MacBook Core Duo Fan Replacement

Use a coin to rotate the battery-locking screw 90 degrees clockwise.

Lift the battery out of the computer.

Remove the three evenly-spaced Phillips screws from along the rear wall of the battery compartment.

Lift up on L-shaped memory cover, slide it to the right, and lift it out of the computer.

Remove the following 3 screws:

One 11 mm Phillips #00 in the middle of the case.

Two 14.5 mm Phillips #00.

Remove the following 3 screws from the rear wall of the battery compartment:

Two 3 mm Phillips #00. (A1181 has three 3 mm screws and one 4 mm.)

One 4 mm Phillips #00 on the right side.

Remove the two 6 mm Phillips #00 screws from either side of the right wall of the battery compartment (not the ones closest to the battery connector).

Remove the four 3 mm indicated Phillips #00 screws from the front wall of the battery compartment. When working from the left, remove the 2nd, 4th, 7th and 9th screw.

Remove the following 4 screws from the back of the computer:

Two 7 mm shouldered Phillips on the far sides.

Two 10.5 mm Phillips toward the center.

Remove the two 5.2 mm shouldered Phillips #00 screws from the optical side of the computer.

Starting near the display and working around to the front of the computer, pry up on the upper case. It is held with clips on the right above the optical drive. These will release with some firm lifting pressure.

Be careful when prying up the upper case. It's very easy to slice open a fingertip and thus provide the blood sacrifice the Mac gods sometimes require of those who insist on doing their own repairs.

While holding up the upper case (from the bottom or the top), use a spudger to pry up the orange trackpad and keyboard cable from its connector.

Use a spudger to disconnect the orange optical drive cable from the logic board.

Use a spudger to disconnect the black fan connector from the logic board.

Deroute the fan cable from behind the tab on the left side of the fan.

Peel up the silver foil tape between the fan and the optical drive.

Use a spudger to move the gray display data and black speaker cables to the right. This will reveal a silver screw securing the fan housing to the lower case.

Remove the following 4 screws:

One 3 mm Phillips on the right side of the fan.

One 6 mm Phillips on the left side of the fan.

Two Phillips screws on the top left and bottom left of the fan.

Push down on the left side of the fan and slide it slightly to the right in order to free the fan from the indicated tab on its right side. You can also use the tip of a spudger to free the tab on the right side of the fan.

Lift the fan out of the computer, being careful not to rip the black felt tape.

When replacing an old fan, you may find a lot of dust in the vent and general area. A can of compressed air may be useful for cleaning it out before installing the new fan.