Z60t Systemboard Failure

[GaryG]

Hey everyone. I'm glad I stumbled upon this forum. It looks to be full of some great information. I'm having some issues with the motherboard on my Z60t and was hoping someone here could help me out.

To begin, I bought this thinkpad refurbished through a third party retailer in January 2007. It is an IBM Thinkpad Z60t 2511-FEU. My factory warranty expired this past September. My problem is as follows:

Over the past couple months I've been having two nagging issues. First, my optical drive (DVD-RAM) is rarely recognized by my thinkpad. It seems to just want to work at random times. My next issue is that my keyboard and touch pad will freeze anywhere from two minutes to two hours of use. This can initially be resolved by putting the computer in sleep mode (Fn + F4). It will then freeze again almost immediately. This time sleep mode won't fix the problem. I have to hold the power button until it shuts off. If I try to reboot the thinkpad immediately I get a blank screen and five short consecutive beeps, and the machine will never boot. If I let it sit for about 30 minutes, it will boot and the problems above will continue. Finally, the computer came with 512mb of installed RAM. A month after I purchased the thinkpad I added an additional 1gb. My thinkpad will no longer boot with both RAM sticks installed. It will run with both, if they are installed by themselves, but not installed at the same time.

I downloaded the service manual for the Z60t and came to the conclusion that I am having system board failure. I took my thinkpad to a local Lenovo certified repair center and was shocked by what they told me. I was quoted over $400 for the repair and that included a used system board. When I asked for the part number of the motherboard I was told they did not know it. I was also told it was nearly impossible to replace the system board on these machines without previous experience. Any truth to this? I left with my thinkpad and they did not perform the repair.

My first question is, can I find the exact part number of my system board without having to take my thinkpad apart?

My next question is, does anyone have any experience with www.acsoutlet.com for replacement parts? They have a bunch of system boards for the Z60t ranging from $35 to $270. How do I know which one to order?

Sorry for the long post but I hope someone here can give me a hand. I love this laptop, it is by far the most solid computer I've ever owned.

[JonathanGennick]

Gary. Getting the part number for your system board should be easy. You can download the Z61t Hardware Maintenance Manual from Lenovo's website. That part of their site seems to be acting up right now, but go and search for "Hardware Maintenance Manual - ThinkPad Z61t". You should find links to a manual that will show you how to disassemble the thing, and that will list the various part numbers (called FRU numbers, with FRU standing for "field replaceable unit").

I just got done last week working on the innards of an old R40. IBM and Lenovo make it pretty darn easy to do that sort of work yourself, if you're reasonably patient and reasonably adept at taking things apart.

Good luck. It's a bummer you're having trouble. The Z series is really nice. I like it a lot.

[GaryG]

Thanks for the response Jonathan. I did already download the hardware maintenance manual. In the manual it does list a part number for a motherboard, just one part number, which runs $270 at acsoutlet.com. The same website does have system boards for the Z60t as cheap as $35, this is what confuses me. They list about six system boards for the Z60t all with a different price. What is the difference between the $35 board and the $270. Did all the Z60Ts use the same system board? Should I just order the $270 board? Sorry for all the questions. This is the first laptop that I've owned and its a whole other world from desktop PCs.

[GaryG]

Well I took off the palm rest to try and find a part number for the system board and did find a sticker right by where the RAM is inserted that says "FRU 39T5618" this part number matches the part number for the system board in the maintenance manual as well as the $270 board on acsoutlet.com. Is it safe to say that this is in fact the correct part number? Should I expect to pay about $270 for a new Z60t system board? Thanks guys.

[cj3209]

My guess is that the price difference has to do with the condition of the mobo; a new mobo would prob. be $270 with the other prices depending on condition.

Honestly, unless you like opening up the innards on a notebook and have lots of time to spend, I would just sell the unit on eBay and use the proceeds to get a nice T61 w/warranty.

Good luck.

CJ

[GaryG]

I'd love to upgrade to a Z61 however I fear my Z60t would not sell for very much with a bad system board. Plus, its fully loaded. So finding a comparable Z61t at a reasonable price may be difficult. I'm up to the challenge of changing out the system board, I'm just trying to find exactly which one I should order.