HomeIn the following guide I explain how to take apart a Sony Vaio VGN-S360P laptop and replace broken power jack (aka power connector or DC jack). I’m not sure if this guide will work for the entire Vaio VGN-S line or laptops but I think it will be pretty close. If you have a different Sony Vaio laptop and these instructions work for you, I would really appreciate if you mention your laptop model in the comments for benefit of other readers.
My reason for taking it apart is replacing the broken power jack but I will remove all major components so you know how to do that.
First of all, turn off the laptop, unplug the power adapter and remove the battery.
You can search for spare parts for your Sony Vaio VGN-S360P laptop here.
Remove two screws securing the cover on the bottom. Under these cover you’ll find laptop memory and wireless card.
This model has two memory slots accessible from the bottom but unfortunately you cannot use regular notebook RAM modules. You’ll have to use PC2700 DDR333 microDIMM. I believe you can install 1GB total. Up to 512MB module into each slot.
If you are replacing the keyboard, remove only two green screws and proceed to the next step. These two screws secure the keyboard.
If you are taking the whole thing apart, remove all screws - red and green.
There are two spring loaded latches above F4 and F12 keys.
Carefully release these latches with a small flathead screwdriver.
After the latches has been released, you can lift up the keyboard as it shown on the picture below.
Turn the keyboard upside down and place it on the palm rest. In order to remove the keyboard you’ll have to unlock the connector first.
Remove the keyboard.
Remove four five screws securing the top cover assembly. (I forgot to circle one screw which is located on the right side from the touch pad cable).
Unplug two speaker cables (green), the touch pad cable (red) and the power button board cable (yellow).
Here’s a closer shot on the speaker connector.
Now you can lift up and remove the top cover assembly.
The top cover assembly has been removed.
Remove two screws securing the hard drive assembly. Unplug the hard drive cable from the motherboard.
Remove the hard drive assembly. If you are replacing the hard drive, you’ll have to remove the mounting bracket with the cable and transfer it to a new drive.
Before you can remove the CD/DVD drive, you’ll have to remove the PC card slot.
Remove one screw securing the slot and unplug it from the motherboard.
Remove the PC card slot assembly.
Remove four screws securing the CD/DVD drive assembly to the laptop base. Unplug the cable.
Remove the CD/DVD drive assembly. If you are replacing the drive, you’ll have to transfer the face plate with the cable and mounting bracket to a new drive.
Remove three screws securing the CPU heat sink.
Remove the CPU heat sink.
If the heat sink is clogged with dust blow it off with compressed air.
Remove two screws securing the DC power jack. Remove the mounting bracket and release the jack.
As you see on the picture below the power jack in my laptop is broken in two pieces. I’m going to replace it with a new power jack. I will unsolder the broken jack and solder a new one.
Before you install the heat sink back in place, you’ll have to apply new thermal grease on the top of the CPU.
November 5th, 2008 at 5:15 am
I bought my laptop a month back, and no it is not new, i bought it used so there is no warranty.
The problem is that it does not charge the battery. When I insert a fully charged battery it works fine, but when i insert the ac adapter it does not charge.
The local repair shops cant find the fault and they have returned it to me.
please suggest something……
November 6th, 2008 at 5:01 pm
Your DC power port is broken.
November 7th, 2008 at 10:31 am
Thanks JimmiD, I have noticed that.
That’s exactly why I took it apart. I’m replacing the jack.
December 4th, 2008 at 9:12 pm
is the power jack and the dc power board the same thing?
December 4th, 2008 at 9:18 pm
Kevin,
I think you are talking about two different things. The power jack is the socket itself - the connector in which you plug in the AC adapter.
December 11th, 2008 at 1:01 am
Hey, great reference site. I’m also need to replace the power jack but can’t you replace the jack as well as the wires and the connector all the way to the motherboard? If you can do that, then it would eliminate the soldering step. I don’t have a replacement jack yet so I don’t know exactly what’s included with this part.
Thanks much.
December 11th, 2008 at 8:52 am
ctam,
Absolutely! You can replace the whole harness (power jack and cable) without soldering if you can find the harness. It make the repair process much easier. Simply unplug the old damaged harness from the motherboard and replace it with a new one.
