Good job on the repair. I have the same exact laptop with the same issue described here. Under any kind of load my CPU temps will jump to 100C!!! At idle, it's about 50C, but the moment I start scrolling, or open an app, the temps spike enough to thermal throttle the CPU badly. With this video, all I did was re-apply the thermal paste to the CPU, GPU, and air blast the dust out of all area's. It's now running about 73C under load which I'll take, I'm very happy with the results and could not have done it without this video. Thank you!
Thank you for your guide! Helped me to disassemble my W540 to replace the thermal material and clean out the chassis and fan of dust (for the first time in 6 years I assume). Happy to say the machine now runs 10-14°C cooler under my usual load. (from 66-70 avg to 50-54 avg.
thank you for this video, replaced the fan yesterday of my w541 and was a piece of cake because of your video. Hardest part was finding the replacement fan itselves (found it on aliexpress eventually) Dear people, be aware there are 2 heatsink models, one for the k1100 and the other one for the k2100. Check first which one your laptop has installed (bios of in your OS hardware settings) and order the correct heatsink.
This is perfect. You sure know what you are doing. It's difficult to find video recorded so well. It's not too fast. I can understand you. I subscribed and liked. Thank you for sharing your expertise.
Hello, thanks for your very helpfull video. I now need to replace my w-541-fan/heatsink too and searching for a matching part... I saw in your video that you replaced a BLUE labeled fan/heatsink (with 6 wires in the 8-pin-connector) with a ORANGE labeled one (with only 5 wires). So all worked properly after that change so one can switch between orange and blue labeled replacement parts ?? Thanks a lot.
Thank you for your tutorial. It was very very helpful. I was able to take apart and clean my W541. Along the way I fixed a speaker and a RAM dock which restored my computer to original stare. There is another video the has good camera work about the same but it is in Vietnamese. You make good videos and make TH-cam worthwhile. All the best.
My W540 fan makes an awful noise when it throttles, so much vibration it sounds like revving a small Japanese truck. Lucky for me it's still working for now till I get a new fan, guessing this model has the exact same insides as a W540? Really Informative video thank you
This was an excellent, comprehensive video Tim, it is GREATLY appreciated! I need to replace a fan/heatsink in an older Lenovo model and wanted to see what process you use for that. One question: where do you normally source your laptop parts from? Thanks so much!!
Thank you so much! This video really helped me deal with my laptop's issue. I have the same laptop and it's quite old (5+ years old), and recently it has been overheating a lot. The fan works, but it's not effective. After some research, I discovered that my problem is not from the fan or the heatsink, but rather the thermal paste. It is old, dry and cracked and just needed replacment.
Great video, looking at giving my w541 an overhaul starting with replacing the thermal paste, could you or anyone tell me if this is thick pads or will I be able to use the liquid gel paste and it squashes right down with the screws.
Thank you very much for your guide. I have one problem with my Lap W541 ThinkPad, while I try to power on the lap the fan try to start then stopped and the display still black and the led of the power on is lighting, I press to reset and try again and again , I repeat again and again until start. can you help me . thank you in advance.
Hi Brian, thank you for the very clear step by step tutorial. My ThinkPad w541 fan is running very often even when I close it in standby position. Do you think it is because of the dust? In this case, is it possible to clean up without disassembling completely it?
I have the same laptop. Today I got notification that due to updates i have to restart the laptop. I clicked *update and shut down.* Then by air spray i cleaned fan holes. But now it doesn't turn on anymore. In the screen appears *Fan Error* and then laptop shut down by itself. The fan was always noisy. By these information, can you tell should I buy a new fan? Are you sure your Amazon link works? I clicked on it but it's looks like i end up in Amazon main page? Do you have fan for Lenovo Thinkpad w541? Thanks.
Nice video. My W540 is now in a state where it senses that i am about to watch a video. I can actually feel hot airflow, but i think it may need cleaning and a new good thermal paste. I have bought some best in review "gaming" paste. My only problem now - as a former Apple tech - is that i am getting painful flashbacks to the pre 2008 Macbooks before the unibody. But of course... The one computer i have with heat issues is also the one that needs to be taken apart on atomic level to repaste. But good machines are worth it. That's why i am keep repasting my 2011 17" MacBook Pro with the haunted AMD GPU now and then. Don't know about Lenovo, but Apples stock paste is really crap.
