Left fan Buzzing

I was working in XP via Boot Camp a moment ago, and because the power/cooling support is still weak for Windows in Boot Camp, the computer heats up quite a bit. I am running InputRemapper to control the fans (because, once again, the fan control seems nonexistent otherwise), and lo and behold, what do I hear on my 1 month old $2800 computer? A buzzing fan. Perhaps it's just the particularly pessimistic mood I'm in at the moment, but I would like to point out that when I bought Dell's then just-released Inspiron 8100, I had no trouble with it whatsoever for quite some time, and the fan's only became an issue after several years of heavy use and dust accumulation, and given the relatively poor design of Dell computers in terms of thermal control, the fans ran often and at high speeds. I swore to never again purchase a Dell after I purchased my desktop from them, and was swayed by the prolific testimonials and endorsements for Macs and their legacy of quality computers. To date no amount of water has been able to remove the sour taste which now exists in my mouth.

Anyway, I understand it's a mostly new design, so I'm trying to keep an open mind. I will have to run this MPB by an Apple Store.

Worth noting: at this point I can hear a faint buzzing, but when I tilt the computer along its axes (especially laterally) I can hear the buzzing much more prominently for as long as the computer is moving.

I'm having the exact same issue. I'm posting this so I can reference those recordings when I take it into the Apple Store. Thanks for posting those!

**** together, i had the same problem. My Premium Reseller changed the two fans and everything is fine.

in case you don't know WoW will run with all settings on full using the 9400m chipset. It keeps the notebook a lot cooler and extends play time for about an hour on battery. No graphical difference at all. Now you wanna run me through Gnomerand for 1G?

most importantly for those of you with fan problems this will keep it quite due to lower temps and fan use.

Mine (a 2.8ghz online build) started doing "the buzz" two days ago; cannot tell if it's the left or right fan. When run with the standard graphics, it's a very low buzz; with the hi-res graphics it's much louder.

The system has been on nearly round-the-clock with a BOINC project for two months. It sits atop a wire dishrack atop a thick book in order to aid airflow underneath.

Could this be a dust and/or lubrication issue that a little compressed air or oil would be able to fix?

Mine started doing this as well.

The noise, as I hear it, is best described as the blades of the fan hitting something as they spin. Reminiscent of something hitting the spokes of a bicycle wheel.

I assume it's bad bearings/bushing... when the fan spins fast enough, a jolt to the machine can cause the fan to wobble enough where it starts rubbing against its casing, causing the sound.

Called Apple. They suggested I take it to a store. I did. The very helpful Genius started running the in-store stress-test on the machine. She listened to the recording I made the last time the fan was doing its thing. She then took it to the back room (so she could hear it better). Since the noise comes and goes rather randomly on my machine, she was not able to replicate it.

Without me even asking for it, she suggested we replace the fan. She wanted to do it right away but they had no fans in stock. They'll be calling me when they do have the fan... and I'll have it replaced.

So, if you do have this problem, make an appointment at your nearest store. Try to figure out if there's a way to replicate the sound on your machine consistently. If it's random, try to record it using the built-in mic the next time it happens and bring that with you.

Playing with SMCfanControl, I kept the minimum fan speed to 2000 or so, and the max to around 4200. I jiggled the upper number a bit and then ran it at that for a few moments before bringing it back down.

No problem, but the buzzing was still there.

For a moment, a sped both fans up to a max of 6000. The buzz died down quite a bit, and then a worse buzzing, which now vibrates the entire computer, came from the right fan.

When I went back to the slower speed, the right fan continues the evil buzzing, and it makes more noise when slower. With the fans linked and pushed to the max, the left goes to 6000 but the right never goes higher than 3500 -- according to iStatPro.

Problem: mine is a CTO from Apple online. Will a local store take it in to be fixed?

Just leaving a comment to let folks know that I took it into my local Apple Store and they replaced the bad fan. Haven't heard a peep from it for a couple weeks now, and it runs beautifully!

The store itself fixed it?

You can absolutely bring a CTO MBP into your local Apple Store for repair. My son's was also CTO and they replaced both fans after hearing the noise it was making. No issues since.

That's correct. They had to get the fan part shipped to the store first, and then they repaired it there. My store is the big San Francisco "flagship" one, so smaller Apple Stores might need to ship the machine away for repairs.

Add another one to the list...

Mine is a unibody 2.8ghz Intel Core 2 Duo with 4GB of RAM and the NVIDIA GeForce 9400M / 9600M GT. Bought in October 2008, just started to notice the noise a few days ago when doing photo work. Happens when using either of the cards. It's a faint "purr" noise from the fans. Seems like the left fan.

Wish I could have gotten an appointment at my local Apple store for this past weekend, or today - but couldn't. I'll have to wait until later this week and try to get a weekend appointment. Since this is my work laptop, it's going to be even more problematic if I am without the machine for a few days.

Just got back from the apple store. They are going to replace the left fan. Need to pay $100 to upgrade to "PRO" care in order to get it replaced within 24 hours, or else it's 3-4 days of a wait. Since this is a work machine, I'll be shelling out another $100 to apple - for a problem that isn't my problem - kinda insane...

I did not identify the buzzing as the main problem so I already started a different thread. But the problem you described seems to be related.

I also have this buzzing noise on my MBP Late 2008. It doesn't occur all the time but almost all the time. But it is very quiet.
Additionally there is a noise that is deeper and pulsing. It is more 'unbalanced'. Maybe this noise comes from a different source, maybe from the same. But it seems to come from the left side.

When I tilt my MBP to the front or to the side (about 30 to 60°), a louder noise occurs. Thus, this also occurs when I put the MBP on a notebook stand.

Do you think all these phenomena are caused by the fans or maybe even by one and the same fan?
Everything else about my MBP seems to be ok. Would you suggest to get the MBP exchanged or repaired? I mean, is this repair a major issue that might be inconvenient or is it just a minor problem that might be more convenient than an exchange? I can't really assess this.

And especially to the users from Germany: where did you get the fans repaired and how long did it take? Is it possible to get the fans replaced within one workday? Are they able to exchange every fan, even the one on the graphics card?

Thank you in advance!