Nintendo Wii Heat Sink Replacement

Written By: Andrew Bookholt
  • Comments: 148
Nintendo Wii Heat Sink Replacement

Difficulty

Moderate

Steps

36

Time Required

45 minutes - 2 hours

Introduction

Use this guide to remove the heat sink from your Wii's motherboard.

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    • Use a metal spudger to remove the white plastic screw covers stuck to the lower case near the front of the Wii.

    Die Abdeckungen sind geklebt, stecken also nicht.

    Ludger -

    Don’t mistakenly remove the rubber case feet

    Bob Trout -

    I just did. That picture could be better.

    B G -

    Thanks I almost removed the rubber feet

    Lushane -

    If you’re wondering what to use for this, the main blade of a pocket knife from the corner of the plastic works well.

    Cameron Holman -

    As you remove the hardware in each step, place them together on a sheet of paper and circle them with the step number.

    Tom J -

    Very helpful suggestion, thanks!

    Christopher Reese -

    Caution: Before you begin disassembly. If possible, power on your Wii, and attempt to eject whatever disk you may have in the drive.

    Steve -

    1:

    I'd recommend removing the RTC Battery before starting to completely remove all power. You can see how in step 15.

    2:

    When removing the screw covers I'd recommend inserting tweezers in the bottom corners facing away from the rubber feet.

    When the tweezers are inserted you should push them down to grab on to the cover and pull it off.

    Macro Man -

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    • Remove the two 8.3 mm Tri-Point screws hidden under the covers you just removed.

    Before you start, get a small plastic tray with at least 15 small bins in it, and put the screws you take out in each step in the bins in order. It makes reassembly a LOT easier.

    larry -

    NOTE: You need a Y1 screwdriver. Be careful when buying the little red screwdrivers on Amazon that claim to fit the Wii - they don’t!! From personal experience.

    Robotai -

    I have an ifixit kit and the Y1 didn't fit. I ended up using a Y0 and it worked.

    Macro Man -

    Just to add to Robotai’s comment, if you do get the little red/orange screwdrivers on Amazon, file off the tip. It if’s mostly blunt, it fits the tri-wing screws much better.

    jeff -

    1/16 x 1 craftsman Phillips mini screwdriver works for this if you don’t have the tri-wing driver

    grace nicosin -

    How do you make one ? If you don’t have the screwdriver

    Ethan -

    I am using a 18ct empty egg carton to hold the screws/parts removed in the steps.

    karenmparamore -

    Larry’s idea about the bins was great and helpful.

    Robots is right- you NEED a Y1. Just buy the thing with the drive. I didn’t, tried many other options, none worked. Had to order the thing separately with shipping. Mistake….

    David Ryan -

    My two screws hidden are on the backend of the Wii. This picture shows them on the front.

    Leah Wendleton -

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    • Remove the single 5.9 mm Phillips screw under the controller port door nearest the faceplate.

    Pry the square rubber piece in the middle, not the hard plastic square frame.

    David Will -

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    • Use a metal spudger to remove the rubber foot stuck to the side of the Wii near the DVD drive opening.

    All of the rubber feet on my very old Wii had literally melted into a gooey mess and just needed to be scraper off and cleaned with alcohol.

    Bob Robins -

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    • Remove the single 5.9 mm Phillips screw hidden under the foot you just removed.

    please help! my lil sis got a disc stuck in my wii while it was off!!! please help fast!!!

    Leah Vegan -

    does it turn on?

    Giovanni Munoz -

    It won’t come out, it will turn and go up but it won’t go fully out

    Mmbb -

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    • Carefully pull the faceplate away from the front of the Wii.

    • Use a pair of tweezers to disconnect the LED cable's plastic connector from the motherboard.

    • Remove the faceplate.

    surprisingly, this was the trickiest step for me. I almost completely mangled the wires when my tweezers slipped as I was attempting to remove the connector.

    rbelknap -

    I removed it with a spudger, gently lift from each side until it pops out.

