macbook 13 fan

[MacMandoPro13]

This is my first post, might I add that I LOVE this site. I've resolved many of my macs issues from this site.

Specs:
Macbook Pro 13" (mid 2010)
WD Scorpio Black 500 gb 7200 RPM
Crucial 8gb memory

Problem:
Fan reads 0 rpm on istat menus, istat nano, fan control, and SMCfan control.
My fan is certainly running, and my guess was that these applications weren't reading the fan bc macbooka only have one. But, here's the kicker, when I try to run Apple Hardware Test to see what comes up, my macbook shuts down within 5 - 10 min. of the test. This is what really has me worried, this must mean my macbook runs too hot during the AHT and that the fan's not doing its job. There's no apple store remotely close to where I live and I've upgraded the HDD and memory myself. Does it sound like I may need a new fan? Should istat and other apps pick up the fan sensor? I've been wanting to open it up and see but thought I should consult first as to what to look for.

I also, most of the time, use an external cooling pad.

 

[GGJstudios]

Try resetting the SMC.

 

[MacMandoPro13]

SMC nope

Unfortunately, resetting the SMC did not work
Everything still reads 0rpm, I'd really like to run the AHT again, but afraid it will just shut down on me again.
Thanks for your suggestion!

 

[GGJstudios]

Unfortunately, resetting the SMC did not work
Everything still reads 0rpm, I'd really like to run the AHT again, but afraid it will just shut down on me again.
Thanks for your suggestion!

I'd take it to Apple.

 

[MacMandoPro13]

Apple Store in a land far, far away

Apple Store is FAAAAAR away, closest one is five hours away
There's a local "Macologist" in town, I guess I'll have to seek him out.
Thanks for your help

 

[MacMandoPro13]

help?

I think I may just replace the fan, it's super expensive, $50 on ifixit.com, can't even find new ones onling. all used

 

[CubeHacker]

Not to question your intelligence, but how do you know that the fan is "certainly running"? Does it still spin up during CPU intensive activities? Can you feel the hot air being expelled from the rear? The fan should ALWAYS be running at ~2000rpm, and sometimes the sound of the hard drive spinning can be confused for the fan spinning.

I believe in all macs, the firmware tells the fans to spin up to max (about 6000-6500rpm) if it can't detect a speed reading from the sensor in the fan. Think of it as sort of a fail safe device. If the sensor was simply bad (thus your 0rpm reading in istat), then fans would probably be running very fast and loud, and its unlikely your computer would be overheating if the fans are running in their failsafe mode. Its more likely that the fan itself really isn't spinning. Unless of course the temperature sensor is bad, which can probably be determined by checking the temperature readings from your CPU in istat.

 

[MacMandoPro13]

Fixed

Thanks for your input CubeHacker, I took everything you said into consideration and decided to pop open my macbook (I've done so twice before to upgrade HDD and memory) and take a peek around. I disconnected the fan (didn't remove screws) and reconnected it. Now my istat reads 1999 - 2005 rpms. It seems like the connection loosened somehow, I do travel with it a lot from work to home and home to work. Anyhow, that might've been it. Usually at start up I'd find the temperature anywhere between 129 F - 153 F, right now it's been around 104 F - 109 F