Mac Pro Late 2013 Fan Replacement Repair Guide

Difficulty

Moderate

Steps

19

Time Required

Suggest a time??

Sections

5

• Outer Case
• 2 steps
• Fan Assembly
• 6 steps
• Fan Assembly Lid
• 1 step
• AirPort Board
• 4 steps
• Fan
• 6 steps

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Introduction

What you need

Step 1

              Outer Case               

• Slide the lock switch to the right, to the unlocked position.

Slide the lock switch to the right, to the unlocked position.

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Step 2

• Lift the outer case straight up off the Mac Pro.
• It may help to push down on the center of the fan while lifting the case up.

Lift the outer case straight up off the Mac Pro.

It may help to push down on the center of the fan while lifting the case up.

Step 3

              Fan Assembly               

• Remove five 5.1 mm T10 Torx screws from around the outer perimeter of the fan assembly.

Remove five 5.1 mm T10 Torx screws from around the outer perimeter of the fan assembly.

Step 4

• The fan assembly is attached to the rest of the computer by two cables on the IO board side.
• Tilt the assembly up away from the IO board.
• Do not try to remove the fan assembly yet, as it is still attached by two cables.

The fan assembly is attached to the rest of the computer by two cables on the IO board side.

Tilt the assembly up away from the IO board.

Do not try to remove the fan assembly yet, as it is still attached by two cables.

Step 5

• While supporting the fan assembly with one hand, loosen the two T8 captive screws in the fan cable bracket.
• These screws are captive in the Mac Pro. Do not try to remove these screws from your Mac Pro.

While supporting the fan assembly with one hand, loosen the two T8 captive screws in the fan cable bracket.

These screws are captive in the Mac Pro. Do not try to remove these screws from your Mac Pro.

Step 6

• Use a pair of tweezers to pull the fan cable bracket away from the fan assembly.

Use a pair of tweezers to pull the fan cable bracket away from the fan assembly.

Step 7

• Use the flat end of a spudger to disconnect the fan assembly ribbon cable from the IO board.

Use the flat end of a spudger to disconnect the fan assembly ribbon cable from the IO board.

Step 8

• Disconnect the fan assembly antenna cable from the IO board.
• Remove the fan assembly from the Mac Pro.

Disconnect the fan assembly antenna cable from the IO board.

Remove the fan assembly from the Mac Pro.

Step 9

              Fan Assembly Lid               

• Use the flat end of a spudger to pry the fan assembly lid up off the fan assembly.
• Remove the fan assembly lid.

Use the flat end of a spudger to pry the fan assembly lid up off the fan assembly.

Remove the fan assembly lid.

Step 10

              AirPort Board               

• Remove the three 3.7 mm T4 screws securing the metal cover to the AirPort board bay.

Remove the three 3.7 mm T4 screws securing the metal cover to the AirPort board bay.

Step 11

• Lift and remove the metal cover from the AirPort board bay.

Lift and remove the metal cover from the AirPort board bay.

Step 12

• Use the tip of a spudger to flip the ZIF retaining tab on the fan assembly ribbon cable connector.
• Remove the fan assembly ribbon cable from its ZIF socket.

Use the tip of a spudger to flip the ZIF retaining tab on the fan assembly ribbon cable connector.

Remove the fan assembly ribbon cable from its ZIF socket.

Step 13

• Use the tip of a spudger to flip the ZIF retaining tab on the fan ribbon cable.
• Disconnect the fan ribbon cable.

Use the tip of a spudger to flip the ZIF retaining tab on the fan ribbon cable.

Disconnect the fan ribbon cable.

Step 14

              Fan               

• Remove the three 3.7 mm T4 screws securing the fan bezel to the fan assembly.

Remove the three 3.7 mm T4 screws securing the fan bezel to the fan assembly.

Step 15

• Remove the fan bezel.

Remove the fan bezel.

Step 16

• Remove the following screws from the top of the fan assembly:
• One 10.4 mm T10 screw
• Three 3.7 mm T4 screws

Remove the following screws from the top of the fan assembly:

One 10.4 mm T10 screw

Three 3.7 mm T4 screws

Step 17

• Flip the AirPort board over.

Flip the AirPort board over.

Step 18

• Remove the remaining two 10.4 mm T10 screws securing the fan to the fan assembly.

Remove the remaining two 10.4 mm T10 screws securing the fan to the fan assembly.

Step 19

• Lift the fan assembly up from the fan.

Lift the fan assembly up from the fan.

To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.

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                    Andrew Optimus Goldheart                     

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vbob - Jan 23, 2017

Reply

using my iFixit bit set, I’d have to say that the tiny screws for Airport card & cover, as well as fan bezel, are actually T5, not T4 - came very close to stripping the heads on two of the Airport card screws with the recommended T4 bit, but firm pressure and a steady hand with T5 bit got them out. Thanks for the guide - many careful steps to get a scrap of scotch tape out of the fan where its gentle ticks-ticka was driving us crazy thinking something far worse was going wrong…..

Wagon Fixin - Feb 4, 2017

Reply

Ha! I wondered what would happen if some tiny flotsam was dropped in through the top - terrible! Thanks for the tip!

Colin Wright - Jun 11, 2017

Reply

Likewise, I’ve had a random noise in the fan at startup, and finally took the fan assembly apart to grab it. It was some even tinier screw from somewhere that had lodged in part of the fan housing. All is very, very well now!!!!

Deny - Dec 17, 2017

Hey Colin, I have same fan startup nois in my MP. Can you help me and tell how to fix in few steps?

isonno - May 6, 2018

Reply

Using Macs Fan Control, I noticed the baseline fan speed of my “trashcan” slowly creeping up from 790 RPM (the usual) to 8 or 900 RPM. Using this guide I took the fan assembly off, and vacuumed and dusted everything with a vacuum, soft brush and canned air. It wasn’t necessary to disassemble the fan unit itself. That did the trick - fan speed is back down to 790 RPM after putting it back together.

PS - in Step 5, a Torx T8 screwdriver seemed to fit just fine for the fan cable bracket screws.