This MacBook Pro had a trackpad that would randomly go nuts. It would be working normally, then suddenly the cursor would be going all over the place. Then it might settle down. I disconnected the trackpad from the logic board and connected a mouse and it worked fine.
So at this point, the logical answer is that it needs a new trackpad. But I had a hunch it did not. This computer is not the cleanest machine I’ve ever seen. So I removed the track pad and cleaned a lot of gunk from the edges of the top case where the trackpad sits, and the edges of the trackpad itself.
I reinstalled the trackpad and presto! Perfect tracking, no more freak outs. I used the paper trick to get it spaced just right and all is well!
Well, almost all…..
Trackpad no longer clicks! Now I know all about that click-adjustment screw. I did not touch it at all. Yet the click that was clicking fine is now gone. So I tried to adjust it but that introduced a new problem: that screw was CRAZY stuck. I tried as hard as I could to not strip it, but alas, it stripped without budging a bit.
So this is where i’m stuck. It is useable with tap-to-click and three-finger-drag enabled, but it sure would be nice to get the click working again! Replacing the trackpad won’t even help at this point. I would need a new top case to solve this problem. In theory I could try drilling out the screw since it’s exposed on both sides, but I’m not at all confident that procedure would go well and not cause more problems like a slipped drill breaking something or metal shavings shorting something.