Intermittent Display, possibly caused by overheating?
Macbook Pro 15" 2.53GHz
Need help diagnosing this workhorse's problem! The facts:
- The display screen will flash and often settle in to a magenta-striped mode. Legible, but not lovely.
- After being powered down for about 24 hrs and restarted, the display was ok for almost a minute.
- Display does not change when hinge is moved.
- Apple Genius ran diagnostics and concluded says the problem is LCD display itself (a pricey repair).
- Laptop has been getting quite hot for 3-4 months.
- Fans used to come on at high speed (particularly when playing video) but are no longer heard from.
- External monitor works fine.
The questions:
- What should I try replacing first: the display cable, fans, or screen itself?
- Could some other component be at fault?
I've done a fair amount of repair, Lombard through iBook, and iPhone3, including a display replacement. But this would be my first time tackling an aluminum unibody. Would love to know what the problem is before I go too deep.
Oh - one more thing: this display assembly was installed by Apple under warranty just over two years ago, due to an original manufacturing flaw involving hinge failures. I assume the display cable was part of that - but possibly not?
Thanks, ifixit - you're the best!
crwdns2934109:0crwdne2934109:0
crwdns2944067:06crwdne2944067:0
what are the last three digits of your serial number? This will enable us to properly identify your computer
crwdns2934271:0crwdnd2934271:0 oldturkey03 crwdne2934271:0
Thanks, Dan, & Old Turkey. The system serial # ends in "1GN" and the HD is an original Hitachi 320GB, I believe - the Serial ATA (NVidia) info says "negotiated link speed 1.5 Gigabit."
I like the idea of cleaning up first, and will definitely try! However, the external monitor display I used (HDMI) looks pretty good. The internal LCD is also flickering - like bad video sync, or something - but the effect is consistent across the whole screen (not like getting big vertical bars or dropouts).
crwdns2934271:0crwdnd2934271:0 Jen Morris crwdne2934271:0
Wow - I just watched it go from psychedelic magenta flashing, to nice quiet totally sane display - and I've done nothing. This has got to be fixable.
crwdns2934271:0crwdnd2934271:0 Jen Morris crwdne2934271:0
Jen Morris, does this look right
Intro Date: October 14, 2008 Disc Date: March 3, 2009
Order No: MB471LL/A Model No: A1286 (EMC 2255)
Subfamily: Late 2008 Model ID: MacBookPro5,1
Std RAM: 4 GB Std VRAM: 512 MB*
Std Storage: 320 GB (5400 RPM) Std Optical: 8X DL "SuperDrive"
Complete MacBook Pro "Core 2 Duo" 2.53 15" (Unibody) Specs
crwdns2934271:0crwdnd2934271:0 oldturkey03 crwdne2934271:0
Wait - I did do something. I've used an iSkin keyboard cover for the past couple of year (preventive medicine for a coffee drinker). And I took it off just before the display began to behave again. Could it be that this has been blocking proper ventilation? It's a backlit keyboard, and the iSkin also leave a kind of sticky film (silicone, I think) on the keys.
crwdns2934271:0crwdnd2934271:0 Jen Morris crwdne2934271:0
crwdns2934273:01crwdne2934273:0