Need serious advice. Fan problem and far from Home

[Punker]

Hi guys,

Sorry if this post is long.

I have a macbook pro 5,3. Bought in Canada in august 2009. 15" unibody, 2.8Ghz, 4G Ram. I love this machine even though im having quite a lot of problem with it. At first i had the beach ball problem, which was solved with a performance update recently. I started to love my macbook at this exact moment. I thought i was out of the woods.

6 weeks ago, i hear my left fan making a real loud noise, like it was touching the edges of something. I monitored the RPM of the fan with istat menu and it couldn't go faster than 2800RPM. It was a matter of days before the max was 100 RPMs. I made sure the computer didn't overheat. No games, and watching the temp closely.

3 weeks after buying the $3000 laptop, i moved to Vietnam. I will be there for about a year. Here there is no apple store (the closest in in Hong Kong), but they have some apple certified service providers.

I went to one. The guy opened the case in front of me. We saw that the fan was not spinning properly. He ordered one new. He changed it. I was so scare he'd drop it, scratch it or worse. I have been so freaking careful with this laptop. My career depends on it. He dropped screws, he wasn't using a wrist band, etc. My first thought was that he wasn't very professional.

Anyway, he changed the fan and from that moment everything went well...for 2 weeks. Now the same thing is happening again. The noise is so loud sometimes, it sounds like an helicopter. Also when i boot the laptop sometimes it takes up to 5 mins before the fan actually decide to start and still cant get it higher than 2000 RPMs

I went to see him back. He's telling me he want to keep it for a day or 2, need to test the logic board to make sure it has nothing to do with the logic board.

I dont feel confident leaving him my laptop but i guess i dont have any choice. I'm not confident because last time i went to see him he opened the case again, unplugged the right fan (the working one) to test it (the broken one) into the socket of the right fan (same results, the fan is not spinning normally) and when i left the store i realize that he FORGOT to replug the fan... I went back the same night to see him replug it. Normal mistake ? I think not....

My other option is the wait until i get back to Canada...but thats in a long time.

In any case, im buying Apple Care before august to extend my warranty. (I have until 1 year after the purchase date to buy one right ?)

So i guess my post is more of a rant since i dont think there is any real solution for me

I cant afford losing the computer for 6-8 weeks. I dont want them to ship it to singapore or hong kong for what seems like a simple fan problem.

Should io leave it to him to do some testing ?
Anyone had this problem before ?
Can it be really related to the logic board ? I mean the fan itself makes noise and its spinning....

Sorry this post is very long....

 

[ViciousShadow21]

see above

the interesting thing about this is you said he put the left fan into the right fan (working one) and it worked fine.

that leads me to believe that it is a motor and/or mount problem. someone correct me if im wrong but im pretty sure that is part of the logic board and can only be replaced by getting a whole new one.

 

[Punker]

i'd really like to have other points of view.

Anyone?

 

[thejadedmonkey]

I agree with ViciousShadow21.

If your computer is that essential to your job, then you should always have a backup. Where I work, we keep all of our hardware for an extra upgrade cycle so that if a computer breaks, we just swap it with the previous one that person was using. You would be wise to do have a spare.

Oh, and don't sweat the guy you're taking it to. The computer is a machine, not your baby, and who cares if they scratch it or dent it? You ring up Apple, complain, and they fix it. If it takes a while to get fixed then so what, that's why you have a spare machine.

 

[DoNoHarm]

i had the exact same problem while working at a hospital in Turkey. I would call applecare over skype and ask them what to do. make sure they document your situation in their notes. see if they can cover your cost at the apple authorized repair center under applecare. after that, if they screw up the repair at this shady place, apple will be liable under their warranty. back up your data. you never know if it's a hard drive problem or if it is a fan problem, it may screw up other components like the hard drive. I would also consider shipping the computer to the applecare facility on your own dime as a worst case scenario.

 

[Dozerrox]

Have you tried calling apple to see what they recommend?

 

[barkomatic]

I know its an expensive proposition, but thejadedmonkey is right. If your computer is essential to your job you need a backup. If I were you I'd go out to an Apple authorized reseller and pick up a new macbook in Vietnam if you can, then take your primary machine in for repair.

If you're uncomfortable with this guy--Is there another authorized repair center you could take your computer to?