    For those reassembling

    line up the pins push it in with your spudger gently until it's in. Then line up the front plate, push gently, confirm everything is where it should be and push firmly, I found it needed a strong push to sit flush with the other body panels.

    James middleton -

    I ended up using needle nose pliars on this step.

    Awesome detailed guide made this very easy, thank you author!

    Glenn Woodard -

    Can someone direct me to what I need to do? My tweezers slipped and I cut one of the wires on the connector. Where can I find a new Y plug for the wii?

    jaredslaweski -

    I also broke my wire trying to use tweezers. I should have known better. I use (normally do) a spudger on one side and my fingernail on the other to gently pry these types of connectors out. I ended up buying a replacement faceplate on ebay.

    Tyler -

    This was the hardest part for me. I tried using my fingernails, two different tweezers, and needle nose pliers, but I ended up cutting both the wires. Anyway, I put some electric tape over the exposed wires and just reassembled the system. Funny thing is that the LED still works and I have not noticed any difference. I'm not sure what those wires did, but they seem to not be important.

    Nick -

    For people still wondering after all these years, :), The connector is for the blue leds around the dvd when loading and unloading a disk.

    Niels -

    I also broke off the flimsy wires at the connector. To NOT break the wires, alternate pressing on the right and left sides of the connector with a small flathead screwdriver. Be patient, it will eventually work itself free. There isn't enough to grab onto with the tweezers and you'll only succeed in having them slip off, grab the wires, and yank the wires out.

    Good news is that if you do rip out the wires, no worries... I didn't reconnect them and the unit works just fine. I have no idea what those wires are even for. Power LED continues to work no problem.

    jasendorf -

    I used two small flat head screw drivers, one on each side to pry out the connector. This created less pressure from me and reduced my chance of cutting the wires.

    mulkey -

    This guide is really marvellous - works a treat. But I would definitely recommend needle nose pliers for this step rather than tweezers. It's really easy if you use pliers and potentially damaging if not, and you get it wrong. I had one sniff at it with tweezers then immediate nipped out to the garage for my pliers!

    thepitcanary -

    Definitely a tricky step with that connector. I also cut broke the wire accidentally and was going to just give up trying to fix the Wii. However, as others stated the Wii works just fine, including the lights. I do wonder what those wire are for.

    darcaesar -

    I also had a lot of trouble trying to get the connector off with tweezers. Ended up leaving it attached. It does not really get in the way of remaining steps.

    Ron Even -

    Needlenose pliers did the trick for us!

    Ron Cormier -

    Needlenose pliers did it for us!

    Ron Cormier -

    You can save yourself some trouble at this point and skip the rest of the disassembly: See that green tab to the left of the sd card slot? THAT’S the wifi board (and that green tab, in hindsight, seems designed to make it accessible without taking apart the whole device, don’t you think?) A little careful spudging, and you’ve got it out, ready to replace! (There’s a guy who shows the process on youtube, if you want to review first)

    Will -

    I got the connector out ok thanks to the suggestions here, but I couldn’t figure out how to reattach it. In the end, I just kind of threw it in and it worked fine.

    Christine Wittmer -

    Very clear instructions - thanks! Faceplate needed replacing after one of my son’s friends accidentally kicked it across the room. $10 bucks to fix, thanks to ebay and these instructions. I’d never heard of a “tri-wing” screw before.

    LInda Rawlins -

    I just left the connector alone and kept it connected while working on it. There is enough wire to allow you to do what you need if you are just careful not to snag it on anything.

    Michael Payne -

    I, too, left the connector attached and just took care that the loose faceplate did not stretch the (not crucial) wire when moving rest of the Wii.

