DIY: Replacing the fan on Sony Vaio VGN-SZ

I have put together a DIY for replacing a fan for Sony VGN-SZ series. My particular laptop is VGN-SZ330p; however, it should be similar for other laptops from the series.
VGN-SZ is a great laptop, light and powerful. However, many users (me included) start complaining about the noisy cooling fan. The fan (part number is MCF-519PAM05, made by Toshiba) can be bought for around $30 (I bought mine on ebay).
Before we begin, I have to warn you: even though the process it straightforward, you have to be careful when disassembling: don’t mix up screws (put them on a clean piece of with a minimum diagram of where each screw goes), don’t use excessive force, and be careful not to drop a loose screw inside the laptop, where it can get trapped, requiring you to repeat part of the disassembly procedure).

Warning: I cannot be held responsible for any damage – proceed at your own risk.

Tools needed:
1. Small Phillips screwdriver (preferable with magnetic tip, makes things much easier);
2. small flat screwdriver;
3. (optional) tweezers;
4. Thermal paste for CPU;
5. Krazy (or any other you prefer) glue
6. Fingernails (can’t do without them to open some tiny latches and pull connectors).
7. MCF-519PAM05 fan.
8. A few hours of your time. Be patient and gentle, don’t rush things (sounds like a date advice, doesn’t it? )

As a beginning part, please follow a great disassembly DIY posted here, up to and including Step 14 (removing the palm rest), with some notes:
1. Step 7: No need to unscrew two screws securing memory compartment (circled in red)
2. Omit step 10 (removing memory modules).
3. I also did steps 15 and 16 (unscrewing and removing HDD assembly), that’s why you will not see HDD on some of my pictures. These two steps are not needed (unless you want to change HDD as well).
Once you are done with removing the keyboard, the heat sink with the cover, the switch cover, and the palm rest, please follow the steps below.

Step 1.
A. Remove one screw securing lug terminal;
B. Remove one screw securing small IFX board; then pull the board to the right and up to let it hang loose from its wire (see next picture);
C. Raise metal wire latch and pull it up to disconnect LCD cable from the motherboard; remove the cable from its groove (peeling black tape if necessary)



Here is the picture of the small board hanging from its wire



Step 2. Remove wireless card. First, use a small flat screwdriver to unlatch two metal latches on the right hand side of the card. The right side of the card will pop up due to a small spring underneath. Then, gently pull the card to the right to release it from its connector on the left-hand side. Then, peel off the black tape securing gray and black wires in their grooves.
Note: on this picture (as well as few others), the HDD is removed. You don’t need to do that unless you are replacing HDD as well.



Step 3. Detach the LCD screen from the base by removing 4 screws (2 on the left, and 2 on the right). Put the screen next to the base and cover it with a piece of paper (as you will put several parts on it in the next few steps)





Step 4. Make sure you remove the memory stick adapter from the right side (red arrow). Then, remove 9 screws securing the motherboard cover.



Step 5.
A. Remove 2 screws securing ANL-66 board.
B. Peel off the translucent tape, raise a plastic latch with your fingernail, and remove the cable by pulling in the direction of the arrow.
C. Carefully lift up the ANL-66 board and 2 black speakers to the left and right of it. Note: there is a cable secured by a black tape underneath the board (toward the left side); you may have to peel the tape off with the small flat screwdriver as you are lifting the board.



Step 6. Lift the motherboard cover, and detach the black wire running through its top right corner to the motherboard by pulling on the white connector with your fingernails (I found it easier to lift the cover first in order to reach the connector). Note: On the picture below you will see the 3 screws (above the connector) that should have been removed by now.



Step 7. Remove the battery cover on the rear. To do that, first remove two screws on the left side.



Then, remove the cover by gently prying it from the bottom. There are two latches, one on the left, and one on the right.

Step 8. Remove one screw securing the optical drive, and unplug the optical drive by pulling it to the right at places shown by yellow arrows (use your fingernails or flat screwdriver to pry it little by little). Move the drive just enough to disconnect it from the motherboard.



On this picture you see the optical drive disconnected from the motherboard.



Step 09. Remove one screw securing a small board below the motherboard. Raise the board slightly to release it from the plastic guides, and let it hang loose.



Step 10. Remove one screw securing another small board below the optical drive. Peel of the black tape securing the wire connecting the board to the motherboard; let the board hang loose.



Step 11. Now we need to unplug a bunch of different connectors from the motherboard. I grouped them by the type of the connector.
A. Unplug one connector at the top by gently pulling by its board (both sides) with your fingernails. Be gentle, pull by a few millimeters at a time with a rocking motion.
B. There are two connectors at the bottom left part secured together by tape. On the picture below the right one is removed since it is part of HDD. If you did not remove HDD, you need to unplug both connectors by pulling each of them with your fingernail. You may want to peel the tape from the right (smaller) connector, to make the unplugging easier.
C. Unplug the strip cord on the left by pulling it to the left.
D. 3 connectors: pop up the latch by your fingernail; remove the cord from the connector in the direction of an arrow.
E. Unplug two connectors by pulling them with your fingernails.



Step 12. Remove 3 screws securing the motherboard. There is another screw under the square orange sheet in the middle of the motherboard. Peel of the sheet, remove the screw.



Step 13. Remove 3 screws securing the heat sink.



Now you can lift the motherboard. Turn it upside down.

Step 14. Remove a screw and unplug the power connector. Carefully peel the copper foil from the fan (leave the foil on the heat sink).



The fan is secured to the heat sink by three plastic pins, which are melted to the metal holes in the heat sink. You need to pry the fan with a knife or a flat screwdriver (actually, I was able to manage with my hands only) to break pins loose. Now remove the fan.

Assembly is the reverse of disassembly. Several notes:

1. After putting the new fan into place, glue it to the heat sink with Krazy glue. You can melt plastic pins with a soldering iron if you so desire. I did not feel a need for that, gluing it along its edge works just fine.
2. Don’t forget to tuck the power cable behind the hook in the fan.
3. Remove the old thermal paste, and apply a thin layer of the new one to the back heat sink in the prior-to-last step of assembly (from the link from insidemylaptop).