Fan-like noise originating from under keyboard

Dear all,
I've begun having a recent problem with my MBP (15", purchased Summer 2008) that has been quite bothersome. I am not particularly computer savvy, but I will try to be as descriptive as possible:
1) It seems that any time the computer heats up a little bit (for example, if I am running a graphically intensive game or even watching a HD full-screen youtube video) it starts to make an odd buzzing noise.
2) The noise is not from the speakers, it sounds more mechanical and originates from exactly underneath the [ ] (square bracket open and close) keys on my keyboard. In fact, if I press down on those keys it muffles the sound, suggesting a possible fan origin.
3) It doesn't sound the way a computer usually sounds when it is working hard - this is quite different - and it does not go away until I either turn off the computer or close the lid (sleep). And it may very well start up again if I turn it back on without giving it a significant rest.
4) The functionality of the computer itself does not seem to be diminished in any way. I first had this happen a little over a month ago and although at first I was afraid it might die on me, it seems to be working quite normally. In theory nothing is preventing me from doing my work in spite of the sound, but I feel conscious of it and unless I've got my headphones turned up, it can be quite disturbing.
Under other circumstances, I would've taken this in to a Mac store ASAP, but I am currently living abroad and will not be returning to the States for another month or so.
I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on what this might be and what, if anything, I can do to fix it myself.
Thank you,
krkode
Message was edited by: krkode87
Message was edited by: krkode87
Message was edited by: krkode87
Message was edited by: krkode87

Hi CMCSK,
I have 4 GB of RAM and about 90 GB of HD space left.
Hi Rod,
Your idea that the fan might be dirty sounds very plausible. The ifixit instructions look do-able but I might have a bit of trouble finding the right kind of equipment to perform that disassembly. I suppose I will ask my colleagues and figure something out.
In the meantime, do you know of any other way I might be able to temp-fix this problem? At least until I am back in the states. Such as maybe revving down the right fan and allowing the left to compensate? Or another approach to cleaning the fan? I guess I'm just thinking aloud at this point.
Any thoughts are appreciated!
Thank you,
krkode
P.S. I have more than a year left on my Apple warranty, by the way. I'm assuming trying to do something myself with respect to opening up the machine would void that?
Message was edited by: krkode87

Similar Messages

  • Loud fan like noise coming from 2012 Macbook Pro 15 inch but gets quieter when my palm is placed on the right side of the trackpad.

    Hey,
    I just got a Macbook Pro 15 inch. It is the preconfigered one with higher specs. I noticed that there is a loud fan like sound coming from my laptop. The strage part is, when I place my hands on it to typle, specifically the right hand. The sound gets cut to be about half as loud. I don't notice the sound when I am in class when there are people talking and the air is on in the room, but when I am in the library it is really loud. Does anyone know what this might be. All of my friends older Macbooks are dead silent.
    This is not the buzzing or clicking sound that you can hear from a hard drive, it sounds almost like a computer fan, and it does it from the second the computer is turn on, to the second it is turned off or put to sleep.

    33SuperSport33 wrote:
    Hey,
    I just got a Macbook Pro 15 inch.
    You are still under warranty.  Call Apple Care. 
    #1 - You have 14 days from the date of purchase to return your computer with no questions asked.
    #2 - You have 90 days of FREE phone tech support.
    #3 - You have the standard one year Apple warranty.
    #4 - If you've purchased an AppleCare Protection Plan, your warranty last for 3 years.   You can obtain AppleCare anytime up to the first year of the purchase of your computer.
    Take FULL advantage of your warranty.  Posting on a message board should be done as a last resort and if you are out of warranty or Apple Care has expired.

  • Fan like noise - Macbook Pro Retina 13 inch - late 2013 model

    If I open Frontline Commando (game app) my brandnew Mackbook pro make fan like noise. (annoying and scary) Could anyone advice please?
    my sys configuration:
    Model - Macbook Pro Retina 13 inch - late 2013 model
    RAM - 8 GB
    Processor - 2.4 GHz intel core i5
    OS - OS X 10.9.1

    Normal during gaming use, fan noise.
    A: you notice it more in a quiet room (the typical case) which is normal, all is AOK
    B: fuzz and dust has caked onto the blades causing the fan hub to get off balance and make a buzzing sound.
    C: fan rotor is going bad and making a whirring or buzz noise (rare).
    D: Fan is spinning up due to excess heat from gaming, heavy graphics gaming (typical, all is OK)
    A and D are normal
    B and C are not.