At 6:04 next to the laptop tray there is a weird gray plastic hole. I dropped a screw in there. I tried to shake it out but it stopped rattling. It must have wedged itself somewhere. I have been using the laptop and it works fine, but if the screw becomes dislodged is it possible for it to damage the computer? Does that hole lead to the motherboard?
@@TimsComputerRepair lol me neither. After really reviewing the video it seems it drops somewhere between the board and the magnesium piece that does not seem to be removable. I guess I will just knock on wood and hope for the best. Thanks for the awesome video though. Couldn't have done it without you.
@@TimsComputerRepair Do you mean when am I on or do a live Stream? I've been doing Friday's at 11pm. All about guitars. I've pretty much dedicated myself to learning how to play guitar that last 4 years. I'll be retiring Next August. We have the house up for sale now. We want to downgrade. I have to much house and yard to up keep up.
@itsBBIGTIMMYC I actually did a CPU replacement on my laptop, and the answer is yes. You have to remove the wi-fi cables to remove the display, and you to remove the display to replace the CPU.
Great Video thanks so much, but for a company that's always showing off the "THINK" , they didn't think at all on making thins simple, you have to get the entire thing ripped apart at almost a molecular level, just to replace the effing paste.
The design in these models are terrible for simple operations like thermal repasting and fan replacement. I also hate to mess around with rerouting cables. Very good video u have there. Try to make some better angles to see exactly what you re doing. I couldnt see well when you were puting tgose cables back in place. Thank you
@@TimsComputerRepair Decided not to wait for your response and just continued without detaching the cable. That created some additional nuisance, yet I was able to successfully get to the bottom of it and replace the dried out thermopaste. Thanks for a great tutorial, I would have never accomplished this task without it!
damn this design sucks. i thought thinkpads were easy to service! i own a t440p, which is very easy to open. recommended a t540p for a friend, but it seems that was a mistake
I'm a tech but if I would have been smart and looked up disassembly before I bought my W541 I would have went with something else if I knew about all the cable routing and adhesive covered screws etc. Ugh. And that "inventive" keyboard frame sliding mechanism is the most cancerous thing I've ever seen. I needed 3 different screwdrivers just to get this thing apart and i accidentally broke off one of my keys. Never again.
@@TimsComputerRepair Yeah, it's not the end of the world, it's just way more intensive than I had hoped compared to my other laptops. That being said, I got my W541 for a couple hundred bucks barely used with a i7-4810MQ, 32 gigs of ram, and the lower-tier Quadro in it and it's been a FANTASTIC laptop functionality wise. It's a great machine. Especially runs Linux well. Edit: And it had a 500gb SSD in it!
Good job on the repair. I have the same exact laptop with the same issue described here. Under any kind of load my CPU temps will jump to 100C!!! At idle, it's about 50C, but the moment I start scrolling, or open an app, the temps spike enough to thermal throttle the CPU badly. With this video, all I did was re-apply the thermal paste to the CPU, GPU, and air blast the dust out of all area's. It's now running about 73C under load which I'll take, I'm very happy with the results and could not have done it without this video. Thank you!
Glad the video helped.
Thank you for your guide! Helped me to disassemble my W540 to replace the thermal material and clean out the chassis and fan of dust (for the first time in 6 years I assume). Happy to say the machine now runs 10-14°C cooler under my usual load. (from 66-70 avg to 50-54 avg.
Great to hear!
I really cannot thank you enough. I just did an exceptional good job with my trusted W541 thanks to YOUR video.
Great to hear!
thank you for this video, replaced the fan yesterday of my w541 and was a piece of cake because of your video.
Hardest part was finding the replacement fan itselves (found it on aliexpress eventually)
Dear people, be aware there are 2 heatsink models, one for the k1100 and the other one for the k2100.
Check first which one your laptop has installed (bios of in your OS hardware settings) and order the correct heatsink.
Glad it helped
This is perfect. You sure know what you are doing. It's difficult to find video recorded so well. It's not too fast. I can understand you. I subscribed and liked. Thank you for sharing your expertise.
Thanks for watching and commenting.
Hello, thanks for your very helpfull video. I now need to replace my w-541-fan/heatsink too and searching for a matching part...
