MacBook Pro 15" Core 2 Duo Model A1211 Left Thermal Sensor Replacement

Use your fingers to push both battery release tabs away from the battery, and lift the battery out of the computer.

Remove the three identical Phillips screws from the memory door.

Lift the memory door up enough to get a grip on it, and slide it toward you, pulling it away from the casing.

Remove the two 2.8 mm Phillips screws in the battery compartment near the latch.

Remove the following 6 screws:

Two 10 mm T6 Torx screws on either side of the RAM slot.

Four 14.5 mm Phillips screws along the hinge.

Remove the four 3.2 mm Phillips screws on the port side of the computer.

Rotate the computer 90 degrees and remove the two 3.2 mm Phillips screws from the rear of the computer.

Rotate the computer 90 degrees again and remove the four 3.2 mm Phillips screws from the side of the computer.

Lift up at the rear of the case and work your fingers along the sides, freeing the case as you go. Once you have freed the sides, you may need to rock the case up and down to free the front of the upper case (there are some hidden plastic clips that need to be clicked off).

Disconnect the trackpad and keyboard ribbon cable from the logic board, removing tape as necessary.

Remove the upper case.

Disconnect the orange SuperDrive ribbon cable from the logic board, removing tape as necessary.

Remove the following 4 screws:

Two 3.3 mm silver Phillips screws on either side of the SuperDrive.

One 4.7 mm silver T6 Torx screw from the top left corner of the drive

One 6.2 mm black Phillips screw at the top right corner of the drive.

Lift the optical drive up and out of the computer.

Disconnect the hard drive and ExpressCard connectors from the left side of the logic board.

Disconnect the iSight and display data cables from the logic board by sliding the cables out of their connectors, removing tape as necessary.

Disconnect the eight indicated connectors by placing a spudger beneath each cable and lifting up.

Remove the silver T6 Torx screw securing the ground loop in the display data cable to the casing.

Remove the single T6 Torx screw securing the clear plastic shield over the right ambient light sensor.

Lift the clear plastic shield off the right ambient light sensor.

Peel up the orange Kapton tape securing the right thermal sensor cable to the logic board.

Remove the following 15 screws:

One 4.4 mm black Phillips screw to the right of the ram slot.

Eight 4.7 mm silver T6 Torx screws securing the logic board to the lower case.

One 6.2 mm black T6 Torx screw on the right side of the left fan.

Five 9.4 mm silver T6 Torx screws securing the left and right fans.

Hold the logic board down with one hand and use your other hand to lift the left fan up from its housing. There is a piece of black tape securing the fan to the heat sink. Carefully peel this tape up from the heat sink as you lift the fan up.

Place the fan above the Airport card. It is not necessary to remove the fan from the computer entirely.

Lift the right fan up and carefully peel up the tape securing the fan to the heat sink as you go.

Remove the right fan from the computer.

Lift up the left side of the logic board and disconnect the gray and black power cable from the bottom of the board.

Grasp the logic board at the left side and at the thin section, and rotate the logic board out of the lower case.

Peel back the orange Kapton tape covering the left thermal sensor.

Use a spudger to pry the left thermal sensor off the heat sink.