    Matti Haveri -

    This was the trickiest part, I almost broke the wires using tweezers and pliers, so instead use a flat end screwdriver to pry it out, when putting it back in use needlenose pliers to start it then use your fingernail to go the rest of the way.

    grace nicosin -

    After I got the connector out I noticed the little locking flap on the top side of the connector. I think prying this first is the key to easier removal.

    Will B -

    Anyone know of a method to replace the connector if you end up breaking the wires? Bits of wire are stuck in the white plastic connector, so I'm wondering if I can buy a connector online somewhere without replacing the whole face plate. Thanks :)

    Bronze Owl -

    I severed both wires. If you want to avoid removing the connector, you can lengthen the two wires by unserpentining them from the wire holder that's in the cover.

    Griff Derryberry -

    Make sure there is no SD card in your unit before pulling this off, otherwise it'll get stuck and you could snap your sd card in half!

    carlosahiciano -

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    • Open the controller port cover until it is perpendicular to the black controller port bezel.

    • Pull the controller port cover straight up to release it from the outer case.

    • Repeat this procedure for the memory card port cover.

    I wasn't able to reassemble the socket covers when I reversed this step..

    While disassembling, I did as instructed pulling the covers upwards when they where perpendicular to the black cover plate but Nintendos instructions says to open the covers (so that they are perpendicular to the black cover plate) and then gently push the covers towards the console with your fingers on the outside of the cover opposite side of the hinges so that the cover hinges will pop out and then lift it up..

    I'm not sure, but I think ignoring Nintendos instructions caused the hinge sockets to break for me, so replacing the controller/memory card socket covers will not work.

    When reassembling, the cover can be placed perpendicular to the black cover plate and rest on the plastic hinge with a few millimeters between the cover and the console, and then they can be pushed down to click in place. But in my case they keep falling all the way down since there's no resistance and nothing to click into.

    Martin Johansson -

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    • Remove the two remaining 4.1 mm Phillips screws along the top edge of the black plastic controller port bezel.

    • Lift the bezel from the long edge furthest away from the controller ports and remove it from the Wii.

    The 3rd hole is in step 3.

    James middleton -

    The bezel is the flat black plate. Removing the three screws that secure it allows you to remove it. If your cube is like mine, this plate likes where it lives and, even with the screws removed, managed to stay in situ without anything holding it.

    Dennis Johnston -

    Beware. The edge of the bezel, opposite these screws, has clips. Lift the bezel from the top edge, where the the screws are, to avoid breaking these clips.

    Dennis Johnston -

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    • Remove the two 5 mm Phillips screws above the controller ports.

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    • Use a metal spudger to remove the three highlighted screw covers stuck to the side of the Wii.

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    • Remove the following screws:

    • Two 5 mm Phillips screws

    • One 8.2 mm Tri-Point screw

    Instead of the Phillips screw on the left I had a very small one under a cover to the left of that!

    Donna Vought -

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    • Use a metal spudger to remove the two rubber feet stuck to the bottom face of the Wii near the rear ports.

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    • Remove the two 8.2 mm Tri-Point screws hidden under the feet you just removed.

    • You may use a 4 mm hex driver to extend your bit into the recesses and reach the screws.

    had a little trouble with theses screws. they were just barely too deep for my 54pies bit driver kit to reach. I ended up inserting a small wad of paper into the shaft of my driver so the tri-wing bit stuck out far enough to engage the screw. (I used the tweezers to remove the paper when I was done) :)

    rbelknap -

    I can confirm, this works fantasticly!

    Thank you

    James middleton -

    When putting the screws back in hold the tip still with the screw and carefully drop it in.

    James middleton -

    When i tried it didn't work. But i did get it to work with blu tack instead as it holds better. It was alot harder to remove though.

    Macro Man -

    Thank you rbelknap, this is excellent advice for those using the ifixit branded driver.

    George Squires -

    You could also use the 4mm nut driver in the iFixit kit to turn the tri-wing driver. This will give you a little more reach.

