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Let’s say you have an IBM ThinkPad laptop and when you turn it on all you get is a black screen with “Fan error” message. What could be wrong?
A few weeks ago, the fan in my trusty IBM T42 bought the farm. This resulted in the unit heating up considerably, as well as numerous “fan error” messages on bootup. It eventually became so bad that to boot up at all, I had to blow compressed air into the fan’s exhaust grill for 5-10 seconds, in order to fool the BIOS and make it believe the fan was actually spinning.
According to the IBM hardware maintenance guide (HMM) for ThinkPad T40, T40p, T41, T41p, T42, T42p this error message indicates a problem with the fan, you can find symptom-to-FRU index on the page58.
The symptom-to-FRU index in this section lists symptoms and errors and their possible causes.
Apparently it’s time to replace the fan assembly. The cooling fan comes together with the heat sink, that’s why you’ll have to replace the whole fan assembly.
You can easily replace the fan assembly after you remove the palm rest and keyboard.
1. Remove the battery and unplug the AC adapter.
2. Remove four screws marked with yellow circles. These screws securing the keyboard.
3. Remove eight screws marked with orange circles. These screws securing the palm rest.
4. Lift up the keyboard and upnlug the keyboard cable from the motherboard.
5. Lift up the palm rest and unplug the touchpad cable from the motherboard.
6. Remove three screws securing the fan assembly, unplug the fan cable from the motherboard. Lift up and replace the fan assembly.
You’ll find step-by-step laptop disassembly and fan replacement instructions in the HMM in the chapter “Removing and replacing a FRU” on the page 70.
You can find a new fan assembly using the FRU number located on your failed fan, it might look like 91P8393, 26R7860, 13R2919, 13N5442, or 13R2657. Just google the FRU number and find a place to buy it from. Different laptop types with different screen sizes use different fans, so you have to find the correct one witch fits your model. If for some reason your fan assembly doesn’t have the FRU number, you’ll have to refer to the HMM page 216-217. On these pages you’ll find witch fan belongs to your laptop. Here you can find new and used fans for ThinkPad laptops.
For example, if have a type 2378-FVU laptop with 15.0″ LCD screen, then you need a fan assembly with FRU: 13R2657
January 23rd, 2012 at 11:33 am
Julie,
You must apply thermal paste on chips before installing the heat sink. Without thermal paste the laptop will overheat.
If you buy a brand new heatsink assembly, usually it comes with thermal paste and thermal pads pre-applied. If that’s the case, you simply remove the old heat sink and replace it with a new one.
If you decide to buy a used heatsink assembly, most likely you’ll have to apply thermal paste yourself.
January 20th, 2012 at 8:07 am
I have a Thinkpad R60. I disassembled and found the FRU (part#) and am searching for a new part. I found a few to choose from with varying prices but one of them mentions using “Thermal Paste”. “Thermal paste is a very high heat conductive paste that is used when you install a heatsink on a CPU or a video card, you always have to apply thermal paste. It is very crucial to the performance of the heatsink. You could get a very high-end heatsink, and without thermal paste, it will fail to work in the way it was designed too.”
Is this thermal paste required or recommended to use when replacing?
Thank you! Julie
November 2nd, 2011 at 4:50 pm
@ Taz,
Most likely your laptop showing “Fan Error” because the cooling fan stopped working and doesn’t spin. It means you’ll have to replace the fan.
I explained how to replace the cooling fan on Lenovo T61 laptop in the following guide:
http://www.insidemylaptop.com/replace-cooling-fan-lenovo-thinkpad-t61-laptop/
If it looks difficult, I suggest taking it to the repair shop.
November 2nd, 2011 at 3:54 pm
My t61 lenovo has suddenly started showing the ‘fan error’ message after turning it on and instantly shuts down.
I know next to nothing about computers.
PLEASE HELP ME
August 21st, 2011 at 6:38 am
My fan spins(fast enough I think), makes no noise, but the “fan error” remains. I have air blown clear and it is cool to touch. The fan heat sink is stuck solid to the boards in the area under the three screws and the extension, so I have not yet removed. Help!
Also while working on the laptop, I attempted to “straighten” a component located in the extreme lower left corner and it came off, disconnected in eight places. It is a black coffin shape 1/3 inch long with two half orbs on top “(6102 5U3″ on the side). What have I done?
August 19th, 2011 at 12:46 pm
Hi guys, I’ve recently replaced the complete cooling block on my T41p after I got a error about the not working fan at start-up. Although the new one seems to work properly, the board can still get overheated even when using Skype :-] and it switches off unexpectively. But sometimes it works without any problems. Can this strange behavior be caused by the lack of thermo-grease, or I should look anything else, e.g. replace the fan with a new one again? Oops, I guess I’m overheating again when typing it, so I’m clicking quickly on “Submit Comment” now :-] Thanks for any advices in advance!
June 23rd, 2011 at 2:16 pm
WD40 & compressed air after removing the fan assembly worked for me, too. Thanks for the tip!!!!!!
May 28th, 2011 at 2:16 pm
@ patricia,
Probably you need a screw extractor. http://www.insidemylaptop.com/laptop-repair-tools/
4th tool from the top.
May 26th, 2011 at 5:26 am
I am trying to get to the fan assembly but the screws are stripped. I have tried a box cutter, mail clippers….Any suggestions?
May 20th, 2011 at 3:46 pm
hey bros, i have a thinkpad. the battery went dead and stopped charging. soon after i could not get the fan to work upon boot. I removed the battery and restarted and was good to go. still running my thinkpad t61 without a battery. fan works fine. solid.