I saw in your video that you replaced a BLUE labeled fan/heatsink (with 6 wires in the 8-pin-connector) with a ORANGE labeled one (with only 5 wires). So all worked properly after that change so one can switch between orange and blue labeled replacement parts ?? Thanks a lot.
Thanks for the excellent video. Do you have a link to buy the fan or the part number of it?
Hello, thank you for your video. My fan in ThinkPad w541 is broken so I need to replace it, can you tell me what type of fan should I buy?
Nice video, thanks
What is the new fan you ordered?
Great video! I was scared to do it originally, but after watching your video I cleaned and repasted my CPU with no problems! Thanks!
Thanks for commenting.
Thank you for your tutorial. It was very very helpful. I was able to take apart and clean my W541. Along the way I fixed a speaker and a RAM dock which restored my computer to original stare. There is another video the has good camera work about the same but it is in Vietnamese. You make good videos and make TH-cam worthwhile. All the best.
Glad it helped
My W540 fan makes an awful noise when it throttles, so much vibration it sounds like revving a small Japanese truck. Lucky for me it's still working for now till I get a new fan, guessing this model has the exact same insides as a W540?
Really Informative video thank you
Very similar yes.
This was an excellent, comprehensive video Tim, it is GREATLY appreciated! I need to replace a fan/heatsink in an older Lenovo model and wanted to see what process you use for that. One question: where do you normally source your laptop parts from? Thanks so much!!
Mostly ebay or Amazon. Thanks for commenting.
Fantastic repair! I just purchased one of these used and now feel confident to do a similar repair should I need to.
Thanks for commenting.
Thank you so much! This video really helped me deal with my laptop's issue.
I have the same laptop and it's quite old (5+ years old), and recently it has been overheating a lot. The fan works, but it's not effective.
After some research, I discovered that my problem is not from the fan or the heatsink, but rather the thermal paste. It is old, dry and cracked and just needed replacment.
Glad the video helped.
Thank you! I fixed mine following your instructions in the video! Thanks a lot!!😊
Glad it helped!
thanks you very very much, managed to swap the fan with your help! bless you
Glad it helped
Great video, looking at giving my w541 an overhaul starting with replacing the thermal paste, could you or anyone tell me if this is thick pads or will I be able to use the liquid gel paste and it squashes right down with the screws.
Thanks for commenting.
Thank u very much for this ... saved me a value able day
job well done Tim , very instructive video .
Thank you very much for your guide. I have one problem with my Lap W541 ThinkPad, while I try to power on the lap the fan try to start then stopped and the display still black and the led of the power on is lighting, I press to reset and try again and again , I repeat again and again until start. can you help me . thank you in advance.
Great repair Tim.I enjoyed watching it. Thank you for sharing. Looking forward to more like this in the future.
Thanks for watching and thanks for the comment.
Hi Brian, thank you for the very clear step by step tutorial.
My ThinkPad w541 fan is running very often even when I close it in standby position.
Do you think it is because of the dust? In this case, is it possible to clean up without disassembling completely it?
You can try to partially disassemble it to gain some access to the fan in order to blow it out with compressed air, may be better than nothing.
@@gixxygamma thank you Gustave, I'll try it.
I have the same laptop. Today I got notification that due to updates i have to restart the laptop. I clicked *update and shut down.* Then by air spray i cleaned fan holes. But now it doesn't turn on anymore. In the screen appears *Fan Error* and then laptop shut down by itself.
The fan was always noisy.
By these information, can you tell should I buy a new fan?
Are you sure your Amazon link works? I clicked on it but it's looks like i end up in Amazon main page? Do you have fan for Lenovo Thinkpad w541?
Thanks.
You need to match the model number on the fan sticker with the fan you are going to purchase.
What is the applicaton called that You use for showing the CPU temperatures in the taskbar?
Thank you so much for the tutorial!
Glad it was helpful!
Thank you for your guide! great help!
Glad it helped!
Nice video. My W540 is now in a state where it senses that i am about to watch a video. I can actually feel hot airflow, but i think it may need cleaning and a new good thermal paste. I have bought some best in review "gaming" paste. My only problem now - as a former Apple tech - is that i am getting painful flashbacks to the pre 2008 Macbooks before the unibody. But of course... The one computer i have with heat issues is also the one that needs to be taken apart on atomic level to repaste. But good machines are worth it. That's why i am keep repasting my 2011 17" MacBook Pro with the haunted AMD GPU now and then. Don't know about Lenovo, but Apples stock paste is really crap.