    Edward Tucker -

    How is no one talking about the included 4mm nut driver trick at Edward Tucker mentioned?! That is genius! Thanks mate!

    Zabuza -

    That's the idea that I needed. Agree with Zabuza.

    cwdick -

    Bingo. All of the other comments were unnecessary.

    Tony Shannon -

    Because it doesn't come with the screw driver in the kit. Only has the tri wing and the cross tips.

    Craig Goodsell -

    This paper wad trick totally worked for me too!

    anonymous 779 -

    Standard Tri-Wing bits will NOT fit into the holes. Make sure that you get one of the tool kits from iFixit (I just ordered the Mako Driver/Bit kit with 64 bits ) - the Tri-Wing bits in this kit have a narrow shaft that allows it to reach deep into narrow holes like these on the Wii . (Disclaimer - I have no association with iFixit).

    dave whale -

    I just sawed off a bit of the shank holder from the iFixit tool, in order for the bit to go deep enough into the case.

    The tool still works fine.

    Alan Walker -

    Thanks for the paper wad trick advice! Worked perfectly with my Wii

    Finder352 -

    The 4mm driver was the exact fix for this problem, no mods necessary

    Tony Shannon -

    I just realized that my ifixit kit never came with the 4mm driver! Instead they sent me two 3.5mm ones.

    gawift -

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    • Lift the outer case straight up off the body of the Wii.

    This step could use at least another picture from the backside so it's clearer what comes up and what stays down.

    Jose Vazquez -

    I used a spudger around the edges of the outer case to gently ease it upward since I could not lift it out with my fingers. Then it came right out.

    Marko -

    Good tip. Having, in the past, broken pieces that required a little persuasion, I attempted to "lift" the outer case, but it wouldn't budge. Using the spudger to persuade it worked like a charm. Also added this suggestion to Step 18 "Lift the drive shield."

    Dennis Johnston -

    hey marko that really helped me thanks\. als if you need help figuring which side is up, its the one with the nintendo engraving on it

    Aryan Garg -

    A fan filter fell out at this step how do you put it back?

    Edit: I figured it out it was from the side intake vent. Just line up the two notches with the pegs in the case to hold it in place

    Darren Jones -

    This is an awful guide

    Alexander D Schaefer -

    Yeah. I don't know why most of the official ifixit guides suck.

    Macro Man -

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    • Remove the small Phillips screw securing the battery door to the bottom panel.

    • This screw is captive to the battery door.

    • Pull the battery door out of the Wii.

    • The system time will be reset once you remove the battery door.

    • This is a good time to change the CR2032 battery if it hasn't been changed recently.

    The screw on the battery door of my Wii required a Phillips #000 screwdriver, which is not listed in the required tools.

    Ben -

    The screw is a PH0000 (quadruple zero) requiring an exceptionally small Phillips screwdriver to remove. If this is your first time in here in a while, this may also be a great time to change the CR2032 battery.

    Steve Bonds -

    I was able to use the ph0 no problem.

    Darren Jones -

    I used a 00 with no problem.

    julie -

    What does this battery do? I never knew there was a battery inside of the WIi.

    Stephen Thornhill -

    thje battery is used to maintain timwe and date etc

    Electronik -

    Where can we get a new battery from?

    Chriul Rg -

    You can get a CR2032 batterie in your local supermarkt. It is recommended to change it after 5 years, but I have seen devices run for 15+ years.

    Playa -

    my wii survived 15 years already with the same battery

    Bas Molendijk -

    I tried using a PH000, PH00, and PH0 screwdriver to no avail. I tried searching online for a PH0000 bit or screwdriver, and can't find anything. How can I unscrew this without stripping the screw or buying a PH0000 bit/screwdriver?

    Keiran Haas -

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    • Remove the 8.2 mm Tri-Point screw that was hidden beneath the battery door.

