Nintendo Wii Motherboard Cover Replacement

Written By: Andrew Bookholt
  • Comments: 10
Nintendo Wii Motherboard Cover Replacement

Difficulty

Moderate

Steps

12

Time Required

No estimate

Introduction

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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 -

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    • 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 -

Conclusion

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

Author

Andrew Bookholt

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