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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
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.