    Note - this screw is a machine screw (e.g. not self-tapping). It screws into a hex nut, and that nut is captive in a slot in the case. When reassembling, ensure that this hex nut is still captive, and has not migrated out to other areas within the Wii.

    dyanetti -

    The other drive cage hole is screwed in step 11, continue to reassemble.

    James middleton -

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    • Remove the two 8.2 mm Tri-Point screws securing the DVD drive shield near the controller ports.

    The screw on the right for my wii just refuses to come out

    Robert Menocal -

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    • Be cautious as you remove the DVD shield, the edges are sharp and could cut you

    • Lift the DVD drive shield upward and remove it from the Wii.

    Be careful not to cut your fingers on the sharp edges of this metal shield. My daughter actually scraped enough skin to cause blood to drip off her finger. Then we noticed her skin stuck to the metal edge. Yuk.

    J Smith -

    True story I did it to myself lol

    James middleton -

    Does the dvd shield need to be there? I want to remove it but im not sure if i should

    Kadamo -

    If the drive shield needs a little extra persuasion, us a spudger around its perimeter. Also helps prevent cuts when force meets resistance on this metal shield.

    Dennis Johnston -

    There are spring steel tabs on both sides.

    Dennis Johnston -

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    • Remove the four 9 mm #1 Phillips screws securing the DVD drive to the bottom panel.

    The two left hand screws were very difficult to relocate during reassembly. I was coaching my 8 year old through this, and this was probably the only step that he couldn't do. We dropped these screws several times, and used magnets to retrieve. Miniature needle-nose pliers gripping the 'washer' surface of the screw were too wide. We managed to purchase the 'button head' of these screws with the needle-nose and drop the screws into their hole, and push with the phillips until secure. I would like to hear how others install these screws, please.

    dyanetti -

    I had the same problem as you and eventually found an easy way round it. I wrote this to be added to the instructions but it was rejected: "Once the DVD drive has been removed, remove the 4 rubber washers from the screws removed earlier and insert them into your new DVD drive. Because two of the screws are difficult to reach, it is best to insert these two screws into the washers and then slide them into place ready for securing to the base plate".

    The rubber washer holds the two screws roughly in position, you can then reach them with your screwdriver through the two holes (about an inch away) and finish tightening them up.

    Gary -

    For the two screws at the front of the chassis, use a three-pronged parts retriever to lift them out after you unscrew them.

    Walter -

    Helpful tip: Use a magnetized screwdriver for the 2 screws nearest the DVD face because they are set in deep sockets

    Blake Minghelli -

    During reassembly, it can be tricky to position the recessed screws. To temporarily magnetize your screwdriver, rub the tip against a magnet for 5-10 seconds. (A refrigerator magnet will do.) You should then be able to put the screw on the tip and gently lower it into position.

    Matt D -

    Thanks - the refrigerator magnet trick worked for me,

    Jim Allen -

    Another method for getting the front screws back in is to insert a small pair of tweezers through the DVD slot to guide the screw in. I just dropped the screw in between the tweezers which held the screw just above the hole. Then I was able to use the phillips screwdriver to guide the screw into the hole and screw it in. Done in just a few seconds.

    Another option would be to stick a dab of hot glue on the screw to your screwdriver and then when the screw has been driven home either the glue stays on the driver and is easily removed or it stays on the screw and you just pull it off with tweezers or needle nose pliers.

    accts4mjs -

    The screwdriver provided in the kit by ifixit is a magnetized screwdriver and works perfectly!

    mulkey -

    If you are disassembling your Wii because, say, a two-year-old has shovelled pennies into it (yes, that was me) you will also need to partially disassemble the drive itself, which is not covered in this guide. Luckily it's really easy. Unscrew the 4-5 larger Philips/cross head screws on the top of the frame (NOT any of the smaller darker ones) around the edges, and the frame on top of the drive will lift right off. Be careful as there is cabling running to it, so don't yank it or pull it too far off. You will now be able to get any coins or other foreign objects out.

    thepitcanary -

    I didn't have a magnetic screwdriver, so I applied a tiny amount of fabric glue to the head of each screw, waited a minute for it to start to harden, inserted my non-mag screwdriver into the screw head, and the screw stuck to the screwdriver long enough to insert it into the hole.

