Introduction
Replacing a defective fan is pretty easy and will keep your laptop running cool.
Tools
Parts
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Use your fingers to push both battery release tabs away from the battery, and lift the battery out of the computer.
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Lift the memory door up enough to get a grip on it, and slide it toward you, pulling it away from the casing.
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Remove the following 6 screws:
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Two 10 mm T6 Torx screws on either side of the RAM slot.
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Four 14.5 mm Phillips screws along the hinge.
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Rotate the computer 90 degrees and remove the two Phillips screws from the rear of the computer.
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Rotate the computer 90 degrees again and remove the four Phillips screws from the side of the computer.
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Lift up at the rear of the case and work your fingers along the sides, freeing the case as you go. Once you have freed the sides, you may need to rock the case up and down to free the front of the upper case. This stage can be quite tricky. Over the DVD reader are 4 tabs set back which pull out vertically.
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Note that the two small tongues on the left hand front of the upper case may bend while you remove the upper case. When re-installing, you may need to bend them back to fit in the grooves in the lower case.
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Disconnect the trackpad and keyboard ribbon cable from the logic board, removing tape as necessary.
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Remove the upper case.
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Use a spudger to flip up the brown plastic flap securing the left ambient light sensor cable to the logic board.
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Slide the left ambient light sensor cable to the left and out of its connector.
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Remove the following 3 screws:
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One 6.2 mm black T6 Torx screw from the right side of the fan.
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Two 9.4 mm silver T6 Torx screws from the left side of the fan.
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Lift the lift fan up and carefully peel up the tape securing the fan to the heat sink as you go.
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To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.
4 comments
I handle screws much like Adam, but I print out the iFixit guide and tape the screws to the guide using blue painters tape.
Len -
Thanks for the great instructions on replacing the left fan. Everything worked to perfection and I even put my MacBook Pro back together again without any trouble or missing parts. :) The excessive heat on the machine is gone and I am smiling again.
Also, excellent service on the order and delivery time which was much appreciated.
Cheers, Lowell
Very useful instructions.
I had a very noisy fan and so pulled my macbook apart and cleaned dust out. However, when I put back together, the fan didn’t work at all!!
Started looking at buying a replacement, then had an idea. Took it apart again, and this time I put a small amount of HAIR CLIPPER OIL on the fan’s axel!!
Put it all back together and now have a perfectly functioning, quiet fan again!
Tom -
Before beginning, I found some small plastic bags and labeled each of the with the location the screws would come from once removed and the appropriate step number. Once the screws were removed I placed them in the labeled bags and did not have to worry about mixing screws up. Also, provided a good way to insure that no steps were skipped in the reverse process
rpbetancourt -