Can anyone identify this noise?

[ebutt13]

Hi,

When I opened the lid of my Macbook Pro 2010 after sleep, I heard an odd chugging noise (I have attached a recording). I immediately feared that it may be the hard drive so I held down the power button. I then tried turning it on again, but the same noise occurred.

Does anybody know what it could be?

Thanks,

Ed

 

[simsaladimbamba]

It sounds like something is stuck in one of you fans.

Depending on what model you have, you can go to iFixIt and select almost any dismantling guide (like the RAM or HDD ones) to open the bottom plate and see for yourself, what might be stuck in there.

 

[ebutt13]

Thanks for your reply!

I think you may be right. I took out the hard drive and ran it externally without the noise. However, I can't see anything obstructing the fan.

 

[simsaladimbamba]

Thanks for your reply!

I think you may be right. I took out the hard drive and ran it externally without the noise. However, I can't see anything obstructing the fan.

You could use compressed air to clean the fan, even if nothing seems to obstructing it. Or maybe the fan is loose?

 

[ebutt13]

Would it be unwise to continue using the mac without removing the obstruction from the fan? I don't think I have any compressed air lying around...