Home
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
If you find this article useful, please consider making a donation to the author. Thank you!
March 1st, 2009 at 12:14 pm
Hey guys,
I had this same problem with my T60. I opened it up and blew air in the fan to clean it (man was it dusty!). I also blew some air in a few other places and blew with my mouth to clear out some dust.
Now my laptop won’t start in normal windows mode. When I turn it on there is a green bar along the right side of the screen and vertical lines behind the windows logo and any words. After a while the screen just goes black.
I can still boot up in Safe Mode and VGA mode. But as soon as I try to increase the resolution, the screen goes black and I can’t get anything to happen.
Anybody have any idea what I could have done to cause this?? Am I going to have to replace the motherboard??
Thanks,
Steve
February 23rd, 2009 at 6:54 pm
This just happened to me and the canned air trick doesn’t work. I am debating on wether to get one off Ebay or go new. New ones are around 75$, no tax or shipping and I can get a used one WITH THERMAL PASTE, shipped for less than $50.
My question is, how important is the thermal paste? Is it completely necessary because if so, I’ll probably just go with used….
Thanks,
Jon
February 21st, 2009 at 9:02 pm
Forgive me if this has already been noted. But you can press ESC when the fan error comes up to bypass to Windows. Then you can at least get info off of pc. That’s if the old fan switcheroo does not work. Like in my case. Bad fuse on MB.
February 21st, 2009 at 11:58 am
I just finished this job few days ago.
I got sometimes the “fan error” message at startup too, because the fan didnt spin. Bearings were broken. (It did a strange noise.) I bought a new one, installed it by youtube “guides” and now its there spinning and working well. =D Not hard to swap at all.
“How much time will it work without replacing the fan after I received the error for the first time? It works normally…but it makes noise and I receive the error…”
It depends. I think my old fan might work for long more, but read above. If it does a strange noise, it’s the bearings. New one is not so expensive, and easy to install.
“My IBM T40 is getting Fan error,
Where I can buy a new fan in Australia?”
I dont really know, because i live in Finland. But check out their site, i think they have own shop selling replacement parts like fans =o
I got one from a computer shop for 40euros. (50-55$)
For those who are worrying about which they would buy, short/long:
Long is for the more powerful graphics card (ati m radeon 9000 if i remember correct) and short for ati m radeon 7500. But long will also go for both. As i have the 7500, and my new fan is long. (Old was short)
Long is as the name tells, a bit longer, putting a gel thing on the graphic card.
February 16th, 2009 at 8:28 pm
Unlikely as this may sound, I got the same thing a couple of days ago on my T42. I shut it off, closed the lid, held the fan outlet to my mouth and blew as hard as i could. some dust etc came out of the inlets (wherever they are.. i can’t actually work it out) and it’s been fine ever since. If I wanted to do it properly I guess I should take it to bits and clean it properly and clean out all the intakes. Could also be a loose contact etc.. the machine will not allow itself to be started unless the fan has been tested positively by the BIOS.
Hope this solution helps
February 16th, 2009 at 5:19 am
I have a IBM Thinkpad T41 for 3 and a half years, and it started to overheat and shut down unexpectedly and quite frequently as in India the normal day (room) temp are around 36C. I did take this to the IBM Service folks in India and they initially said it’s a motherboard problem later today they said there is a workaround to have the heat sink paste replaced.
Though I have asked to do the service I’m still not sure if this could be a motherboard problem bcos I’m dreading if the problem is with mother board the laptop repair cost as to a new one.
Looking for suggestions.
Thanks
February 14th, 2009 at 9:18 am
Maybe you don`t have to buy a new fan.
I had a fan error on my T40, disasembled the notebook
as descibed here and tried to rotate the fan by hand.
it felt like it was blocked by something, so
i blew it out with compressed air. After that i could easily
rotate the fan by hand .
Obviously the fan had just sucked in some dirt or dust.
The T40 works fine again.
January 22nd, 2009 at 8:36 am
My IBM T40 is getting Fan error,
Where I can buy a new fan in Australia?
January 21st, 2009 at 12:35 am
Andrea,
I don’t know. Days, weeks, months…
I guess it’ll work until you burn the CPU.
January 21st, 2009 at 12:04 am
Hi! How much time will it work without replacing the fan after I received the error for the first time? It works normally…but it makes noise and I receive the error…
10x in advance!
January 6th, 2009 at 9:45 pm
Jaimie,
Take a look at the lower right corner of the LCD bezel, can you see T42 in there?
I have a 2378-FVU myself and it’s a ThinkPad T42.
Here’s another way. Go to this site http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/homeLenovo.do
and type the machine type number in the search box (for example 2378-FVU and click go).
You’ll see the laptop model in the results.
January 6th, 2009 at 5:22 pm
I have a fan error and my brother is going to be replacing the fan for me. In an effort to find all the required manuals, I have run into a really silly question.
My machine type is 2378…where do I find out if it is a T40p, etc.??
Jaimie
December 25th, 2008 at 10:59 am
Lauri,
Apparently, there is a problem with the fan and you’ll have to replace it.
If you still getting the same “Fan Error” after replacing the fan, there could be a problem with the system board.
