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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
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July 17th, 2009 at 11:33 pm
re: fan failure — To press ESC while the T42 boots…. great tip!!! It saved me and my data….!!! I put a real fan (ventilator) right next to the laptop (the cooler opening) and so far no problem backing up everything. TKS for the post!!
July 11th, 2009 at 10:17 pm
Great Forum. I faced the same Fan Error in my think pad.. I guess my fan is not rotating… I tried pressing Esc multiple times after switching on th laptop… it bypasses the fan Error and starts normally…!
Doing this for taking backup is ok.. But can I run my machine this way for ever?? Will it affted my laptop? I tried putting in Air from the vent using a hair drier… but could not fool the bios by making it feel that the fan is running..?
July 7th, 2009 at 12:09 am
Laptop Tech
I had alread tried removing the 2nd memory module, but I hadn’t tried the main one (I’ll have to find it). I’ll try cleaning them.
So you don’t think the fan error (intermittant) and the freezing (intermittant and can create by pressing fan) is caused by the fan assembly?
Thanks.
July 6th, 2009 at 10:18 pm
Alan,
Try using the laptop with only one memory module installed. Try both memory slots. It’s possible that one of the slots is failing and because of that the laptop is failing.
Try cleaning contacts on memory modules and reconnecting them.
If the laptop fails anyway and still starts intermittently when you apply pressure on the motherboard, apparently it’s bad motherboard. There is not much you can do to fix that. You’ll have to replace the motherboard.
July 5th, 2009 at 3:09 pm
This is all very interesting. I started getting fan errors on my T40 recently and began smacking the laptop. I also vaccumed the whole thing out and it seemed to work – for a while. One day, I got a blue screen and the computer would not restart, not even in diagnostic mode. Rebooting 25 times, it finally was successful, but froze starting up.
I figured out that if I got it running and tapped on the fan assembly, it would freeze. What to do? I stuffed paper between the keyboard and fan (not covering the fan, just the heat sync). Holding down the fan unit allows it to operate normally, so something is intermittant somewhere.
Is this likely a cracked motherboard, loose solder joint or would a bad fan cause this? Anybody got any reccomendations? I can kind of use the computer for a while, but it’s obviously not a great solution.
Thanks,
Alan
June 27th, 2009 at 3:43 am
Thanks everyone for your inputs to this thread. I have th fan error on my T42. Guaranteed the fan is no longer spinning. I found however, that i can still get a boot out of my machine, if i remove external power, remove battery and put it back on, turn on and press esc lots of times while it starts. It still gives the fan error but can continue and can open windows.
At least now i can get my backup before i send it in
June 25th, 2009 at 10:02 am
I just replaced fan and heat sink ( I bought used on ebay)on my T42. The laptop starts up, but after about 10 mins shuts down. It doesn’t shut down when i run in safe mode. Could this be a software problem or is the other issues?
June 24th, 2009 at 11:32 am
tk,
No problem as long as your new fan is a legitimate replacement for the older fan. In fact, many IBM parts have multiple part number and can be substitute. Just make sure to find the right substitute for your older fan.
I think if you use a short heat sink instead of a long heat sink (which covers the video chip too), you might overheat and damage the video chip. I wouldn’t try that.
I don’t know, never tried it myself. I think it might just shut down and never start again.
June 24th, 2009 at 10:22 am
Enrique Trejo,
I would go with the long heat sink. IBM installed a long heat sink not just for fun. You don’t want to overheat the video chip. If you burn the video chip, you’ll have to replace the whole motherboard.
June 24th, 2009 at 7:55 am
Hello y’all. I have a problem. My t42 went out so I bought on ebay a “t42″ heatsink and fan assembly. The problem is that the seller sent me a short fan assembly and when the technician opened my laptop we found out it needs the long heatsink, the one that cools the video card… so my question is if I can install the short heatsink and expect my laptop to work properly and without problems or should I just buy another one and throw away this short heatsink?
Thanx.
June 22nd, 2009 at 11:38 am
hi. i have a t41p with heatsink 13N5347. I am seeing many “long heatsinks” on ebay that aren’t the same FRU #. I read, in an earlier post of yours, that you recommend using the same FRU # part…..what would do you think could happen if I used a “newer” fan ?
another question i have is, what would happen if I used a short heatsink? I mean, obviously my upgraded vid card should have the long heatsink…but just wondering ’cause I have a t42 with a short heatsink that I could throw in as a temp fix until I get a new long heatsink.
if the the video card overheats, will the OS or something warn me? or will I just unknowingly cause irreparable damage to the video card?
thanks!
June 8th, 2009 at 6:09 pm
Great instructions! I took my R-series laptop apart and found a huge ball of lint that was causing the “fan error.” The computer wouldn’t even boot before, but now it is running fine!
Thanks!
May 7th, 2009 at 1:33 am
Dear sir. In my IBM thinkpad laptop facing some problem. When it is on give an error massage, error code is 0189 invalied RFID configration information area.
and also an anather massage is press ibm blue button for nornal intrupt
April 19th, 2009 at 11:02 pm
James,
The Pink Sheet is the thermal pad which HELPS to transfer heat from one of the chips to the heat sink. Do not remove the pink sheet from the heat sink.