Thanks for the comment.
How do you do to remember where everything goes to assemble it back? Did you take a picture the first time you did it?
You can take pics or video.
Nice repair/installation.
Thanks for the video.
Thanks for the comment Sammy
At 6:04 next to the laptop tray there is a weird gray plastic hole. I dropped a screw in there. I tried to shake it out but it stopped rattling. It must have wedged itself somewhere. I have been using the laptop and it works fine, but if the screw becomes dislodged is it possible for it to damage the computer? Does that hole lead to the motherboard?
Not sure really.
@@TimsComputerRepair lol me neither. After really reviewing the video it seems it drops somewhere between the board and the magnesium piece that does not seem to be removable. I guess I will just knock on wood and hope for the best. Thanks for the awesome video though. Couldn't have done it without you.
Come on baby get me on here now, what gives lol 16:34 nice bit of editing lol, you forgot that bit lol
How you doing Brian?
What are you on about?
@@TimsComputerRepair What?
@@TimsComputerRepair Do you mean when am I on or do a live Stream? I've been doing Friday's at 11pm. All about guitars. I've pretty much dedicated myself to learning how to play guitar that last 4 years. I'll be retiring Next August. We have the house up for sale now. We want to downgrade. I have to much house and yard to up keep up.
That's what you said in the video Tim and forgot to edit it out lol
You certainly earn your fees on this one, Tim. Always interesting to watch.
Thanks for commenting.
Thank you, so much! This really helped me with disassembling my T540p.
Glad it helped!
Is the removal of the screen and WIFI cables necessary if I’m just doing a CPU replacement?
@itsBBIGTIMMYC I actually did a CPU replacement on my laptop, and the answer is yes. You have to remove the wi-fi cables to remove the display, and you to remove the display to replace the CPU.
what program do you use to monitor the temp
I use CoreTemp.
So a whole new heatsink assembly had to be ordered because the fan died? Could not just get a replacement fan only?
No. You can only find fan/heatsink assemblies for replacement.
Can we upgrade gpu in w541?
Great Video thanks so much, but for a company that's always showing off the "THINK" , they didn't think at all on making thins simple, you have to get the entire thing ripped apart at almost a molecular level, just to replace the effing paste.
I agree! Thanks for commenting.
if i want to clean the fan do i need to remove the front (keyboard and screen)
yes
What's a normal temperature? 50-54°C in avg?
I would say so.
thanks a lot, this is awesome
You're welcome!
The design in these models are terrible for simple operations like thermal repasting and fan replacement. I also hate to mess around with rerouting cables.
Very good video u have there. Try to make some better angles to see exactly what you re doing. I couldnt see well when you were puting tgose cables back in place.
Thank you
Thanks fore commenting.
11:29 - how did you detach the display cable?
Pull straight up on it.
@@TimsComputerRepair Decided not to wait for your response and just continued without detaching the cable. That created some additional nuisance, yet I was able to successfully get to the bottom of it and replace the dried out thermopaste.
Thanks for a great tutorial, I would have never accomplished this task without it!
Great Video, AAAAAA ++++++++++
That is a big heatsink/fan combination unit for such a small laptop.
Yeah your right about that. Thanks for commenting.
damn this design sucks. i thought thinkpads were easy to service!
i own a t440p, which is very easy to open.
recommended a t540p for a friend, but it seems that was a mistake
I'm a tech but if I would have been smart and looked up disassembly before I bought my W541 I would have went with something else if I knew about all the cable routing and adhesive covered screws etc. Ugh. And that "inventive" keyboard frame sliding mechanism is the most cancerous thing I've ever seen. I needed 3 different screwdrivers just to get this thing apart and i accidentally broke off one of my keys. Never again.
It's not for everyone. You would have thought replacing fans would be a bit easier. Thanks for commenting.
@@TimsComputerRepair Yeah, it's not the end of the world, it's just way more intensive than I had hoped compared to my other laptops. That being said, I got my W541 for a couple hundred bucks barely used with a i7-4810MQ, 32 gigs of ram, and the lower-tier Quadro in it and it's been a FANTASTIC laptop functionality wise. It's a great machine. Especially runs Linux well.
Edit: And it had a 500gb SSD in it!
17:57