December 25th, 2008 at 6:41 am
I just bought a IBM ThinkPad Laptop (WXP) on Ebay a few weeks ago and it recently got here. I just got it and set it up and all, but for some reason it keeps saying “FAN ERROR” when I turn it on. I read your thing on this site but am VERY confused. I have no clue what a “FAN ERROR” is and know very little of computers. I just turned it one for about ten minutes ocne, but then it shut off and began to say “FAN ERROR”, again. Please tell me what to do.
My email posted below:
schwarze5055@yahoo.com
December 11th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
Mona,
Did you touch or remove the memory module by any chance? If you did, make sure the memory module is seated correctly.
Try installing the old defective heat sink assembly back. Can you boot the laptop back to “Fan Error” message? It’s possible the new fan is defective and is halting the whole system.
December 11th, 2008 at 11:56 am
I have a thinkpad R51 and it kept giving me the fan error message. I replaced the fan today just as described here, and now the screen won’t turn on at all! It used to turn on to tell me about the fan error at least before!
I don’t understand what could be wrong, I can hear the fan when I press the power button and it stays on until I press the power button again to turn it off.
Please help me!
(I also hear a buzz sound twice when I first turn it on, I used to assume it was the fan trying to turn on – I hope it’s not the hard disk)
December 8th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
I have a T30 its old but has always worked. I have that same problem
November 4th, 2008 at 4:47 pm
Yeehah! Worked like a charm. Thanks a bunch.
November 1st, 2008 at 5:21 pm
Thank you!!! Maureen
November 1st, 2008 at 3:57 pm
maureen,
You will not loose any data when you replace the fan. All personal data is stored on the hard drive no on the fan.
November 1st, 2008 at 3:15 pm
After replacing the fan (I have rec’d the dreaded black screen with fan error), will I have lost any data once the fan is replaced?
Maureen
September 4th, 2008 at 2:39 pm
Jerry,
Make sure your new fan is plugged into the motherboard. Make sure there is thermal grease between the heatsink and CPU surface.
If you replaced the old fan with a know good new one but still get the same error message, apparently there is a problem with the motherboard.
September 4th, 2008 at 11:36 am
Well, I managed to purchase the fan that promply arrived one day later. However even after replacing the Fan I get the same Fan Error and still wont boot… Anybody else ever see this ?
August 27th, 2008 at 10:04 am
nice article, it got me through this fan removal/replacement. Thank you.
August 12th, 2008 at 5:26 pm
Thanks everyone for posting this information. My local PC repair shop couldn’t fix it, but I was able to do it myself with everyone’s help. Couple updates, FRU 13R2657 is now known as 41W5204. I ordered it from IBM 800-388-7080 option 2-1-1. It costs $32.94 + tax + shipping = $51.08.
July 29th, 2008 at 5:16 am
can you tell me if 00191 is a fan error message on thinkpad 600e
July 23rd, 2008 at 1:07 pm
I just finished replacing the fan in my wonderful 4 year old t42p thinkpad after getting the “Fan Error” screen. I’d been expecting something like this to happen because my computer had started to sometimes click and also get very hot. I bought the fan through the Lenovo number on the manual and it was actually cheaper than best buy (I called both). It arrived 1 day DHL which was obviously more money but worth it for me. Anyway, thank you for the hair dryer advice. I held the hair dryer on the glued part for a good 10 minutes before the thermal paste gave way. At first it really didn’t seem like it was going to budge but as soon as it came loose the fan slid out nicely. My old one also still had the pink plastic on and it was stuck on there very firmly so I didn’t peel it off the new one either, as the manual says to. Now my laptop is running smoothly, thanks for all the info!
July 10th, 2008 at 7:27 pm
I just finished replacing the fan (under warranty) for my 1-month old refurbished T42p. The photos and explanation were great, except I had a major problem getting my fan assembly out and could not figure it out until i searched several other forums. I finally found where some people had to use a hairdryer to heat up lower right corner of fan (square area) that seemed to be glued on (apparently this is Thermal paste). According to the manual, i have a LONG fan assembly. I used a hairdryer for at least 5+ minutes (very close to fan) until it got hot enough to gently pry off with a small flathead screwdriver. Once it started to loosen it was easy to come off; before that it seemed impossible to get off. I was concerned the hairdryer would damage other parts, but all seems to be fine. It was not obvious what part was even going to come off as this section of the fan sits on top of a separate do-dad. The manual also says to take pink plastic piece off before installing, however the fan I was replacing still had it on and other people mentioned leaving it on so i did. I do not know which was correct. Here’s the link to the other website i found helpful:
http://foolswisdom.com/fan-error-blown-away/
Thanks for this posting!
May 20th, 2008 at 7:55 am
Pilou,
It works fine for me, the site is working. It takes some time to download the maintenance manual because it’s a 5MB file. Maybe you just have to wait for a while.
Here are links to all IBM ThinkPad manuals.
May 20th, 2008 at 2:08 am
Hi guys
I have a Fan Error on my T40p since this week end. I think I could repair by myself thanks to your Tuto.
But I can’t download the IBM hardware maintenance guide. i guess their FTP is down. Do you have this document? Could you send me back this doc?
Many thanks
Pilou