IBM ThinkPad T42 Fan Replacement

Written By: Kevin Rehm
  • Comments: 5
IBM ThinkPad T42 Fan Replacement

Difficulty

Moderate

Steps

8

Time Required

5 - 10 minutes

Introduction

Replacing the fan.

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    • Use a Phillips #0 screwdriver to remove the twenty screws on the underside of the T42.

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    • Remove the four Phillips screws located on either side of the rear of the T42 (there are two on each end.)

    leave these four screws alone. No need to remove them.

    fredwb -

    Of course you need to remove them you Dingbat! They are the main anchors of the screen hinges, Doh!

    wbcam -

    There are tiny numbers showing the lengths of the screws. 1-2-3-4 where 1 is the shortest.

    The dark red circles are not very easy to see. How about white ones?

    mattikaki -

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    • Flip the laptop over and open the screen to access the keyboard and trackpad.

    • The keyboard and trackpad are connected to the motherboard. Before removing the keyboard and trackpad, disconnect both components from the motherboard, as shown in the following step.

    • The bezel and keyboard will be loose, be careful.

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    • Carefully maneuver the palm rest away from the keyboard, as both the keyboard and palm rest/trackpad will come off together.

    • Remember, both the keyboard and trackpad have connectors to the motherboard. Disconnect these before completely removing either component.

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    • Starting from the bottom right, carefully remove off the bezel. Use a spudger or flat head screwdriver if needed.

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    • Grasp the metal bracket to remove it from the device.

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    • Remove the rubber cover from the microphone.

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    • Unscrew the 3 screws on the copper heatsink.

    • Now, unplug the connection to the motherboard..

    • Due to the nature of old thermal paste, it might take some force to remove the heatsink.

Conclusion

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

Author

Kevin Rehm

Member since: 19/04/10

457 Reputation

2 comments

How about you just down the freely available Hardware Maintenance Manual (HMM) for the laptop. They are downloadable in PDF format, and very well done.

Martin Campbell -

It doesnt take this much, if you remove the palm rest and keyboard you can get it at an angle it slides straight out.

Tobyn Genn -