  • How to create a service partition like the original from lenovo

    hey their, i have installed windows 7 on my x200. afore i have cleaned up all partiton incl. the service partition. now my question: how can i create a service partiton with the same behaviors like the original one (access the partition via the thinkvantage button and so on). i hope, someone can help me.

    You need a set of recovery disks to re-create the partition.
    If you haven't burned them when you first got the machine, they can be purchased directly from Lenovo or other online sources.
    Hope this helps.
    Cheers,
    George
    In daily use: R60F, R500F, T61, T410
    Collecting dust: T60
    Enjoying retirement: A31p, T42p,
    Non-ThinkPads: Panasonic CF-31 & CF-52, HP 8760W
    Starting Thursday, 08/14/2014 I'll be away from the forums until further notice. Please do NOT send private messages since I won't be able to read them. Thank you.

  • Noisy fan (or fan-like) sound coming from machine. Thoughts?

    My macbook pro is from 2008 to start. I had the computer completely refurbished back in August 2011, though.
    However, in the last two days, it has twice produced this impossible-to-miss noisy whirring/rattling sounds that sounds a lot like a very noisy fan. The first time, it last for about 5 seconds just as the computer was starting up after I'd left it closed and off all night (leaning against the wall). The second time, however, the computer had already been on for several hours, always upright, and just for some random reason started making the same noise. This time it lasted for a good 15-20 seconds.
    Any thoughts on what could be causing this sudden noisiness? Whatever it is doesn't appear so far to be affecting the actual functions of the computer itself.
    Thanks!

    HI,
    Probably a good idea to run the Apple Hardware Test just in case and make sure you have all your important files backed up to an external source.
    Carolyn

  • Does the noise come from harddisk or fan?

    Hi all,
    My powerbook 17'' always has this noise come from left side of the powerbook. I am unable to determine the source of the noise coz I am not sure where is the exact location of the noise. (I read that the fan supposed to be in left side of keyboard and harddisk is in the left side of the palm rest; please correct me if I am wrong).
    The noise is like something spinning all the time in a constant speed. Is the harddisk supposed to be spinning all the time when we turned the powerrbook on?
    The noise starts after booting up and I always can hear it (even in idle) until I turn the powerbook to sleep.
    I usually work at night with my powerbook, so my surrounding is really quite.
    Does your powerbook have this noise too? Or is it really silent (and only has some clicking noise when accessing/writing to the harddisk). I just wanna know if my powerbook behaves normally.
    Thanks

    Is the harddisk supposed to spin all the time (even no read/write activity)?
    There is what has been called a sizzling sound that constantly emanates from this computer, and, depending on the combination of your sensitivity to it and the presence of ambient noise, is clearly audible in a silent room, but this is easy to differentiate from the fan, which is quite a bit louder. If you haven't done any processor intensive tasks, then it's possible that you have never heard this fan, which doesn't go on, I believe, until the CPU has reached a temperature of about 145F. On the other hand, the 'sizzling' sound has been a frequent topic of discussion in this forum. Over the course of the first two revisions of the PB 17, one thread on the subject grew to around 300 posts in length.
    If you are dubious about the state of your HD, run the Disk Repair tool in Disk Utility while you are booted from your installation DVD to check the drive's SMART status. If you want to investigate this further, boot into the installation DVD again holding down the Option key and run the extended Apple Hardware Test. Having eliminated any applications or startup items as the cause of the problem, your last troubleshooting step might be to reinstall your OS. Before you do that, see if you can find another 1.67GHz machine to listen to so you can compare the sounds you hear from both. It may be that there is really nothing to worry about....
    Good luck.
    Tuttle
    BTW, What became of this issue?: http://discuss.info.apple.com/webx?13@@.68b7a64a

  • Scratchy noise coming from top end of keyboard. Not effecting performance but very noisy and worrying! What is it? Is my computer seriously damaged? Is it easily fixed? Thanks for any help

    Scratchy noise coming from top end of keyboard. Not effecting performance but very noisy and worrying! What is it? Is my computer seriously damaged? Is it easily fixed? Thanks for any help

    It would be helpful if you were to identify the model of MBP you have. 
    The noise makers on a MBP are the fan(s), the HDD and the optical drive.  Can you locate the exact position where the noise is coming from?
    Ciao.

