Clutch cover replacement leads to no backlight

[Shed209]

I replaced the gnarly clutch cover on my 2011 Macbook Pro 17 (something I've done several times before on other MBPs), but to my considerable disappointment, putting it all back together I get no display backlight any more. I say no backlight because shining a torch into it, I can see the vague image of the login screen, and the machine is also doing everything else it should be (chiming, keyboard backlight comes on after a while).

I've tried resetting the PRAM, with no success, and I've tried reseating the LCD plug in the socket about 10 times, also with no effect.

Can anyone offer any advice on fixing this?

 

[Shadow Jolteon]

It could be that the part of the cable that carries power to the backlight was worn out a bit before you replaced the clutch cover, and that put it over the edge. Additionally, if the cable was nicked by anything or if something on the logic board got shorted somehow (something metal touching it), that could cause the backlight to not work.

A couple other things you can try would be an SMC reset, and, I'm guessing you already tried, but: turn the brightness up on the keyboard.

If you happen to have a spare similar MacBook Pro somewhere, you could also hook the display cable up the the logic board of the other machine to test whether it is an issue with the LCD assembly, or with the machine itself.

 

[Shed209]

Are the LCDs broadly interchangeable, for example, would the LCD of a 2011 MBP 15 be able to plug into the logic board of the MBP 17?

 

[Shadow Jolteon]

It's been a couple years since I was regularly repairing these machines, but I believe the LVDS cable on the 15-inch and 17-inch models are a different size, so it probably won't work, unfortunately.

 

[Shed209]

I was able to borrow the screen from another Macbook and the problem was the same - no backlight. So I bought a multimeter and probed the ends of the tiny fuse that I gather is the backlight fuse.

https://imgur.com/a/qMHUs7g

It is reading no connection, so I think the fuse has blown.

What are the prospects for me changing this fuse myself, given that I do not have a huge amount of soldering experience? It is very small and surrounded by other components. I have a basic soldering station that looks exactly like this

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Eagle-Adju...=1526163268&sr=1-6&keywords=48+solder+station

And I also bough a flux pen, some 22 gauge leaded solder and some desoldering wick. I also have a basic hot air station that I bought years ago and a solder sucker.