There's a fan on the middle shelf of my early 2009 Mac Pro. It's horizontal. When the fan is on it makes an annoying sound. The fan isn't usually on. If I put my thumb lightly on the fan's center the noise stops. Is there a way to fix this?
I only use this computer for an app that can't run on Catalina and a few other things.
Mac Pro, OS X 10.11
The item in your picture is the Graphics card, located in the bottom PCIe slot. It has an integral fan.
To remove the card, push the button on the CHASSIS fan (standing upright to the card's left), and slide that fan to the left to move the stainless bar that is retaining the card in its slot. You will also need to remove the slot-card retainer strip (with two knurled retainers with Phillips screw slots) to the right of that card.
The item in your picture is the Graphics card, located in the bottom PCIe slot. It has an integral fan.
To remove the card, push the button on the CHASSIS fan (standing upright to the card's left), and slide that fan to the left to move the stainless bar that is retaining the card in its slot. You will also need to remove the slot-card retainer strip (with two knurled retainers with Phillips screw slots) to the right of that card.
In the 2009 model, that fans and a retainer-bar both slide to the left to allow the removal of PCIe cards.
Be sure the fan and retainer have been returned to their proper rightmost position (depress the release button on the forward side of the fan to move it).
Thanks! Unplugging the monitors also helped. :-) I cleaned out the dust and put it all back together. If it continues to make a noise I'll remove the plastic cover from the graphics card, the fan won't doing anything but the heat sinks will have more exposure.
The problem now is that my 23" Apple Cinema HD Display (A1082) won't power up. "System Preferences - Displays - Arrangement" shows the monitor but the LED indicator and display won't light up. I touched the power button on the side. I tried it on my MacBook and it's same, shows up in the "System Preferences" but won't power up. Any ideas?
I don't see a release button, and I can't get the fan to slide to the left or any other direction. If I could get it out I expect that I could clean and lube it.
I unplugged the monitor from its power supply! I was wondering why the monitor had four plugs: DVI, USB, Firewire, and this other connector I didn't recognize...
Do I win the Idiot of the Week Award?
Sorry, you did not win. These forums are very competitive in that regard.
Horizontal fan grinding in 2009 Mac Pro
