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IBM ThinkPad A31 CPU Replacement

Device	IBM ThinkPad A31
Difficulty	Moderate
Time	15 minutes
Steps	14

This guide is by Thomas Stone on iFixit and is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0. ByteRot mirrors it for non-commercial preservation: formatting changed and photos resized for old browsers; full-size photos and the text are on the FTP in /DOCS/REPAIR. Original guide >>

Tools: iFixit Opening Tool; Phillips #1 Screwdriver; Flathead 3/32" or 2.5 mm Screwdriver

Step 1

• Remove the 6mm screw
• Pull out the hard drive
• REMINDER: The hard drive might be a little tough to pull out

Step 2

• CAUTION: The sticker is to keep the warranty on the laptop so once removed the warranty is void
• Peel the sticker and remove the 15mm screw
• Remove all 6 of the 16mm screws

Step 3

• use a prying tool and insert it on the cracks on the sides of the keyboard and lift gently until you here a click
• repeat this step on all sides of the keyboard until the keyboard is completely detached from the laptop

Step 4

• Lift the keyboard and remove the keyboard ribbon cable from the laptop

Step 5

• Remove the one 21mm screw
• Remove the 6mm screw

Step 6

• Take the tool and run it under the black case.

Step 7

• Unscrew the 2 (17mm) screws
• Unscrew the 6mm screw

Step 8

• Gently disconnect the white display ribbon cable
• CAUTION: Pulling on the ribbon cable too hard could result in worse or faulty connection.

Step 9

• Unscrew 4 (6mm) screws
• Lift screen straight up
• CAUTION: If not lifted straight up the screen could get damaged

Step 10

• Flip the ThinkPad over so that it is upside down.
• Push latch switch to the left.
• Gently lift the battery out and away from the ThinkPad
• NOTE: You have to hold the latch to the left while you remove the battery. Simply pushing once will not unlock the battery

Step 11