Degree of disassembly required for T41 CPU replacement?

[mrpaulin]

I upgraded my A31p 2653-RMU to 2.6GHz recently, and now I'm ready to proceed with a similar CPU replacement on my T41 2374-GU4. Reading the Hardware Maintenance Manual for the T41 indicates that the CPU replacement will require a large degree of disassembly of the system -- removal of the display, for example. Is this really necessary? It appears that removal of the keyboard and bezel will expose the CPU heatsink/fan assembly, which when removed should permit the CPU replacement. I wonder about this in part because following the HMM to the letter when upgrading my A31p specified some apparently pointless steps.

So, my question for those of you who have done this -- how far must I strip down my (14.1") ThinkPad T41 to succeed with the CPU replacement?

[FTC]

Hi,

It's quite easy. You only have to remove the battery, hdd, keyboard, palmrest, heatsink/fan assembly. Follow the HMM instructions for removing the heatsink/Fan and once done so, you have clear access to CPU.

[jdhurst]

Yes, and remember to have heat sink compound available when you do this. Do not skimp on this step. ... JD Hurst

[3to4]

Hi,

It's quite easy. You only have to remove the battery, hdd, keyboard, palmrest, heatsink/fan assembly. Follow the HMM instructions for removing the heatsink/Fan and once done so, you have clear access to CPU.

So, you don't need to remove the keyboard bezel, do you?
I am asking this, because it is not easy to remove the keyboard bezel, which is fixed with latches.

[FTC]

Hi,

Well, in my case 1 year ago I applied arctic silver in both my T40 and T42 (both 14") CPUs, and I don't recall removing the bezel as necessary... it is not even mentioned (unless you have a 15" machine) as necessary for removing the HS/FAN, which when removed exposes CPU completely...

[mrpaulin]

My thanks to everyone who responded, and to all those who treated the T4x CPU upgrade issue in other threads. My T41 is now running noticeably faster with its new Pentium M 765 processor.

I removed the following (mine is a 14.1" T41 model 2374-GU4):
main battery
ultrabay slim battery
hard drive
PC cards
keyboard
palm rest with touchpad
backup battery
heatsink/fan assembly
CPU (SL6FA)

I reassembled as follows:
CPU (SL7V3)
Arctic Alumina thermal compound
heatsink/fan assembly
backup battery
palm rest without touchpad (91P8399)
keyboard
PC cards
hard drive
ultrabay slim battery
main battery

I did not remove the keyboard bezel (on the 14.1" model, the bezel and palm rest are separate pieces). It might have been possible to remove the heatsink/fan assembly without removing the palm rest, but I was replacing the palm rest anyway -- I don't like touchpads!

When I powered-up the system, the BIOS (1RETDNWW) recognized the processor correctly. I reset the CMOS parameters to my liking, and proceeded to boot Windows XP without difficulty. I uninstalled both the UltraNav Wizard and the UltraNav driver and installed the TrackPoint driver instead.

Everything is working perfectly. God, I love ThinkPads! This ought to hold me, until the day that a "Merom"-based ThinkPad is released...

[3to4]

I did not remove the keyboard bezel (on the 14.1" model, the bezel and palm rest are separate pieces). It might have been possible to remove the heatsink/fan assembly without removing the palm rest, but I was replacing the palm rest anyway -- I don't like touchpads!

Thanks, mrpaulin (also for FTC)
My T42 is a 14.1 screen model. So, I don't need to remove the keyboard bezel to replace the CPU. This point is important for me, because, when I replaced the LCD cover, I had to remove the keyboard bezel, and that was not easy. I mean I almost broke the bezel. So, although I want to replace the CPU, I don't want to remove the keyboard bezel again.
By the way, I also hate touch pads, and I replaced the palmrest of my T42 with one without a touch pad. Actually, I used to buy Toshiba, but since they stopped making stick-only models, I switched to IBM, and I am more than happy. (I now have a T42 and an X32, and my mother has an R40e.)

[3to4]

Today, I also successfully upgraded my T42 to Pentium M 765.
Whether or not it is neccesary to remove the keyboard bezel is a delicate point.
As I had some difficulty removing the CPU fan by simply sliding it toward the right, I removed the two screws fixing the keyboard bezel, and freed the latches of the left side of the keyboard bezel. Then, somehow by pulling the CPU fan gently, I was able to remove it.