Fixing an IBM T43 with Fan Error (In Vancouver)

At boot up, this IBM T43 displayed an error message "Fan Error" and shut down automatically. As it was needed in a clinic at weekend, I agreed to help since I was free anyway.

I brought along a T42. If I could not fix it on the spot, I might be able to swap the hard drive and leave the T42 behind for usage. I removed the T43 keyboard and found that the inside had a quite a bit of dust. I powered on the T43, the fan could not move at all. I pushed the blade, the fan moved slowly and the "Fan Error" came back again. I could not fix it on the spot. I tried to swap the hard drive. The T42 started up with Windows recovery screen in Chinese, I selected normal start up but it had no response.

I had to take the T43 away and my T42 back home. At home, I vacuumed the fan and sprayed WD-40 to the center of the fan. The fan turned but still having the "Fan Error" at boot up. I needed to take the whole fan out and do a thorough clean up. However, the right side of the heat sink was glued to the GPD chip. I needed to pull the heat sink off carefully.

Once the fan was out, I vacuumed the fan and applied WD-40 from the other side. The fan turned smoothly again. I applied thermal compound to the CPU and put the fan back. The T43 could be booted up but it had loud buzzing sound. I adjusted the heat sink screws which have springs to remove the buzzing.

I found that the keyboard had a number 6 key missing. I found a key from an old keyboard and put onto it. The whole fixing took me about 2 hours. Luckily that a new fan was not required. Otherwise, it would take a few days to get it ready again.

The T43 was returned in the evening that it can serve on Sunday again.