Nintendo Wii U GamePad Analog Stick Replacement

Written By: Kim Arre
  • Comments: 47
Nintendo Wii U GamePad Analog Stick Replacement

Difficulty

Moderate

Steps

9

Time Required

40 minutes

Introduction

Use this guide to replace the analog stick in your Nintendo Wii U GamePad.

  1. MVKVruSeZW3bD6SI
    MVKVruSeZW3bD6SI
    le1JAt3FQbf54yTp

    • Face the GamePad down and unscrew the two Phillips #00 screws which are attached to the battery cover.

    • Lift up and remove the battery cover.

  2. fPDZ5cowSusmnpPm
    fPDZ5cowSusmnpPm
    Sq4UdmndJ3JCRDDj
    RCEoM1aRFKMg4XR6

    • With your finger on the battery connector, pull downwards toward the base of the GamePad to disconnect it.

    • Pull upwards from the bottom of the battery to release it.

  3. mqcXxTcpkCsUCEUC
    mqcXxTcpkCsUCEUC
    KouXoDYfgoKjGHim
    AckGF6GfFXbPSdJn

    • Remove the ten 8.9mm Tri-wing Y1 screws hidden underneath square stickers.

    • Lift up the back plate.

    • The back plate is still connected by a cable to the motherboard.

    how do i replace the whole front and back casing?

    enbodylin -

    bruh the ifix it screwdriver dont reach down the whole way

    Michael -

    I feel like it’s important to mention how deep some of these holes are. Your screwdriver might not reach. Mine sure didn’t.

    greatshadowdude -

    I had to shove some tissue into the screwdriver bit holder to get it to reach

    Andrew Walker -

  4. RSCLrkAAAJfPYL2i
    RSCLrkAAAJfPYL2i
    MpWZHBviKJl1AWqN

    • Unplug the connector that connects the back plate to the motherboard.

    • Remove the back plate.

    You don't have to remove just be careful

    Heather Sheppard -

    I tried to remove like at least 6 times but I wasn’t able to. Using tweezer, my nails, long nose pliers. There could be a lock but I gave up since I’m afraid if I put more force I might accidentally pull the wires. I’m able to remove the left and right analog stick with the back plate plugged, as mentioned, just be careful.

    Royce Remulla -

    I was stuck on this step for a while - note that you’re only removing the little white plastic bit. The beige or yellowish plastic bit is attached to the board. I needed to use pliers to carefully grab just the white plastic bit and wiggle it side to side.

    Nova H -

  5. RW2jcJ2HiRfcPkik
    RW2jcJ2HiRfcPkik
    3Gb3vqfPlgiirnaH

    • Take out the left and right shoulder buttons in the upper corners.

    • Remove the ZR and ZL trigger buttons by lifting up and sliding outward.

  6. OR2KOQPPJo3l3lEe
    OR2KOQPPJo3l3lEe
    3LF2LArH6CCvWWn5

    • Remove the top rubber cover by pulling it off of its mounts to access one of the mounting screws.

    • Remove the four 5.2mm Phillips #0 screws.

  7. 4xn4DENDe24wdT31
    4xn4DENDe24wdT31
    JSggifceLSxVnaX3

    • Use a spudger to lift the tab which releases the blue ribbon cable.

    • Remove the analog stick and button cover.

  8. sJqjKd2cSHkxh4Jh

    • Use your thumb and push the connector towards the rightmost edge to disconnect the analog stick cable connector.

  9. c6u3IjrGxb3ApcSO
    c6u3IjrGxb3ApcSO
    ne3O1DQxyGGwmrxm

    • Remove the two 9.0mm Tri-wing Y0 screws.

    • Lift out the analog stick.

    Easy peasy. Thanks!

    Elizabeth Fowler -

    Hi there, I tried to replace the joystick following these instructions but I couldn't remove the connector cable from the old joystick as it is wired into the board. Does anyone know what the connector is called so I can buy one please!

    Spider Gin -

    @Spider Gin The joystick and the tiny little control board (the pcb between the red circles in the picture of step 9) are purchased together (or at least that’s how I got mine). The only thing you need to disconnect on the analog stick assembly is the connector shown at the end of the thumb in the picture on step 8. If you are trying to disconnect the stick itself from the control board you are not looking at the right instructions for that.

    Mike South -

    It seems to me that Nintendo changed the design after a while some had the wires on a connector some were soldered in. I can't find much information about this. Going to have to disassemble what I have to find out what I need

    Blue Player -

    The volume slider came out when I turned the assembly upside down to retrieve a dropped screw. You need to pay attention when putting it back in to make sure you line up the groove on the slider with the tiny little square bump that fits into the groove and allows you to actually control the volume. It’s easy to get it aligned if you know that’s what you trying to do, but at first I didn’t even realize what it was.

    Anyway—it worked, thank you!

    Mike South -

Conclusion

To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.

Author

Kim Arre

Member since: 11/01/13

4888 Reputation

35 comments

where can i find replacement analogs for wiiu gamepad and wiiu procontoller?

Victor Torres -

www.ebay.com

mhuntersr -

They are available at ebay.com Cost around 7,50 $ Left & Right (different - look what you need). Comes all from china or hong Kong but Quality is 1A (so far i can tell).

Frederik Rischmann -

Bump previous question because dogs seem to enjoy their texture.

maskedpainter -

Has anyone tried this?

http://dx.com/p/replacement-3d-analog-st...

I know it says for the pro controller. But based from the images, the pins could be compatible.

wandererwk -

Have you tried them? Do they work?

