How to clean X61s fan and apply thermal compound?

[Edward Mendelson]

My X61s has been running hot forever, and it's long since time to take it apart and clean or replace the fan and apply new thermal compound.

I have the HMM and know that it calls for all sorts of steps that I hope may not be necessary (like removing the LCD assembly). But is there a guide to performing only the essential steps for this operation? I've worked inside a ThinkPad before, but I've never got to the point of removing a system board, and any help would be welcome. Thanks!

[Tasurinchi]

It was a while ago that I disassembled completely an X6x, but since the CPU is on the underside you still need to remove the motherboard, which means you need to pretty much remove a lot. LCD Assembly included...

Nevertheless is not as bad as it seems! If you follow the HMM it's quite easy IMO

[rkawakami]

And once you getting everything apart, use some isopropyl alcohol on a clean lint-free cloth (if possible) or cotton swab (careful of leaving stray strands of cotton behind) to clean off the old paste from the CPU and heatsink. Deposit new thermal paste on top of the CPU, about the size of a grain of rice and re-assemble.

I have an X60 which appears to be shutting down due to excessive temperatures. Well, actually, it was going into Standby mode when constantly used. For now, I'm running it with the maximum power saving option and that seems to have (temporarily) fixed the problem.

[Edward Mendelson]

Thanks for this excellent advice. I'll build up my courage and try this maybe over the long holiday weekend (here in the US). Will be back with any questions...

[Cigarguy]

Follow the MM step by step in the order that is listed and you should be fine. Unfortunately the heatsink fan is located on the bottom of the CPU which means you'll have to take everything apart. Intensive and time consuming yes but fairly straight forward if you are methodical about it. Be careful where and how you put the screws once you take them out.