Pressure on case Causes no Wi-Fi + 6000RPM

[sjjubb1989]

Hello,
I just took apart my Macbook Pro Unibody (13 in 2009) and put new thermal paste on. The tear-down was flawless, but upon putting the laptop back together I immediately noticed an issue.

At first, the fans ran at 6000RPM immediately under startup, and there is no Airport installed according to Mac OS. I took apart the computer and put it back together again, and this time I had normal fan, until I put any slight amount of pressure on the case which causes it to immediately go to 6000RPM. I did a SMC & PRAM reset, and it solved the no wireless card for a boot cycle. Also, the computer did not shut off, but kept on restarting when I clicked shut down. It turned itself off, and immediately back on.

I then performed another teardown today and loosened the screws on the heatsink I believe I may have tightened them too much. Now I kept the screws at a reasonable torque, and put it together again and WIFI showed up for one boot cycle, and then stopped working. The computer shuts off now, but I still have an issue with my fan's turning up to 6000RPM when I have pressure. In addition, I noticed when I put pressure on my case, my CPU, Heatsink B, and Northbridge temperature drop to -128C, while the fan runs at 6000RPM.

Does anybody have any ideas for a solution to this problem?

 

[haruhiko]

Hello,
I just took apart my Macbook Pro Unibody (13 in 2009) and put new thermal paste on. The tear-down was flawless, but upon putting the laptop back together I immediately noticed an issue.

At first, the fans ran at 6000RPM immediately under startup, and there is no Airport installed according to Mac OS. I took apart the computer and put it back together again, and this time I had normal fan, until I put any slight amount of pressure on the case which causes it to immediately go to 6000RPM. I did a SMC & PRAM reset, and it solved the no wireless card for a boot cycle. Also, the computer did not shut off, but kept on restarting when I clicked shut down. It turned itself off, and immediately back on.

I then performed another teardown today and loosened the screws on the heatsink I believe I may have tightened them too much. Now I kept the screws at a reasonable torque, and put it together again and WIFI showed up for one boot cycle, and then stopped working. The computer shuts off now, but I still have an issue with my fan's turning up to 6000RPM when I have pressure. In addition, I noticed when I put pressure on my case, my CPU, Heatsink B, and Northbridge temperature drop to -128C, while the fan runs at 6000RPM.

Does anybody have any ideas for a solution to this problem?

It seems that your MBP's heat sensors have problems.

 

[T5BRICK]

Just curious, why did you reapply thermal paste? Was it overheating?

For the record, my mid-2009 13" MBP has always run very hot, but I've never had a crash or kernel panic.

 

[sjjubb1989]

I reapplied because it was running way too hot at idle, now my idle is around 5C cooler, but of course it wasn't worth my set of problems that came with the reapplication of thermal paste.

 

[mape2k]

Seems like you accidentally damaged both the heat sensors and the connection to the Wifi module and not like a software problem at all.
I am not firm in the hardware of MBPs, so you might want to get it checked at an independent Apple repair shop (if you have any available in your region/city).

Maybe its just a matter of re-soldering some connections..

 

[Dangerous Theory]

Is the laptop now running any cooler on idle that you can personally tell? I just wonder if the thermal paste wasn't applied accurately/substantially enough, or whether there is a genuine problem with the heat sensors. I think the fact that the WiFi started messing up indicates that you possibly did upset connections somewhere along the line. You said the tear down was flawless, which looks as though you knew what you were doing, so I'm not sure if I can tell you something more than you already know. Is there a possibility of static damage? I think that is very unlikely. I hear how you should always have perfect grounding and remove residual static but I never make much effort and haven't had problems on the occasions I've messed with computer circuitry.

Maybe its just a matter of re-soldering some connections..

Unless there are damaged traces, then it won't even be worth it.

 

[sjjubb1989]

There appear to be no damaged solder areas, however I'm sure a microscope may reveal more. The wires do not appear damaged, however I've taken apart Macs before and know how finicky they are to any small thing done wrong, so it is possible that the wifi wire is damaged.

The one thing I did do is press down with my finger on the little gold contacts that appear to touch the bottom case when the case is on (during the first teardown) and discovered that they are like springs. They all spring up, and I cleaned it with a lint free rag and some alcohol before closing the case to remove my finger oil. I wonder if touching those could have been a cause. Does anybody know what the little gold prongs are? Heat sensors possibly? It's the only thing that I can think of that would affect the fan when pressure is applied to the top of the case.