MBP noisy fan, what solution to try first?

[GGD]

My 2007 2.4 GHz MacBook Pro has started making groaning noises from it's right fan. It changes it's tune from time to time, sometimes just an occasional rumble, other times loud enough to be heard in another room. And it also seems to "fix itself" and go back to normal for a day or so.

One worrisome behavior was that when it was in it's loudest mode, it sounded like it was really unbalanced and blades were scraping their enclosure, and I used SMC Fan C and found that the right fan could not go up to full speed, and topped out around 3000 RPM. That's not good, but as that loudest noise went away it was able to go all the way to 6000 RPM again successfully even when making some noise.

I've done some searching and there seem to be three approaches.

1) Just clean it, blow the dust out

2) Lubricate it, disassemble the housing, pull the blade and lubricate it. WD-40 is often mentioned, but that might help clean it well, but doesn't seem like a long term lubricant. I was thinking of something like TriFlow.

3) Replace the fan. I bought a set of used fans from PowerBook Medic via Amazon for about $22 shipped (left fan was just $3.75) just to have on hand as a possible solution in case I try option #2 and it goes badly. I assume that they're not currently noisy, but who knows how long they'll last until they develop noise.

I guess there's an option #4 of buying a brand new replacement fan, but wasn't considering that unless the first 3 options failed.

Since it currently goes back to normal for long periods, I can't really tell if I fixed anything if it's in that state, so I'm waiting for it to be consistently loud and then I'd like to take it apart just once and do whatever seems like the most successful first solution.

So for those of you who have experienced and resolved this problem, what solution did you try first and how successful was it?

[Filliam H. Muffman]

If it's been running out of balance for over a few months, the bearing might be so worn that it will never run properly even with complete cleaning.

[C(-)ris]

I would just replace it. I would try and find a new fan as a used one won't be far behind yours.

[GuyGene]

I voted replace it with new. I just did that with my '08 MacBook. I won't put any money into it, power cable is not working good, battery is all swollen up, only 2GB RAM, I don't even think it's worth giving to anyone. It'd cost about $250 to get it good enough to keep using. I'd just put that money to a new one.

[GGD]

GuyGene wrote:
I voted replace it with new. I just did that with my '08 MacBook. I won't put any money into it, power cable is not working good, battery is all swollen up, only 2GB RAM, I don't even think it's worth giving to anyone. It'd cost about $250 to get it good enough to keep using. I'd just put that money to a new one.

I meant replace the fan with a used or new fan, not replace the computer. I've already spent the $22 for used fans, and the rest of the MBP is in fine condition for running 10.6.8, it has 6GB of RAM and a 7200 RPM hard drive.

But I agree with trying to limit the amount of money spent on something this old, that's why $22 seemed in the range of reasonable, but the cost of a new fan made me think twice.

[GGD]

Just to follow up, last night I took it apart, took out the old fan, it didn't seem to have any dust or debris. I disassembled it and lubricated the shaft. Tried it out, and it was quiet, but I tried SMC Fan Control and it couldn't get all the way up to 6,000 RPM, it's limit seemed to be 5,800 RPM.

So, I swapped in the used fan that I bought, it was quiet and could go to 6,000 RPM, so that's the solution until it starts making noise. I left the left side fan alone, it looked a little more difficult to remove and wasn't causing problems.

[Speedy]

GGD, thanks for the follow-up.