Thinkpads Forum

Allright, I feel quite silly. I was trying to slide the ultrabay HD adapter in - something I've only done a thousand times before - when I heard a strange sound. I pull the adapter out and out comes about 10 cm of plastic lever, and a long spring.

Does anybody have an idea how to service this part? Is the only way to reach the base by removing everything above it? Ideally I would like to leave heatsink, processor and mainboard alone.

From what I can see on the parts side, I would need 41V9927 BASE15PRTS 'Base miscellaneous parts' , among which is a 'Bracket puller, eject', which I'm assuming is the broken lever. It's only about 10 euro's, but it will take 4 weeks to arrive. I think that means the part isn't in stock in the whole of the Benelux.

And the more I look at the lever the more I think it's not broken but just came detached from the metal part of the eject mechanism.

As seen in some of my T23s and T30s, you will have to take it apart up to and including the CD cage.
You can then slide the lever back into position, if it's not broken.
If it came off, it's probably worn out, rather than broken, and a new piece might be advisable.
I guess the T60 will not be all that different.

Thanks, I thought as much. That's serious surgery for what is just something annoying. If I have it serviced under warranty I'll probably be looking at a repair time of about a month, what with the part not being readily available.

If you're in a hurry, you might be able to get just a bare base for a T60, which should have that part that you need.
Take it out of there, or swap the innards from yours into the new base.
If your TP is still under warranty, send it in.