iMac G5 17" Model A1144 Logic Board Replacement

Loosen the two Phillips screws securing the access door to your iMac.

Remove the access door from your iMac.

Remove the three T8 Torx screws securing the front bezel to the rear panel.

Use your thumbs to press both RAM arms in past the front bezel for enough clearance to lift it off the rear case.

While holding the RAM arms in with your thumbs, lift the lower edge of the front bezel enough to clear the rear case.

Insert a plastic card up into the corner of the air vent slot at the top of the rear case.

Push the card toward the top of the iMac to release the front bezel latch.

Pull the front bezel away from the rear case.

Repeat this process for the other side of the front bezel.

Lay your iMac stand-side down on a table.

Lift the front bezel from its lower edge and rotate it away from the rest of your iMac, minding the RAM arms that may get caught.

Lay the front bezel above the rest of the iMac.

If necessary, remove the piece of kapton tape wrapped around the microphone and camera cables.

Disconnect both the camera and microphone cables.

Peel back the aluminum EMI shield up off the lower three edges of the rear case.

Remove the two 5 mm T6 Torx screws securing the display data cable to the logic board.

Using its attached black tab, pull the display data cable connector up off the logic board.

Pull the inverter cable connector up off its socket on the logic board.

Peel back the aluminum EMI tape from the two vertical edges of the display.

Remove the four recessed coarse-thread 7.5 mm T10 Torx screws securing the display to the rear case.

Lift the display from its lower edge and pull it toward yourself to peel it off the EMI shield attached to its top edge.

Remove the single 5 mm T6 Torx screw securing the IR board bracket to the logic board.

Remove the IR cable finger and move the IR board, with cable still attached, out of the way.

Remove the single 30 mm T10 Torx screw securing the left speaker to the rear case.

Pull the left speaker out of the rear case.

De-route the left speaker cable along its path across the logic board.

Remove the single 17 mm T10 Torx screw securing the right speaker to the logic board.

Lift the right speaker out of the rear case and move it out of the way.

If necessary, lift the IR board cable to free the left speaker cable pinned beneath.

Pull the speaker connector toward the top edge of your iMac to disconnect it from the logic board.

Disconnect the CPU fan connector from the logic board by pulling it straight up from its socket.

Gently lift the CPU fan out of the rear case.

Disconnect the following connectors from the logic board by pulling them straight up from their sockets.:

Ambient light sensor cable.

Power cable.

Disconnect the hard drive data cable connector from the logic board by pulling it straight up from its socket.

De-route the IR sensor cable from behind the AirPort Express card and set it aside.

Remove two 5 mm T6 Torx screws securing the AirPort/Bluetooth board to the logic board.

Lift the AirPort/Bluetooth board up from its left edge to separate it from its socket on the logic board.

Use the flat end of a spudger to pry both antenna cables up off the AirPort/Bluetooth board.

This step need not be done. Simply lay the card over the side.

Disconnect the camera board cable connector from the logic board by pulling it straight away from its socket.

Disconnect the optical drive fan cable connector from the logic board by pulling it straight away from its socket.

Remove the 7 mm T10 Torx screw securing the optical drive flex cable mounting bracket to the logic board.

Remove the flex cable mounting bracket.

Disconnect the optical drive flex cable from the logic board by pulling it straight up from its socket.

De-route the hard drive data cable and tuck it under the optical drive to prevent the cable from interfering with future steps.

Disconnect the hard drive fan connector from the logic board by pulling it straight away from its socket.

Use the tip of a spudger to lift the hard drive and optical drive thermal sensor cables for clearance.

Disconnect the optical drive temperature sensor connector from the logic board by pulling it straight away from its socket.

Disconnect the hard drive temperature sensor connector from the logic board by pulling it straight away from its socket.

Remove the following screws securing the logic board to the rear case:

Four fine threaded 7 mm T10 Torx screws.

Three coarse threaded 7 mm T10 Torx screws.

Push the two RAM arms protruding from the access door inward and set them on the lower edge of the rear case to prevent them from getting caught when removing the logic board.

Grab the logic board and pull it toward yourself slightly to separate the jacks from the rear case.

Rotate the top of the logic board toward yourself slightly to gain access to the DC power cable connector.

While grasping the logic board with one hand, disconnect the DC power cable connector from the logic board by pulling it straight away from its socket.