T430 CPU Fan Noisy?

[crashtech]

Just bought a T430 for fairly cheap that had had some work done to it. Works OK and looks good, but the CPU fan makes very audible noise when it ramps up. Oddly enough is is quieter when it gets to full speed, but when it is ramping up it is annoyingly loud and almost growly sounding. I'm pretty sure this is a defect, but wanted to check with other T430 owners or tech that have worked on then to see what the scoop is. I'm not looking forward to replacing the CPU fan on a just purchased unit.

 

[crashtech]

Well, I guess we will keep it. For the price, I can afford to replace the CPU fan at some point.

 

[vshah]

try blowing it out with compressed air, probably lots of dirt in the bearings.

it's not a difficult part to replace, if you do end up needing to replace it.

 

[rsutoratosu]

Lenovo fan are known for this issue. Instead of replacing the fan, all you really need to do is reoil it.. you would take it apart.. I fixed so many lenovo that had fan errors or noisy fan. Do not use wd40, use like gear oil or bearing oil. I used the oil that is used for my water pumps.

http://www.msb0b.com/home/thinkpadt60fanrepair

Saves you 30-40 bucks on a new fan and you can clear out the heatsink too.

Last one i did was a t410 3 days ago.. runs like new now. Give you a chance to clear that whole heatsink assembly and use new thermal paste.

 

[crashtech]

All the bearings used in fans of this nature are pre-oiled and sealed, so you must be saying that the fan motor itself must come apart.

 

[stanleyleecm]

Make sure that you have the latest BIOS (they fixed that). If that doesn't work for you, try the free software Thinkpad Fan Controller (tpfancontrol).

http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/T400-T500-and-newer-T-series/T430-Fan-idle-speed-is-high/ta-p/1160075

I am using a T430 as well, BIOS update significantly reduce the noise.

 

[crashtech]

I sent it back, because in addition to the fan noise, it started shutting off randomly. It had obviously had a lot of work done to it, and some of it was probably done wrong. Maybe the TIM was bad or omitted, who knows. I don't want to have to go back in after someone else and hope to find everything they screwed up.