Comments on: How to fix a noisy MacBook Pro fan

By: Ica

Ica — Fri, 18 May 2012 15:09:38 +0000

You might need to open some tabs on the side of the fan, and possibly remove a single screw. It should be located somewhere around the side of the fan. Be sure to check both sides!

By: Nico

Nico — Sat, 12 May 2012 10:53:21 +0000

Great stuff, thanks.
I was in the middle of writing a paper for school when this happened. You safed me a lot of trouble, time and money. Thank you very very much.

By: Andy

Andy — Sat, 05 May 2012 15:58:35 +0000

I’m not sure if anyone else has mentioned it, but PLEASE don’t use WD-40 on your fans! Use 3-in-1 oil instead. WD-40 was not meant for parts that run at high-speed and fairly constantly.

By: Pete

Pete — Wed, 02 May 2012 07:10:07 +0000

Awesome post. The noise was driving me crazy and the Geniuses at the Apple Store told me it would take days to get the fans in.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

By: Barry G. Sumpter

Barry G. Sumpter — Tue, 01 May 2012 01:07:55 +0000

Brilliant!
Would have spent a small forture n too much time without me MBP if I had gone to a repair shop.
Whisper quiet now.
Thanks Heaps!

By: alberto

alberto — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 07:40:33 +0000

btw WD-40 won’t work as well as actually lubricant.. i used silicon based mechanical lubricant.

By: alberto

alberto — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 09:03:15 +0000

I have a MBP ’06 which i take with me to my computer programming class everyday..
but then a lilttle by little.. my left fan started making clicking(?) noises..
at first, it wasn’t all that loud
then..
over the course of a little over a month
it just got louder and louder to the point where i couldn’t take my laptop to class anymore..

but this worked for me and now my fan is quite once again!

Thanks!

By: Tom

Tom — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 06:58:16 +0000

Super! Worked like a charm! (I am on a Macbook from 2008)

Greetings from Germany

By: Jeff

Jeff — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 04:36:02 +0000

Awesome! Thanks so much. I’ve had it apart before to upgrade the HD, so I wasn’t too worried. I did have the thought when I had it apart though to go ahead and give the right fan some attention too. The left is now so whisper quite even at max rpm compared to the right, that I wish I would have. So for those of you who have the foresight to read the comments ahead of time, go ahead and do both!

By: Bill

Bill — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 16:55:23 +0000

I love this fixit. Worked great for left fan noise on 2006 MBP. A few suggestions:

Re lubricant: Advise against any oil as it will go everywhere and not stay in the bearing (it evidently works). Advise against WD-40 as this is not really a lubricant, but kerosene and works by dissolving old grease. I used white lithium grease. I like the suggestions of silicone-based grease. The dry lubricants are tempting, but they will not be taken into the pores of what looks to be a brass or bronze fan bearing. Wheel bearing grease would do.

Re disassembly: The case top lifts straight up. The 2 tabs at left front are not bent, but are straight up. The 4 plastic “clips” over the CD drive have a straight-up-and-down action. So even tho the top tends to tip up because the back lifts easier than the front, work the front free before tipping too far. If the tabs bend, straighten to a straight up position before reassembly.

Re wiring connectors: All of these slide to the left except the connector for the ambient light sensor. For the latter, the brown flap lifts from the left edge to release the ribbon cable. It is not really a connector at all. Best tool to slide the connectors with is something small and bluntly tipped, wood or plastic. Not having the classic “Spudger”, I cut a strip from plastic spray paint can lid and shaped it with a pocket knife. Also the exact wiring configuration varies with the model of MBP, as my wiring looks like the above, but there is a Fixit in ifixit.com for other models and the wiring is slightly different.

Re screws: 2 of the tiny little Philips head screws are shorter than all the others. Make sure you know where these go. I had to guess.

Thanks again for a great Fixit.

By: Your Noisiest Fan

Your Noisiest Fan — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 02:10:30 +0000

Hi Ryan,
Thank you! I first cleaned the fans according to instructions I found before I came across your post (not to mention that the screws that hold the fan assembly in place were stuck [*]). Anyways, cleaning alone didn’t work. I opened the machine again and did the WD 40. It worked.

Thanks again.

[*] — if anybody has a problem with stuck screws you should get a pair of 18 or 20 AWG sheer cutters or some call it flush cutters (http://bit.ly/HiclDE), grab the screw head by its sides and twist. Be careful so pliers don’t slip and damage something on the logic board. Takes some time and patience but it works.

By: estrnod

estrnod — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 21:44:31 +0000

Thanks for the info – I may end up doing this eventually but found that I could avoid it by setting the fans to max speed using smcFanControl and it has been quiet for 3 days as long as I don’t try to pick up the laptop (as to hold it in my lap) while it is running. When I did and it started again, I simply closed it, let it power down, then opened it again. A decent workaround until I get the tools & some time.

By: Olivier

Olivier — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 17:42:05 +0000

It worked great on my MBP, many thanks for this article !

By: SST

SST — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 02:34:27 +0000

Ryan you are the freaking man, thank you for posting this fix. I was getting ready to take a hammer to my MBP with the jet engine fan noise, and came across this site. For lubricant I could not find any WD-40 in my house, so I used “Weapon Shield”, a new lubricant for firearms among other things. Found a lot of dust bunnies in the heat sink area and cleaned them out as best that I could, and now my MBP is as quiet as can be. Thanks for saving me about $150 which is what the local mac geek squad was going to charge me.

One question, did anyone rip the heat sink tape when removing the fan? I ripped mine twice but was able to put it back almost in the same exact spots and all seems well. Just wondering.

By: css

css — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 23:48:31 +0000

Awesome. I was floored when I saw a replacement was $50. No sir, not for a 2006 MBP. Lube worked a treat. Quiet now.

By: boogiewoogie

boogiewoogie — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 01:10:39 +0000

genius. i broke a fan blade, tried to stick it back together then mounted back. it just hung on for a few moments before giving up the ghost, twice. but now the fan doesn’t make any noise. thanks alot!

By: Darkman

Darkman — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 02:05:30 +0000

Bingo! 3 beers and some silicone grease solved the problem. Needed the have the fan run high speed about 4 minutes but after that, she’s purring like a cat that’s not purring. :)

By: Darkman

Darkman — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 00:34:34 +0000

Thanks for that. Man, those wires are very small and so is the connector. I will try again after a few beers have settled my nerves…:)

In order for me to keep track of the screws, I had a sheet of paper with STEP # written out and a circle below where I placed the screws inside the drawn circle. Worked like a charm!

By: drew_hill

drew_hill — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 18:36:38 +0000

Thanks for the great information. Just got my mac book pro back together and it’s running quiet again.
One precaution I would add is to be careful while removing the plastic fan. I broke one blade off of one fan from squeezing too hard while pulling it out.

By: syg

syg — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 06:50:34 +0000

Okay I had to do the procedure a couple more time since the fan started revving up to 6000rpm again (I have a single fan in my unibody 2009 13.3″ MBP). The machine works for a day or so at lower revs (2000-4000rpm) but after that it comes back up to 90C, 6200rpm very often. I have to put it on standby when it gets too noisy, and then open it again, to start again from 55C, 2000rpm.

I’m using singer 3-in-1 all-purpose machine oil like someone recommended. Isn’t that as good as WD-40? Should I be using something else?