5 years (mine just happens to be 5yrs old according to the build date, we bought it off the home depot floor 3yrs ago). It seems when they go bad, they rattle when you shake them and you usually get some pieces to fall out of it. I don't have pieces, but it does rattle, and putting my meter across the top two pins (compressor side of relay), I get just over 7M ohms, almost open. I did put my ohm meter across the pins on the compressor and the start and run windings are in spec, so I believe the compressor is good, unless there is a mechanical problem in it. Please let me know if I did not test the relay properly. Going to see if I can find a local store that has it in stock. The original part # was W10197427. The updated part is W10189190.
Now for the beginning. After getting the cardboard panel off the back, low and behold, these things come with a wiring diagram. It was stuck in the condensor fan (or is it the evaporator fan?)! I don't know if this actually kept the fan from turning, but if it did, I wonder if this may have caused the relay to over heat. I did plug the fridge in to see if by dumb luck this was causing all the problems. Ofcourse it wasn't, but I did verify that the fan works. Thanks for all your help guys.