ibook G4 - Touchpad behavior

I'm trying to spruce up a 14" iBook G4 that our family has been using. I've re-installed OS X, wiped the hard drive, and ordered a new battery.

The machine is running much better now, but the touchpad is a problem. We've been using a wireless USB mouse, as the touchpad has been unresponsive/erratic. I used iKlear to clean it, and it suddenly worked like a charm. However, about 24 hour later, the touchpad stopped working. I cleaned it with iKlear, and it began working again. The same pattern has developed for several days in a row.

Today the cleaning trick wouldn't work, and the touchpad remained unresponsive. However, it is now working perfectly again.

Any ideas on what this might be? I took it to Tekserve, and they ran a lot of tests on it and felt it wasn't the logic board. They suggested reinstalling OS X, which I did, but that hasn't help keep the touchpad's behavior consistent.

I'm not looking to invest a lot more into this iBook. But should I buy a new touchpad and install? Or is there something else we could try? Some other way to clean it? Software ideas?

Thanks!

iBookG4user said:

Have you checked that the trackpad connector is firmly connected to the logic board?

Click to expand...

That is a very good thought. I'm surprised Tekserve didn't suggest it! I guess the only way to do that is to take the iBook apart, yes? Having never done this, is it terribly difficult? And if I do it, is there anything else I should check while I've got the top off?