    Lee Crooks -

    Be advised that the posts that these screws go into are very fragile and may even break. Make sure to get the little plastic pieces out if you over tighten them or they are just brittle and broken to begin with. The screws seem to be long enough to work if you do break the posts off completely.

    Michael Payne -

    I needed a size 1 Phillips screwdriver for this step.

    julie -

    Thanks, I will include it in the guide

    Angel -

    Be careful with these screws - they seem to be quite malleable and easy to strip.

    Electronik -

    I ended up using an extra fine tweezers from a watch kit, stuck it through the vent opening "inside" the screw area and acted as guideposts to thread in. Only because I didn't have a magnet for the screw.

    kwjayhawk -

    I guess this is a warning applicable to anything that has to do with plastics, but this step in particular: Be extra careful not to overtighten these screws when reassembling the unit because the plastic sockets will easily break/shatter..

    Martin Johansson -

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    • Lift the side of the DVD drive opposite the controller ports enough to access the cables on its bottom face.

    • Carefully pull the DVD drive power cable out from under the plastic shroud near the heat sink.

    When reversing these steps to reassemble the Wii, at this point it is possible to do a quick test before screwing the drive to the case. This will save you a lot of time if something is wrong.

    Don't touch anything you don't have to while the case is off.

    Carefully plug the power cable into the back of the Wii, then use a screwdriver to gently press the white button next to the glowing yellow LED on the front. You should hear the DVD drive power up and whir. Then press the white button again, wait for the yellow light to come back, and unplug the Wii.

    If you didn't hear the drive start up, most likely one of the two ribbons isn't connected to the drive correctly. Doublecheck the previous 3 steps.

    Matt D -

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    • Pull the DVD drive power cable away from its socket on the DVD drive.

    When reversing this step, be careful re-inserting the connector. The pins are very delicate and if you aren't at the proper angle, you can bend them and ruin the drive.

    jisakoff42 -

    The exact thing happened to me just now; I reinserted it at a (very slight) angle, and bent one of the pins at the end of the socket. Luckily, I was able to straighten it back up with a sewing needle. I made sure the spacing was consistent with the rest of the pins, and that I reinserted the connector as straight as I could, so it doesn’t happen again.

    Jose Olarte III -

    Reinsterting the connection caused the connecter to fall of the print borad, even if I was very careful.

    On the orginal board, the connector is solid as a rock.

    Bjørn Johannesen -

    1) The silver cable doesn’t need any force to insert - just push it gently in and use the retaining flap to lock it in place;

    2) The DVD drive power cable is a little tricky because of the orientation - take a look of the pins inside the socket: it is located more toward the outside surface (not in the middle). As such, check your cable orientation before insert, make sure it is in the right orientation such that the holes will meet the pins. It takes me one try to snug it in nicely.

    David Will -

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    • Use your fingernail to flip up the retaining flap on the DVD drive ribbon cable socket.

    • Be sure you are prying up on the retaining flap, not the socket itself.

    • Pull the DVD drive ribbon cable out of its socket.

    • Remove the DVD drive from the Wii.

    When reversing this step, make sure the ribbon is all the way in. For some reason I found positioning it with my replacement drive was much harder than with my old drive. The gentlest tug after lowering the brown clip would show that the ribbon was not actually being held tightly. I thought for a while that the clip itself was broken, but eventually I got it to hold the ribbon correctly.

    Matt D -

    Be careful with this step. I too had difficulty re-inserting the ribbon. I even popped off the brown clip and thought I broke it. Thankfully it snapped back into place.

    Dana Kennard -

    It is difficult to tell, but be aware that the brown piece is the retaining flap, not the light piece , which is the actual socket.

