Is it possible/worth it to attempt to rebuild my Macbook?

[whwm01]

My Macbook unfortunately got a bit wet the other night for the second time in it's history. I really haven't had the time until today to get into the whole disassembling and cleaning/drying. While doing so I happened to break off one of the temperature sensor connectors that is attached to the logic board. I assume with this broken off my Macbook will now overheat, if it were to even work after put back together. I'm really not looking to spend $1500-2000 on a new Mac, and I refuse to go PC. If I were to go and order a new logic board on ebay for roughly $200-300, and a new cd-rom (since it's been broke for a good while now) what are the chances of it working?

What all is involved with putting a new logic board in? I have my whole Macbook apart now and I'm not worried at all about assembling it if I were to go and order a new logic board. Will I have to install a new OS after this? Also if my memory cards are still good, which they look to be just fine, will I be able to access work I've had on my Macbook prior?

All in all this seems like a cheaper route, though I'm just not sure if it's worth it...

 

[whwm01]

Also come to think of it, if I do go through and order a new logic board, how do I find out what version my Macbook is so I purchase the right board? I pitched the box and most of it's paperwork a long time ago and seeing I'm not able to turn this on...

 

[bigdaddyp]

My past experience, and yours may vary, is that with a broken or missing sensor the fan will spool up to full warp speed to insure proper cooling.

 

[l.a.rossmann]

I never do logic board replacements because this formula has held true every time.

X = value of your broken macbook, on ebay

Y = cost of macbook with similar specs, that works, off craigslist

Z = cost of logic board

Y - X < Z

 

[whwm01]

Well this really sucks... Is there any way I can access my memory if I get a new/used Macbook?

 

[l.a.rossmann]

Well this really sucks... Is there any way I can access my memory if I get a new/used Macbook?

Swap the drive from the old one to the new one.

It is both cheaper than, and easier than, attempting to repair the old machine.

 

[eman]

The logic board can still work with the heat sink connector broken. Your files are stored on the hard drive and not in memory. If your logic board still boots in the macbook and runs with the heat sink connector broken, use it.

 

[ouimetnick]

If it was the sensor attached to the heatsink, it should still boot. The fans may run at full speed, but it may not. The CPU, and Chipset have temp foods built in to themselves (you can see it or disconnect it). So the computer may just forget about the heatsink temp, and just care about the chip(s) temps.

 

[whwm01]

Ok well yesterday after cleaning the entire inside of my Macbook, I loosely put it back together just to see if it would do anything. Once everything was plugged back and in place, I plugged the power cord in and got the small red light to shine from it. This was a good sign seeing I got no light from it when I first got it wet. So I attempted to turn it on... Nothing. Tonight I was putzing around with it again some and found I missed a plug inside, so I plugged that in and then went and plugged the power cord back in only to find it not lighting up now. Why would this be?