How to disassemble Dell Inspiron 14z-5423

posted in: 4. Dell | 6

Dell Inspiron 14z-5423 disassembly

In this guide I explain how to disassemble a Dell Inspiron 14z-5423.

Make sure the laptop is turned off.

STEP 1.

Remove the RAM cover which is secured by one screw.

Remove RAM cover

STEP 2.

Under the cover you will find two RAM modules.

This laptop supports up to 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3-12800 SODIMM RAM modules.

Remove the right module.

Remove right RAM module

STEP 3.

Under the right RAM module there is one screw securing the keyboard.

Remove this screw.

Keyboard screw

STEP 4.

Remove one screw securing the optical drive.

Pull the optical drive to the left and remove it from the laptop.

Remove optical drive

STEP 5.

There are three latches securing the keyboard to the top cover (palm rest assembly).

Keyboard latches

STEP 6.

Push on the latch with a small screwdriver. When the latch pushed in, the keyboard will lift up a little bit.

In order to separate the keyboard from the top cover it’s necessary to unlock all three latches.

Push on keyboard latch

STEP 7.

Separate the keyboard from the top cover, turn it upside down and place on the palm rest.

Lift up keyboard

STEP 8.

Now you can access the keyboard cable connector.

Turn keyboard upside down

STEP 9.

Unlock the connector by lifting up the left side of the cable retainer. The retainer opens up at a 90 degree angle.

Pull the cable from the connector.

Remove the keyboard completely.

Disconnect keyboard cable

STEP 10.

Remove all screws from the bottom case.

Remove bottom screws

Bottom screws hidden under the rubber plugs.

Remove screw cover

STEP 11.

Remove four screws securing the top cover assembly.

Disconnect four cables:
– Hot key board cable.
– Trackpad cables.
– Status light board cable.

Remove top cover screws

Here’s how to unlock these connectors.

Lift up the cable retainer and pull the cable from the connector.

Unlock top cover cable connectors

STEP 12.

Start separating the top cover assembly from the bottom case.

Lift up top cover

I’m using a guitar pick to separate these parts one from the other.

Separate top cover

STEP 13.

Remove the top cover.

Remove top cover

The following components attached to the bottom side of the top cover:
– Hot key board.
– Trackpad.
– Status light board.

Bottom side of top cover

When the top cover removed, you can access the mSATA drive, Wi-Fi card, CMOS battery, hard drive and battery.

Remove two screws securing the battery.

Internal laptop components

STEP 14.

Lift up the battery to disconnect it from the motherboard.

Remove the battery.

Remove main battery

STEP 15.

Lift up the back side of the hard drive and carefully pull it to the shown direction to disconnect from the motherboard.

Disconnect hard drive

STEP 16.

Remove the hard drive.

I recommend replacing this regular 2.5″ SATA hard drive to a 2.5″ SATA solid state drive. Doing so will improve the laptop performance significantly.

Remove hard drive

STEP 17.

Disconnect the display cable from the motherboard.

Disconnect both antenna cables from the wireless card.

Disconnect display cable

STEP 18.

Disconnect one cable from the SD card reader board.

Disconnect USB cable

STEP 19.

Remove one screw securing the motherboard.

Remove motherboard screw

STEP 20.

Lift up the motherboard from the bottom case.

Lift up motherboard

STEP 21.

Remove the motherboard.

Remove motherboard

On the bottom side of the motherboard you can access the cooling module.

Other side

You can separate the cooling module from the motherboard if you remove three screws and unplug the fan cable.

Disconnect fan

In Dell Inspiron 14z-5423 laptop the power connector (DC jack) soldered to the motherboard.

DC power jack

Dell Inspiron 14Z-5423 has a full size mSATA card installed.

mSATA drive


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6 Responses

  1. Andy

    Great guide. But NB. Underneath the optical drive is a large headed silver screw fixing the palm rest to the case and this needs to be removed before the palm rest can be taken off.

  2. venkata reddy

    I have a problem in Dell inspiring 14z , that CD drive not working frequently. Screen also disturbing when working. My technician told that it may be due to some loose connections in connectors. Plz advise for resolve the problem.