Can my MBP be saved? Help!

[Techichi]

Hi everyone, I already booked an appointment at the Apple Genius Bar regarding this problem but there is a long waiting list so I'm trying to see what I can do on my own first.

I bought my MacBook Pro back in 2008 and overall I treated it extremely well, except for an accident in which I spilled a soft drink over the trackpad a few months ago, leaving the area somewhat sticky but with no apparent further damage. However, just the other day I had closed the MBP's lid as I usually do and plugged in my iPhone to charge and noticed that the iPhone wasn't charging at all. I then realised that my MBP had basically turned itself off somehow and no matter what I do to turn it back on again, nothing seems to be working! When I press the power button, the little light at the front of the machine flashes for what seems to be one second and then turns off again. I've also tried keeping the power button pressed down for a few seconds but with no changes, the light flashes but it's as if the laptop doesn't have enough energy to start up.

I tried all the suggestions available on the Apple Support website, including resetting the SMC and PRAM, although none of these seem to help since I can only keep my MBP on for less than one second. I tried taking out the battery and pressing the power button for 15 seconds like some people advised me to do. I don't know what else to try...

It doesn't seem to be a graphic card problem since the whole machine doesn't seem to be able to boot and it's most likely not a battery issue since it doesn't work not even when it's connected using the power cable. What can it be? Since I don't have Apple Care, how much would I have to pay to fix such problem?

Thank you in advance for your help.

P.S. Would I be able to save all the files and documents present on my MBP in case the machine itself was beyond saving? Would the guys at Apple actually be able to transfer the data to a new laptop or an external hard drive?

 

[iSpoody 1243]

well it seems like your logic board is bust.
at this point unless the soda went into your lappy you should be fine in the applestore.
if there is soda residue they will probably try and charge you a grand for repair.
it seems if you want your data from the hard drive you need to either repair it or take the hard drive out and plug it into another computer.

 

[Techichi]

Thanks for your reply. So, Apple could repair my laptop free of charge even if I haven't paid for Apple Care, is that correct? However, a few months ago I had to see one of the Genius guys because of the soda issue, they might have recorded information about that problem and therefore I could not pretend that it never happened...

 

[runebinder]

It depends, do you have the early 2008 model with the 8600M or the late model with the 9600M? As far as I'm aware there has been no extension of warranty on the late 2008.

 

[iSpoody 1243]

really depends on how lucky you are!
see what the applecare person says

 

[Techichi]

I'm not entirely sure. I just checked my receipt for the MBP and I noticed an item "APP MacBook Pro-RAE" which expires in July 2011. Not sure if this is some kind of warranty of some sort. I guess I'll only know my MBP's fate when I bring it to the Apple Store, next week.

 

[jackiecanev2]

Wirelessly posted (iPhone 3Gs: Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; U; Android 2.2; en-us; Nexus One Build/FRF50) AppleWebKit/533.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile Safari/533.1)

Check to see when your applecare expires. If you don't have applecare, they will not do it for free, pretty much no matter what. If you do have applecare and the soda didn't trip the liquid sensor and there's no residue, and you have applecare, they might cover it. And if you tripped the sensor then you're SOL and any applecare you may have had is void now. Sorry man.

 

[Reapur]

Just a tip for the soda, get some rubbing alcohol and some cotton balls, soak the cotton balls in the rubbing alcohol and rub the area dissolving the sugars so its not sticky anymore.

 

[Techichi]

Thank you everyone for your suggestions!

I brought my MBP to a local Apple shop to be repaired. I am still under AppleCare so hopefully it's going to be free, unless of course they notice any liquid damage. The guy working at the shop suggested it might be a hard drive failure...Does that sound like a possibility? He didn't seem to be an expert...

In any case I am hoping that I'll be able to save all my old files no matter what happens. I'll make sure to back up regularly in the future.

I also asked them if they could replace my battery since it doesn't seem to last more than 20 mins on its own. From your experience does Apple tend to do that for free when under warranty?

 

[Collider]

I also asked them if they could replace my battery since it doesn't seem to last more than 20 mins on its own. From your experience does Apple tend to do that for free when under warranty?

If I understand their policy correctly, it depends on the state of your battery -- if it's showing less than 80% health after less than 300 cycles, that qualifies for a repair under your warranty. Otherwise, I believe they will charge you for it.