T500 Stiff Hinges - Can Be Adjusted?

[sausage888]

I have an old T500 still working that developed a problem with the left hinge seizing up and pulling the LCD out of alignment. I happened to have another donor T500 that I dismantled to try and determine the problem and swap parts. The LCD Structure Body on the recently broken one is plastic (cracked near the hinge connection) and the donor T500 has a magnesium LCD Structure Body. I swapped out the magnesium one (paper thin) for the broken plastic one and it cracked in the exact same spot once reassembled.

So I have two LCD Structure Bodies that are both cracked in the same spot. The hinges are stiff as a board and I cannot even flex them with pliers. I don't see where there is anywhere to adjust the tension on them. I had ordered a spare set from eBay and they are also stiff as a board. For reference, these hinges are listed in the repair manual as 43Y9737 or 43Y9738.

PS. I have had four T500's over the years and this is the first time I have had this hinge issue. My plan was just to bolt the LCD unit through with nuts on the top of the laptop just to get it to work.

Any help? Thanks -Dan

[TPFanatic]

T500 left hinges are pretty bad, they either get floppy or they freeze, this is very common on T500/W500 and T61 models, it’s a flaw .

[Gonzaleitor]

I have an old T500 still working that developed a problem with the left hinge seizing up and pulling the LCD out of alignment. I happened to have another donor T500 that I dismantled to try and determine the problem and swap parts. The LCD Structure Body on the recently broken one is plastic (cracked near the hinge connection) and the donor T500 has a magnesium LCD Structure Body. I swapped out the magnesium one (paper thin) for the broken plastic one and it cracked in the exact same spot once reassembled.

So I have two LCD Structure Bodies that are both cracked in the same spot. The hinges are stiff as a board and I cannot even flex them with pliers. I don't see where there is anywhere to adjust the tension on them. I had ordered a spare set from eBay and they are also stiff as a board. For reference, these hinges are listed in the repair manual as 43Y9737 or 43Y9738.

PS. I have had four T500's over the years and this is the first time I have had this hinge issue. My plan was just to bolt the LCD unit through with nuts on the top of the laptop just to get it to work.

Any help? Thanks -Dan

Have you tried to get them out and lubricate them with WD40 or some tipe of not conductive grease?

[sausage888]

I did end up with three separate pairs of hinges - two from old T500's that had both cracked their LCD Structure Body on the right side - one was made from magnesium and the other was plastic. Both LCD backings were cracked near the screw hole that held the right hinge onto the lid. All three hinges were so stiff I couldn't even bend them with pliers.

I soaked the new hinges I had bought from eBay in WD40 overnight and I could at least bend them on the bench vise with a pliers, stiff but bendable. So, my fix for the broken LCD Structure Bodies was to drill through the LCD lid with longer screws and tighten them on with tiny M3.5 nuts with oversize flanges. The nuts are so teeny, you can barely even see them. That gave enough torque to keep the lid from pulling out.

So the old T500 lives on for as long as Win10 is still around. Thanks for replies.

[TPFanatic]

Ive seen that technique done, it’s effective. Well done.

[deickos]

I soaked the new hinges I had bought from eBay in WD40 overnight and I could at least bend them on the bench vise with a pliers, stiff but bendable. So, my fix for the broken LCD Structure Bodies was to drill through the LCD lid with longer screws and tighten them on with tiny M3.5 nuts with oversize flanges. The nuts are so teeny, you can barely even see them. That gave enough torque to keep the lid from pulling out.

have quit an old t500 with the same issue and got another
can you provide photos or drawings of what repairs you did ?