    Dan Neunaber -

    I had to use Kapton tape. I couldn’t get the clip back on.

    Jim Allen -

    This was the trickiest step for me. Take note of how the ribbon is configured before you loosen the clip to help you replace it with confidence in the right way.

    Ping Wu -

    Careful! When reinstalling, I think I bent and broke the ribbon. The Wii doesn't respond upon power up - I think because it doesn't see the drive.

    Steve Bennett -

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    • Use a pair of tweezers to lift the fan connector up and out of its socket on the logic board.

    • Be sure your tweezers are clamped down on the fan connector, not the socket on the motherboard.

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    • Remove the two 10 mm Phillips screws securing the fan to the fan shroud.

    • Remove the fan from the Wii.

    There may be a removable metal "comb" under the fan shroud, remove after removing the fan shroud when disassembling, and replace before inserting the fan shroud when reassembling: it is held in place with same screws as fan shroud.

    Gregory Salton -

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    • Use the tip of a spudger or another fine-pointed tool to carefully pry one of the black plastic retaining fingers attached to the fan shroud away from the Wi-Fi antenna board.

    • Lift the Wi-Fi antenna out of the fan shroud.

    I messed up the gray wire on the antenna part is it possible to solder it back on or do I have to replace it?

    DreadHeadNon -

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    • Remove the single 10 mm Phillips screw securing the second Wi-Fi antenna to the top of the fan shroud.

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    • Remove the two pieces of tape securing the second Wi-Fi antenna cable to the plastic bracket near the heat sink.

    Some newer models may have the Wi-Fi antenna wires taped to the top of the plastic bracket instead of the front as pictured.

    Jabu -

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    • Carefully de-route both antennas from the frame of the Wii and lay them aside.

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    • Remove the three 10 mm Phillips screws securing the fan shroud to the Wii.

    • Lift the fan shroud off the heat sink and remove it from the Wii.

    Mine (RVL-CPU-01) Is probably The first revision, and mine had another EMI Shield Under the fan shroud. I’m Guessing that they removed it in later revisions. It just fits under the shroud normally. For Pics, here is a link. Images are there soon.

    https://sites.google.com/site/ninteardow...

    Lucas Hoekstra (Lucas9810) -

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    • Remove the following six screws securing the EMI fingers to the bottom panel:

    • Four 7 mm Phillips screws

    • Two 11.3 mm Phillips screws

    • Remove both sets of EMI fingers from the Wii.

    Actually, at east for me, these “fingers” were beneath the motherboard cover, and the screws could be removed at the same time as the ones on step 33.

    shaitanpt -

    shaitanpt thanks for pointing this out! Mine were also beneath the motherboard cover, and the first set of "fingers" were actually two small brackets between the controller ports, rather than one long bracket over all of them.

    Cynthia -

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    • Remove the following three screws:

    • One 7 mm Phillips screw

    • Two 10 mm Phillips screws

    • Lift the bracket out of the Wii.

    Be careful not to drop the 7 mm. I did and I spent 10 minutes trying to roll it and rattle it out from under the shroud, until I figured out that you can just remove the fan and shake it out of the bottom

    Curt Swalley -

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    • Remove the three 10 mm Phillips screws securing the black bracket to the bottom panel near the front of the Wii.

    • Slightly lift the bracket and use your other hand to pull the retaining clip away from where the Wi-Fi antennas enter the motherboard sheild.

    • Remove the bracket from the Wii.

    • Be sure not to lose the small square nut loosely held by the black plastic bracket.

    For reassembly: I believe the nut is for the CR2032 battery

    Jack Bailey -

  33. OIGxembVqWfSWddN

    • Remove the nine remaining 7 mm Phillips screws securing the motherboard cover to the bottom panel.

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    • Carefully lift the motherboard cover off the motherboard, minding any cables that may get caught.