  • Mysterious ticking noise comming from what appears to be fan

    Ok, so I own a MacBook Pro 13" and I've had it for maybe a little under 6 months.  Yesterday, I discovered a mysterious ticking noise comming from the upper-left bottom of the MacBook.  I presume it is coming from the fan, as right now, my CPU temperature ifs 142F and the fan is running at 000rpm.  Running Apple Diagnostics confirms my suspicions as it comes up with an error that ends in Exhaust, which I believe is the fan.
    I have tried resetting the SMC with the SHIFT-Control-Option-Power combination with no success.
    I have scheduled an appointment at the Genius Bar on monday but I was wondering if there are any known solutions at the mean time.
    Thanks.
    (PS: I have the latest version of Snow Leopard: 10.6.7)

    What was the error message exactly ?  If it's the fan motor then it would show MTR, if it's a temperature sensor error it would show SNS.
    The fact that fan isn't running implies the motor has failed and you're right to get that fixed a.s.a.p.

  • There are some noises coming from my MacAir2012 13inch's fan. What should i do to fix the problem?

    There are some noises coming from my MacAir2012 13inch's fan. What should i do to fix the problem?

    Why would you need to do anything at all?  The machine is under warranty, if there's something broken, that's what the warranty is for.

  • I have a macbook and when I power it on and then select myself as a user...It won't power up. It stays in the white screen with the apple logo. I am online currently under 'guest user'. Is there anything I can do from the keyboard to fix this??? Help!!!

    I have a macbook and when I power it on and then select myself as a user...It won't power up. It stays in the white screen with the apple logo. I am online currently under 'guest user'. Is there anything I can do from the keyboard to fix this??? Help!!!

    Could you specify the model of MacBook and the OS X it's running, please? Some of the advice or references vary along with the system, so this could be helpful to formulate a reply. I've never used a Guest User selection, but do have more than one User.
    If the computer does not have an optical drive, you may be able to boot it into a recovery disk mode or something; in an attempt to see what is wrong and maybe fix it.
    Good luck & happy computing!

  • I have a large number of photos I'd like to delete from my ipad 2 however from reading previous comments it seems I have to unsync from the original source computer. I'm in another country now and don't have access to it.  Is there another way?

    I have a large number of photos I'd like to delete from my ipad 2 however from reading previous comments it seems I have to unsync from the original source computer. I'm in another country now and don't have access to it.  Is there another way?

    You should be able to do this via the iPad directly.  Open the Photos application and the forward arrow, then select all of the photos you want to delete and click the red delete button.

  • I can hear a loud 'CD spinning/fan like' sound from my MacBook Pro intermittently. Definitely not the audio as i muted it. No CD either. And I don't have any

    I can hear a loud 'CD spinning/fan like' sound from my MacBook Pro intermittently. Definitely not the audio as i muted it. No CD either. And the only programs running are words, safari and mail.

    It sounds like the fan but this is the first time I hear it in the past 6mths using this Mac. If its the fan, shouldn't the sound be there all the time and not intermittent?

  • Fan noise coming from the macbook air, and battery won't charge?

    Brand new laptop and now there is a very loud fan noise coming from the computer when i opened it up this morning. I also noticed that there was no battery symbol in the top right corner, so i plugged it in to charge it but the light on the charger wont turn on so its not charging? What do i do? Thanks

    Reset SMC.     http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964
    Choose the method for:
    "Resetting SMC on portables with a battery you should not remove on your own".
        If this does not help, contact Apple.
        Best.

  • My iphone makes a loud siren like noise when i make calls or receive calls from anyone, but when i put it on speaker phone its fine, any suggestions on what to do?

    Hi all,
    My iphone was making and receiving calls no problem yesterday but today when i go to make/receive a call there is this really loud siren like noise on the call
    and nobody can hear one another.
    I put the phone on loudspeaker and its fine no problems.
    I dont have my bluetooth active and i have turned the phone off and on and took the sim card out.
    I always updated the iphone to 4.3.4 and nothing has worked.
    My phone is within warranty but i dont know if i need to send it for repair or not.
    if anyone can help i will truely appreciate it
    thanks

    Have you read the User Guide and taken the recommended troubleshooting steps?

  • My macbook pro is probably only 2 months old and there is a buzzing/grinding noise coming from the left side of the laptop every time I open it.  It may buzz 5 times in a span of 30 seconds then not make the noise the remaining time that it is open.

    My macbook pro is probably only 2 months old and there is a buzzing/grinding noise coming from the left side of the laptop every time I open it.  It may buzz 5 times in a span of 30 seconds then not make the noise the remaining time that it is open.  I have read that it may have to do with my fan or HD.  I am under apple care for a good amount of time but am wondering if this is a mjor issue.  I would not be able to get to an apple care center in the near future due to being at school.  Should I be worried or will it last by the time I am home in 2 months.

    Sounds like the disk in your MBP is accessing data on wake up
    If you are still concerned you can take it into the Apple Store where they can hear it to be sure
    Allan

Maybe you are looking for