T42 overheating bc fan stopped but no fan error

[ncsugurl717]

**I know this is a very long post but I wanted to explain my entire problem.**


First of all let me start out saying, I have checked all the topics and posts that relate to my question up until the 6th page of topics but none of the topics seem to have my problem. After the 5th page, I got tired of looking at the same ol' questions about fan errors when that is not my problem.
Anyway, about my computer problem. I may be mistaken but I haven't found anyone with this problem anywhere. I have had my T42 for almost 3 years now and up until a couple months ago I had a great fan in my computer. It was so very quiet. Even when I was running a lot of programs and working it hard, the fan was quiet and the computer stayed really cool. But suddenly, after doing nothing different, the fan started running faster for about 10 seconds slowing back down for a few seconds and then running fast again for about 10 seconds then slowing down and repeating this process until I shut the computer down. When I would restart the computer (whether it would be immediately after shutting it down or waiting awhile) the fan would do the same thing (run fast and then slow down). When this problem first started, all the fan would do was switch between fast and slow but after about a week it wouldn't do that all the time but when it wasn't doing that, it was still louder than it was before I started having problems.
I thought having too much dust inside the computer could be the problem so I opened up my computer and used compressed air to dust out the inside. This seemed to help very little for the rest of that day and then it was back to the normal fast then slow process repeating again (but it wasn't doing this all the time). After a week or so, I thought the problem may be caused by the area surrounding the computer being too stuffy and hot (around 82 degrees) so I tried to make sure my bedroom (where my computer stays) stayed cooler than it had been being. My bedroom is one of the warmest spots in my apartment. I then noticed after another couple of weeks or so it was not doing the fast then slow thing at all but it was still louder than it use to be.
I finally just got use to it and ignored the fan up until a few days ago. I had the computer plugged in to the AC adapter and had left it for a few hours doing nothing...just sitting there open on the desktop. There were no programs running at all. After I came back to it, I picked it up and noticed it was really hot underneath the processor and fan area and I noticed the fan was not blowing any air out. I decided I would just sit it on my lap and use it while it was on battery (no AC adapter). After a couple hours I couldn't leave it on my lap anymore because it was so hot. My legs were literally red. I then felt to where the fan was suppose to be blowing out air and nothing was coming out. I then leaned over to smell where the air was suppose to be coming out and it smelt like something was burning inside. (I know it is possible the smell was dust or something though.) I shut down the computer because I was afraid it was going to damage something on the inside with the computer being that hot.
The next day I turned on the computer and it rebooted like normal except for the fan coming on. There was no fan error and no error of any kind. The computer starts up and runs perfectly (slow but it has been that way for awhile...I am low on hard drive space). I have ran diagnostics on the hardware (a couple months ago and recently) and everything passed. I have read a lot of posts saying the computer should shut down when the computer gets too hot and should display a fan error message when trying to reboot if there is a problem with the fan but I have not had any kind of signs like that.
Again, I have not done anything different in the last couple months. Nothing that I can think of, at least, that would cause this problem.


I was wondering if anyone could think of anything that is causing my computer to react this way. Could it simply be that the thermostat is malfunctioning, or would that be considered part of the fan and cause a fan error to be displayed on the screen before startup? Could it have something to do with the motherboard? Could the fan have simply died and for some reason my computer didn't register it dying?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm sorry this is an extremely long post but I wanted to make sure I covered everything that may be helpful in getting a response. Thank you for reading it.

[agarza]

In my experience fans start to have problems in the 3-year period. I also had a T30 with a fan that appeared to have problems spinning in the correct revolutions according to the embedded controller (which control when the fan should turn ON and at which speed).

T4x fans have basically 3 speeds (2900rpm, 3600rpm and 4100rpm). I think your fan became damaged. One thing you could do is to simply remove the fan (refer to the Hardware Maintenance Manual) to access it. Then you should use some kind of oil (I use the Conair Oil that comes with beard machines) on the fan bearings. I have done this procedure on a T30 fan with succesfull results (I was having Fan Error message). I have understood that you simply bend some pieces of metal that keep the metal casing together where the fan blades are located. You should oil where the axis where the fan blades spins.

Also clean the heatsink (where the air comes out) with compressed air.

Maybe your laptop does boot up doesn't matter if your fan doesn't spin up; the fan doesn't report to the BIOS it can't spin out, but maybe some is stuck in there.

Try it and return here to post your results.

P.S. As a piece of advice, run NHC so that on your taskbar you have a little icon displaying your CPU temp. You could avoid damage to your CPU, and even to your legs! watching the temp. Right now my bedroom is a very hot place, I don't have AC only a ceiling fan and a Window. I think right here I'm at 30C!


Good luck and welcome to thinkpads.com forum

[ncsugurl717]

Thank you for your advice. I had already cleaned the whole inside of the computer with compressed air before I posted anything but I had not greased the fan. I still have not done that. I opened the computer and looked at it but I was afraid I would mess something up by doing that because I don't know that much about the fan itself. I went ahead and shipped it back to Lenovo so they could look at it. My warranty is up in August and I would like to have my fan working properly and not have to worry about it going out on me again before that warranty is up.
I am planning on getting an extended warranty but I'm sure if it would cover replacing my fan so I want to make sure it gets fixed before then.
Thanks again the advice. I appreciate it.

Abbie

[agarza]

Oh OK then. For sure you'll get your Thinkpad fully functioning