IBM do not do this kind of mistakes.
April 15th, 2009 at 10:29 am
Hi all…burning question…
What about the PINK SHEET that comes on the new assembly?? On my old fan, it was still stuck on, so I just left it on on my new one, like some others have done. But logically, it doesn’t make sense to have it on there, does it? It seems like it would interfere with heat transfer to the fan/heat sink. Perhaps many T42’s were assembled incorrectly, and they didn’t peel off the pink sheet when they were supposed to?
Has anyone taken apart a T42 that did NOT have the pink sheet? Any experienced computer hardware people here who can confirm or negate what I’m thinking?
April 12th, 2009 at 8:58 pm
thinkpad x40,
When you removed the heat sink, did you remove thermal grease? Did you apply new thermal grease before installing the heat sink?
If there is not thermal grease between the heat sink and processor, the CPU will overheat and the laptop will shut down. Maybe that’s your problem?
April 11th, 2009 at 12:05 am
Hi guys,
I opened up my t41 due to the fan error. I took out the whole heat sink, tested the fan and is in working condition. So I put everything back. Now the problem is that when you install a software and in the process of installation the fan kicks in for a couple of seconds and then the laptop completely shuts down. I turn it back on again and repeat the same process and same result. The laptop runs fine and the fan is fine when I dont try installing something, like surfing the web. Any advise? I’m thinking I might need to replace the whole heat sink and fan. Then I could be wrong so I need advice, please.
April 4th, 2009 at 7:25 pm
Vineet,
Could be bad memory. Do you have two RAM modules installed into your laptop? Try removing them one by one. Test your laptop with each RAM modules separately. Find the faulty module.
If the laptop fails the same way with each module separately, apparently it’s not related to memory.
Can you hear the cooling fan working? Maybe the fan doesn’t work and the laptop shuts down because of overheating?
Could be bad motherboard.
April 4th, 2009 at 1:14 am
I have a refurbished IBM Thinkpad T40. Many a times it gets its screen shut apparently and then the CPU stops working in next 15 seconds. I have to manually shut it off and when try to restart sometimes it does but sometimes it does not. Then after 10 minutes (after shut) I am able to start it again. Some times i get stuck at boot time with black sreen but no error messages. Can this be problem with Fan Assembly? Should i try replacing the same?
March 31st, 2009 at 9:03 pm
LewlnMadrid,
I’ll try that technique tomorrow. I have a couple of laptops I cannot fix, maybe it will work.
March 30th, 2009 at 11:43 pm
The same problem just happened to a fellow worker. While I was reading the advice on this page, our boss came over, lifted it up and gave it a good smack and it now boots OK. He’s that sort of boss, spare the rod and spoil the laptop. I would guess that this is not a long term solution.
March 29th, 2009 at 10:54 am
William,
You should replace the whole assembly (fan and heatsink). I don’t know if you can find the fan separately.
If you search eBay for t42p fan, you’ll find it.
I would suggest buying a new assembly because it comes with thermal grease applied to the heatsink.
If you decide to buy a used heatsink assembly, make sure to buy thermal grease too.
March 25th, 2009 at 4:12 pm
Could someone kindly answer me? I can’t buy a fan on eBay until I get an answer and I can’t wait any longer. Thank you.
March 21st, 2009 at 5:18 am
i have a thinkpad r40, it started showing fan error EVERY time i started it up. Solution: 1.Get 1 Bobby Pin. 2.Put It Into Vent.(This Might Not Work On Any Model Other Than R Series) 3. Move Around, Trying To Spin Fan.(BEFORE Starting Up!) 4. Boot Your ThinkPad.
(*I Found This Out By Improvising*)
March 18th, 2009 at 12:34 pm
My T42p fan just went out. It sounded like a chainsaw revving up just before doing so. My question is, are there 3 parts needed here? The fan, the heatsink, and the thermal paste? Also, has anyone had any bad experiences with used fans?
One other thing I saw elsewhere online was that sometime you will get the FAN ERROR on startup if there’s an issue with the battery. Just a thought to try out if you happen to have an extra battery laying around. Great forum here!!!
March 7th, 2009 at 1:41 pm
Monika,
I would recommend replacing it with the same FRU.
March 6th, 2009 at 8:48 pm
oh, and I have a T-40.
March 6th, 2009 at 8:47 pm
Greetings – took apart my laptop according to the above instructions – which are AWESOME = my fru # is 91P8393. will a fan/heatsink assembly with fru # 91P8253 work for me? Please let me know – thanks
March 1st, 2009 at 3:13 pm
Steve,
Sounds like a problem with the motherboard.
Did you accidentally spit on the motherboard? It could cause a short.
Do you know if the video card in your laptop is a discrete unit? If it is, carefully push on the video card. Maybe it’s not making good connection with the motherboard.
March 1st, 2009 at 3:09 pm
jhirsch123,
You must apply thermal paste on the CPU, it’s important.