Brandon -

Wii u pro controller sticks kompatibel?

MrMister -

Has anyone been able to find the replacement sticks?

Brandon -

I was able to find the replacement stick on ebay. I believe it was $7.99 (better than the $100 nintendo charges to service the controller). The process was pretty easy, but make sure you have the tri-wing screw driver.

rockstang -

Hi all, I'm in UK, and just wanted to say I successfully changed my left gamepad stick (kept going forward on its own) following this guide....got one from eBay http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Analog-Stick-w...

worked like a charm.

Thanks to all concerned.

Alan Oliver -

Helpful. My left joystick started to move down for no reason so I ordered a new one and replaced it. Works great now. The only problem I had was with removing that short white cable from the old joystick to the new one. It is really stuck hard on those pins! So be careful not to pull by the cables. I lifted it with my nails a little and then I used a nail fail to lift it up from the sides where a little gap appears.

red4rod -

We can put xbox one sticks in the wiiu gamepad and wiiu pro controller, i have made an easy tutorial on Youtube http://youtu.be/kcynxb2xyLY

Mathieu -

Thank you for this detailed tutorial! I just replaced the left analog joystick on my gamepad and the kids are overjoyed.

sarahvroman -

Left stick was drifting. Purchased both left and right stick on ebay at: http://r.ebay.com/QLJsRg

These excellent directions, and clear illustrations made this easy. The only challenge was removing the short, white cable just like red4rod mentioned above.

I was able to avoid removing the blue ribbon cable (on analog stick and button cover in step #7):

Immediately after step #6, I used my thumb to remove the (white) analog stick cable connector (step #8).

Next, I lifted the button cover slightly up, and to the 'left' (orientation based upon pictures in tutorial), being careful not to pull on the blue ribbon cable.

From there, I was able to proceed with step #9.

joemcisaac -

Yep, your totally right. I did it the same way and need around 20 minutes less.

Frederik Rischmann -

My Wii U gamepad has a new wrinkle to this issue: the short white cable still has a connector to the main controller, but no longer has a connector to the joystick's tiny circuit board - instead, it has 5 pins (4 white and one black) soldered directly to the board. So to use a replacement joystick, I needed a replacement cable with connectors on both ends. Searching everywhere I could, finally found a replacement connection cable: on aliexpress.com, item 32394130368. Hope this helps!

Tony D -

I hit the same issue, but the part was out of stock, and the pair I ordered didn't come with cables.

I ordered another pair off Amazon that explicitly showed the cables. The left stick's cable fit perfectly, but the cable that came with the right analog stick did NOT fit into the connector.

In conclusion, buy replacement parts from someone with a return policy, and be prepared in case things don't work out.

Chris Donnelly -

Just encountered this problem. Can anyone provide the name of this part (connects stick board to Wii u gamepad board. My original was also soldered onto the original analog stick board. Going to try to find by part number provided here now…

Wiiunerd -

Hello! I've just purchased a replacement from ebay (My stick sometimes doesn't register if you move the stick straight up, tried compressed air cleaning to no avail). It just came, but I noticed that when you move it around, it "sticks" on the extremes, just like on this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZ3uq7Wd...

I'm sure mine is a "fake" in the sense it was not manufactured by Nintendo, but I wonder if it works, so I would like to know if the successful replacements made here were with modules that also "sticked" on the corners (which may not happen in normal operation due to the mechanics not letting the stick get to the extremes maybe?).

Any help is appreciated, thank you!

cd -

Actually, I have been informed it works like that, so if anyone is wondering: the gamepad will stop the stick from getting to the outer extremes. The "sticky" behaviour is not an actual issue.

cd -

Replaced friend's analog sticks after burning them out on Splatoon. They're working now. Thanks!

Jim Boom -

Splatoon definitely did this to me too!

Wiiunerd -

Does anyone out there know the name of the connector on the motherboard that that sticks plug into? I need them but have no clue what they are called.

Ivan Ramey -

Just created an account here to say "THANK YOU SO MUCH!" This seemed like a daunting task at first but with the help of this guide I was able to repair my Gamepad in under 30 minutes!

Danny Hawkins -

Hello, I have just a quick question. I know it says the difficulty is moderate but all of the comments here are pretty positive but realistically so long as i follow the instructions it should be easy …. right?

Cheska Ferreira -

Cheska, I find that the difficulty levels here are more of a measure of the required patience.

kehkou -

changed left stick with this guide. Easy to do in my opinion. Moderate only if you never have touched a tool in your life. Cost me about 35€ to buy the stick replacement and the proper screwdrivers. Nintendo charges 100€. Where I live an average workers earns about 50€ a day so you saved me a lot of money. Thanks ifixit

digenovezos -

I changed it but maybe the new stick is foulty, now the gamepad does not turn on. I had to go back to the old stick.

elcentrodeluniverso -

Thank you very much, that seems to have done it.

Panicked a bit in middle of taking things apart when I found a stray piece, but turned out to be the sliding volume cover.

wehia -

thx ! My Wii U works again ! :-)

Michael Fischer -

So my brother and I replaced the joy sticks but now only left and right works and up and down don’t do anything. Did we do something wrong?

Savanna -

Brilliant guide - really easy to follow, and I had my WiiU pad fixed up in no time. Thanks!

Stephen Muggridge -

Just did the repair, the tutorial was essentially perfect.

C Mitchell -

Thank you! This guide was perfectly detailed, enabling me to complete the repair without too much confusion.

J Circo -