    • On some models, a thermal pad for the wireless chip is attached to the underside of the motherboard cover. Be sure to replace it when reassembling.

    There is a thermal pad on the WiFi chip as well! NB this because disassembling past this point requires you to also reapply a thermal pad to the WiFi chip.

    Jonatan Noponen -

    When reassembling, put the wifi fingers near the battery compartment beneath the motherboard cover before screwing the cover back on. Can someone add "thermal paste" to the items needed to the top of the guide?

    Gregory Salton -

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    • Remove the four 11.3 mm Phillips screws securing the heat sink to the bottom panel.

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    • Lift the heat sink off the motherboard.

    • When working near the exposed processors, be sure not to disturb the thermal pads if you don't plan to replace them. They are fragile and can tear easily. If you do plan to replace the thermal pads, thermal paste can be used.

    Would it make sense to use thermal compound instead?

    BRUCEL86 -

    I would recommend to still using thermal pads, because there are big gaps between the heatsink and the chip that thermal paste will not spread and fill the gap.

    CCX Cheng -

    K5-Pro is also a solution I am happy with

    Playa -

    You need to use the pads. I would not recommend paste. The pre-smashed dimensions of the pads are 1.5mm thick and one is 20mmx20mm and the other is 15mmx15mm. (so, two 20x20x1.5's would have you covered easily.) Also missing is the torque on the heatsink. However there was a lot of effort on the pictures and I appreciate that!

    david1024 -

    So what is the torque spec on the heatsink then?

    Alex Dorman -

    THERMAL PASTE??? This will fry your console as the gap between HS and CPU is too big.

    Kolomanšell -

Conclusion

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

Author

Andrew Bookholt

590566 Reputation

12 comments

This guide also works great as a thermal paste replacement guide for the Wii, just remove the old thermal pads and clean off the heatsink, CPU, GPU, and WiFi board, and apply Thermal Grease to the CPU, GPU, And WiFi board.

Lucas Hoekstra (Lucas9810) -

Use non-conductive thermal pads, 20x20x1.5 and 15x15x1.5 are what you need.

david1024 -

Worked great! Was able to reapply thermal paste on my wii. It’s working great so far!

chris morales -

Can we use Thermal Paste instead of Thermal Pads?

Manuel E. Carballo Jr. -

Yes, thermal paste can be used. I strongly recommend Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut, as it’s the second-best-performing non-metallic thermal paste on the market (the only better performer is Kryonaut Extreme).

Ethan Z -

I just finished this guide, and replaced with Noctua NT-H1 thermal paste. I needed a good amount, but I had a 10g tube and used hardly any of it. Maybe 4 or 5 desktop cpu applications worth. I let it run for while and it definitely seems like a lot more heat is venting out now compared to before, though I did clean everything as well. But there is no way its somehow worse than the gross pads that were on there.

Evan Miner -

What are the dimensions of the thermal pads that we should use?

Keir Baker-Mansour -

I used an m.2 thermal pad it’s pretty much the same size as the original and it works well

Kyler Strang -

You should have gone into more detail on the thermal paste/pads. What thickness should be used for replacement? There is a decent gap between the CPU/GPU and heatsink, are you SURE thermal paste can be used since there is no direct connection?

samuelmcw -

Had to use paste when I did it. There is 100% no way it'd work long-term though as there's too much space between the heatsink and the die.

Keir Baker-Mansour -

I know this is old, but the pads are 1.5mm thick.. one is 20x20 and the other is 15x15. Don't use paste, you'll be re-applying it every few months as it runs out the side and makes a mess of the PWB.

david1024 -

I would not recommend paste. You need to use the pads. they are 1.5mm thick and one is 20mmx20mm and the other is 15mmx15mm. (so, two 20x20x1.5's would have you covered easily.) Also missing is the torque on the heatsink. However there was a lot of effort on the pcitures and I appreciate that!

david1024 -