December 31st, 2008 at 8:58 am
Hi,
This is a nice guide, indeed! Unfortunately, I couldn’t find an answer for my problem & the pictures didn’t show the part i’m interested in…
I have a question about the wireless switch located in the bottom right corner of the s-series. Something went wrong with mine and now it slides in either direction without the usual click & of course to no effect whatsoever… My guess is that it’s a physical issue - it might have somehow popped out of place, though the laptop was sitting on a flat surface & I hadn’t moved it for several hours when the failure happened. I tried to switch it with the screen down by sticking my finger in the little gap that remains when the laptop is closed - maybe that wasn’t a good idea. Would anyone have some info on what the little plastic slider looks from below & should I try disassembling the laptop to try fixing it myself?
thanks in advance
February 26th, 2009 at 9:32 pm
Thanks so much for this how to it help a lot.
March 2nd, 2009 at 11:03 am
Thanks so much it helped a lot
March 3rd, 2009 at 12:30 pm
i just need to swap out my broken cd rw/dvd drive and install a new dvd r/rw drive; i also want to add memore and ram. do i need to go through all the preceeding steps to remove the optical drive?
thanks
March 3rd, 2009 at 12:54 pm
ken,
Unfortunately, yes. The optical drive is mounted inside the laptop case, so it’s necessary to remove the top cover assembly. You’ll have to disassemble the laptop because there is no easier way to replace the drive.
March 16th, 2009 at 11:08 am
how do you unlock the connector on the leyboard cable?
thanks
March 18th, 2009 at 5:39 pm
Hi,
I took apart my Sony VGN-S360P to replace a fan. I did it successfully. In an unrelated incident about 2 months later I had many horizontal lines appear on my screen in 5 columns of different widths. Thinking it was a loose video cable I took the laptop apart again and looked at the video connector. It was intact and fine. To reinsure it was plugged in fully I pushed on it and it remained secure. I put the laptop back together and it does not turn on anymore. All screws and connectors are where they are supposed to be. However while I was inside the laptop examining all the components, I notice a tiny little spring (about 2 mm in length and about 1 mm wide with one leg of the spring bent out in a 90 degree angle with a loop on the end and the other end looks like a stepped wire shape) lying on the corner of the laptop located just back of the fan. Does anyone know what this goes to? Does it have anything to do with the laptop not powering up?
Any help would be appreciated. You may email me at sigma AT mchsi DOT com.
Thanks!
March 21st, 2009 at 12:18 pm
Pete,
The keyboard cable is “pinched” in place with a clamp type connector. If you would place your finger along the side of the brown colored connector and with a slight amount of pressure applied, pull up and push simultaneously. This will cause the hinge to rotate towards the cable hence releasing it.
March 24th, 2009 at 5:55 am
I am wondering if the instructions for replacing a Sony Vaio VGN-S360P broken power jack will work for a Sony Vaio PCG-GRT250? If not can anyone direct me to where I can get the instructions to do so? Thank you!
March 26th, 2009 at 4:27 pm
My S360 has a couple of buttons with weak springs that will soon fail altogether. The power/hibe/standby button above the keyboard and the left click button below the keyboard are sagging and floppy. A parts dealer tells me I need to replace the entire palm rest in order to fix the left click problem….. for $130!!!! The other button is apparently available seperately and costs about $15. Do I really need to replace the entire palm rest?
March 29th, 2009 at 10:40 am
Gerry,
On some laptops the touchpad button is a part of the top cover assembly. If one of the touchpad buttons is not working properly, it’s necessary to replace the whole top cover assembly.
March 31st, 2009 at 6:46 pm
Thank you for your reply Laptop Tech and thank you for this excellent resource website!!
May 6th, 2009 at 7:06 pm
Thanks for the guide and pictures.
I have a few minor corrections to the instructions for new readers: when removing the keyboard, turn the keyboard over and place it on the palm rest, not “Turn the laptop upside down and place it on the palm rest”. Also, there are 5 screws for the top assembly, not 4.
Someone has already commented about the keyboard connector, but don’t be worried when you first flip the latch. I thought I ripped the cable off of a connector, but there isn’t a plastic connector on the keyboard itself–it’s just the ribbon cable with some exposed pins. To reconnect the keyboard, put the connector back in the slot with the latch flipped up, and then hold the connector in place a flip down the latch.
May 7th, 2009 at 8:08 am
thanks,
Thank you for letting me know. I corrected the instructions.
May 13th, 2009 at 12:01 pm
hi,i have vgn-360P and i have a problem, i want to reinstall my windows xp SP2 but when i restart de pc and press any key to start the instalation it begins to install till it aks if i want to install windows i press “Enter” and the pc turns off, it seems like it’s blocked to not let me install the windows, can anybody help me?
sorry for my bad english