Fan Noise

[thinkpad321]

The fan in my T40 is making a constant whirling noise.

What should I do?

[RealBlackStuff]

Replacing it comes to mind...

[Harryc]

What is the machine type/model number from the sticker on the bottom of the laptop?

[clicker]

Replace your fan.

I replaced mine a few days ago in my T43.
Everything works fine.

You can have some small difficulties removing the old one, but nothing serious.
Just need some tools.

good luck

[thinkpad321]

What is the machine type/model number from the sticker on the bottom of the laptop?

The machine type and serial are 2379 D3U

[Harryc]

I am guessing that you have a short fan like the one at this EBay auction -
http://cgi.ebay.com/IBM-ThinkPad-T42-T4 ... 25643a0e64
You'll have to pull your keyboard to check for the fan part number.
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-46464

[ajkula66]

According to Lenovo, it's a short fan as Harry correctly suggested:

ThinkPad T40 (2379-D3U)
P M 1.4GHz, 256MB RAM, 30GB 4200rpm HD, 14.1in 1024x768 LCD, 32MB ATI Radeon 7500 CDRW/DVD, Intel 802.11b wireless, Modem, 10/100 Ethernet, UltraNav, Secure chip, 6 cell battery, WinXP Pro

You can pick one up dirt cheap nowadays, and these short fans usually last for years and years...

[terry85]

I recently swapped out the fan on my ThinkPad. It wouldn't boot because it died. You can get the part on ebay for $29 and you should be back in biz. I found this tutorial on how to swap out the part if you are not familiar.
http://www.xbeon.com/content/hardware/h ... ad-T42-fan