T42 fan issues

[RolfThinkPad]

Hi,

T42 Type 2373-M36: 1.7GHz, 64MB ATI MOBILITY RADEON 9600

The fan is getting noisy. There are posts discussing oiling the fan, but it doesn't seem straightforward. I think the noise indicates it's nearing the end of it's life, and would prefer replacing it, especially if oiling is not simple.

Does anyone know if the entire fan assembly needs changed or can the fan alone be replaced?

[ajkula66]

I'd suggest changing the entire heatsink, that's the way I've always done it on these machines anyway.

You need the M10 long fan, FRU 13R2657.

Happy shopping.

[Frotz]

The fan's bearings are going out. Resist the urge to buy just a fan. I had an unpleasant experience with an Ebay-bought fan that was billed as a drop-in replacement for the T42's fan. What I got was something pressed out of aluminum sheet. The thing looked kinda like it would fit, but none of the mounting posts lined up. I wound up getting a new-in-box heat sink with fan. It slid right into place and is working fine now.

[RolfThinkPad]

Thanks.
Did some research, and saw that the fan alone needs extra work and is not a drop in replacement.
This is also confirmed by the IBM hardware reference manual.
I agree that new-in-box assembly is the way to go - but finding a new IBM one might be difficult!
I am not a fan (excuse the pun) of non-IBM parts!

Question: Does the new-in-box part come with thermal paste or pad for seating onto the processor?

Thanks again for the input.

[lophiomys]

Normally, the orig fan assembly does have a grid of white dots for the cpu and a plastic pad without thermal paste for the grafics card.
I would recommend removing both it and applying Arctic MX thermal paste.

I recently bought 3 different fan replacements for my T43p, and only the last and most expensive original T42p fan assembly did not torture my ears.
This is the one with the 0.4A motor, the original Long Fan M10 for the T42p.