Thinkpad 701c no display

[Bibin]

I got a 701c for a decent deal on eBay. I learned it has a real Yamaha OPL3 chip, so I'm interested in actually using it for some fun music creation.

I got it knowing it had a defect: the LCD does not show anything. The backlight comes on, but the display is blank, save for the bottom line, which is sometimes a mixed-brightness line that fades from one value to another slowly. It looks like the LCD's line counter is stuck down there. It's the TFT model, not the 701cs's DSTN display (thank goodness). I see NOS displays available, so I may try that. I have another mostly-working 701c as a reference to try swapping parts with, and if worst comes to worst, a replacement motherboard is not out of reach (~$40).

The other problem is that it is rather sticky. I've never touched a 701c that wasn't sticky, so this seems to be common for whatever rubber they used at the time. Does anyone have any suggestions for what I can do to reverse this degradation? How about any success stories of removing the rubber coating and getting it down to the metal/plastic?

[RealBlackStuff]

Been there, done that! With a T23: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=121754

[Bibin]

Using a credit card it was indeed easy to remove the rubber, followed by alcohol + a paper towel. Now the exterior isn't sticky, but the LCD problems remain.

In addition, every time it boots, it (slowly) checks all 40MB of memory. Is this skippable?

Also, after POST, I get the usual 161 and 163 errors (dead CMOS battery, wrong time, etc). Following that, though, if I hit escape, most of the time, the computer just shuts down. It didn't do this before, and I'm totally at a loss for why it would. I am having a lot of trouble to get it to actually boot an OS, from floppy or HDD.

[Bibin]

It seems like the T0 screws are the main challenge in opening this thing. I might be able to make it work with just a flathead screwdriver. I'm hoping there isn't too much corrosion on the board from the old NiMH batteries, as that may be the source of my display problem.

[goldeneagle]

It seems like the T0 screws are the main challenge in opening this thing. I might be able to make it work with just a flathead screwdriver. I'm hoping there isn't too much corrosion on the board from the old NiMH batteries, as that may be the source of my display problem.

If you can get a T0 screwdriver, that'd be your best bet. Wiha makes a really good one. The T0 is easy to strip.
Also, as I recall, the CMOS battery is soldered to the system board, which is a PITA. I actually have both a 701C and CS. I want to say my TFT also has problems, while amazingly, the DSTN still works, but it's been a while since I've powered them up. My primary complaint is that in raw benchmarks, the DX4-75 model gives about the same or less performance than a DX2-50 ThinkPad. I don't even want to know what the (not so common) DX2-50 701 benches at...

[Bibin]

I tested with the LCD from another 701c. Mine has the same result, so it looks like my LCD cable or motherboard is at fault. I'm willing to bet it's the motherboard with some simple corrosion, so once I am able to get in there I can clean up a bit and see how it is, and look into maybe a new motherboard.