Urgent: Time period for laptop spills?

[sarika]

A year and a half ago I spilt a little juice onto my mac laptop, although after cleaning up the mess, the laptop seemed to be working fine. Moreover, I took the laptop to the ICT department (They are responsible for providing warranties in the event of damage), and after I voiced my worries about the effect of the spill on the laptop, they did a quick software check and said all was fine (without looking through the hardware).
Now, more than a year later, I have been experiencing problems with my mac. It will not boot up (no chiming sound present), and the white screen with the apple logo and scroll was always present, not letting me log in. After taking my laptop to the ICT, they said it was a 'liquid spill' problem, and in the event that they cannot get the laptop to function, it will not classify under the warranty.
So here is my question: Can a laptop spill that happened a year and a half ago really cause problems NOW? And should the school ICT be held accountable for this, as they informed me that my laptop was properly functioning and prevented me from taking any further measures?
PS: Could this be a software issue: this has happened to a few friends and the ICT seemed to fix it without harming the hardware of the computer.

 

[phoenixsan]

It is my experience....

what a liquid spill shows the damage soon. Not after a year or so. But I had meet occasions where a old spill damages components after time and makes the damage. It is a good thing you dont rule out a software problem, better yet you have knowledge of another users having problems.

 

[benwiggy]

Without physically assessing the machine, it's impossible to say. It could be a software problem; it could be a hardware problem. The hardware problem could be related to the spill; it could be unrelated.
Take it to someone who can have a look over it. If not the ICT boys, then someone else.