T43 fan replacement, can't remove fan

[Pengwuino]

I'm attempting to replace the fan/heatsink module on my T43 and I've come across a... bad problem. The headsink also covers what I assume is another chipset, maybe northbridge. However, I can't seem to get it to dislodge from the chipset. Seriously... it's as if the thermal paste has just solidified and hardened to the chipset. Theres no screws missing and I have no idea what to do. When i pull at it, the metal the headstink is made of actually deforms very quickly before the part over the chipset even begins to budge. I'm absolutely terrified of continuing to try to pull at the heatsink but I need to replace it since the fan went out. What should i do?

[Pengwuino]

Nevermind...

I actually got a swiss army knife and just carved at this solidified black substance and eventually removed enough that the heatsink pulled away. Freaken ridiculous and the scariest thing i've ever had to do to the inside of a computer. It was on top of my GPU.

[schen]

Nevermind...

I actually got a swiss army knife and just carved at this solidified black substance and eventually removed enough that the heatsink pulled away. Freaken ridiculous and the scariest thing i've ever had to do to the inside of a computer. It was on top of my GPU.

"SWISS ARMY KNIFE" Let us know how this comes out! I agree that it even sounds scary just reading about it.

[TomKroscavage]

It must be a common problem because the T4x manual even has an illustration covering this..

[marnix]

Just in case it might help someone trying to replace a fan on a T42p (or similar) thinkpad, I had lots of trouble trying to get my old one out because the end of the heatsink seemed stuck to the GPU. I read that some folks resorted to dental tape or razor blades in the same situation and I was ready to try that, but first I thought I'd try isopropyl alcohol. But while I was out to get some of that alcohol, I dropped into Radio Shack and saw some "ArctiClean" stuff that seemed to be just for the purpose of removing old thermal paste. It comes in a set of two bottles, the first to disolve the old paste and the 2nd to clean up the resulting mess. I bought that ArctiClean stuff and ended up trying it first. After twice applying a drop on each of 3 edges and waiting about a minute, I was able to slowly pry the heatsink away from the GPU with a small screwdriver. I tried not to use leverage so as not to damage the GPU.

Unfortunately, I did not apply thermal paste to the CPU or GPU. The heatsink already had a little grey dotted set of thermal paste where it would touch the CPU and I thought that was supposed to work. I also did not apply thermal paste to the GPU because I understood the little grey and pink pad on the heatsink was all that was needed there (there was no plastic cover to remove on my new fan). So after my laptop was powered on for a minute or so, it shut itself off. The fan seemed to work, but I gather that the CPU or GPU was overheating. I have since removed the fan/heat-sink assembly again and cleaned off the little thermal grease from the CPU and this time I applied a little (but possibly still too much) thermal paste to the CPU. I spread it around with a business card. Then I also put a small amount on top of the GPU. I'm not sure if I should have done that, but I thought it probably wouldn't hurt. It seems to be working, but I've only had it on for a few minutes. Hope I don't have to redo all this again.

Just wanted to get it out there how well the ArctiClean stuff worked for me. Cheers.

[MisterB]

I recently pulled fans from 2 T42Ps with the same problem. The first one I pried off with a small flat blade screwdriver which nicked the top of the GPU. I saw that it was just bonded around the edges of the thermal pad. The second one I just pried gently up from one edge of the fan assembly while i pulled a bit on the edges of where it was stuck onto the GPU and it came cleanly off. I cleaned the remaining melted black material off easily with isopropyl alcohol and, if I have to do this again, I will try to soften the stuck edges with it before I try to pry the fan loose.

I put new thermal paste on the CPU but not on the GPU. No heat issues so far.

[Orclas]

I may add that coffee filters are excellent "cloths" to wipe of paste/dissolved paste with, since they are pretty much perfectly lint free.

[Tasurinchi]

just carved at this solidified black substance and eventually removed enough that the heatsink pulled away

Saw this thread late, I had the same issue in my T43p but just used a normal flat screwdriver to get rid of the black paste. Was hesitant at the beginning but it worked out well.

Here's a link to my old post with some pics for curious people http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... 16#p602216