Powerbook G4 Titanium 550/667 Repair Guide
Copyright © 2003 Powerbookmedic.com. All rights reserved.
Any portion of this manual may not be copied, reproduced, or distributed without theexpress written consent of Powerbookmedic.com. Violators will be prosecuted.
This manual is presented as a guide in order to help you repair problems on yourpowerbook. Working on a powerbook can be dangerous if not done properly. We at
Powerbookmedic.com take no responsibility for any damage or harm done to yourself or
your powerbook as a result of reading this guide.
Suggestions for making this manual better? Email: sales@powerbookmedic.com

Tools Needed for Take Apart:
Torx T8 Screwdriver – Available from our online store
Torx T6 Screwdriver – Available from our online sore
Philips head screwdriver (small and medium size screwdrivers)
Pliers

Always remove the battery and power supply from the computer before beginning any
take apart or repair!

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Table of Contents
Identifying the Gigabit Powerbook G4………………………………… …...pg. 3
Identification of Parts…………………………………………..…………….pg. 4
Battery Removal………………………………………………...……………pg.5
Keyboard Removal…………………………………………….………….....pg. 6
Ram Removal……………………………………………..…..……………..pg 7
Modem Removal……………………………………………….……………pg. 8
Bottom Case Removal……………………………………………………….pg. 9
Hard Drive Removal………………………..…………………………….....pg. 13
DVD / Optical Drive Removal………………………..………...…………...pg. 15
Logic Board Removal…………………………………….…………………pg. 17
Display Removal…………………..……………………………….………..pg. 22
Display Take Apart / Hinge Replacement………………….………………..pg. 25
Heat Exchange / Rib Frame Removal……………………………………….pg 38

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Identifying the Powerbook G4 550/667
The powerbook G4 Titanium is easily identified by its titanium frame and sleek
appearance. Even though all of the models look nearly identical, each of them is different
in a unique way, and the parts are NOT interchangeable between models. The easiest way
to identify which model you have and need parts for is by processor speed. The pairs
listed below are compatible only with each other. For example, the 400mhz can use
500mhz parts, but cannot use the parts from a 550mhz.
400mhz & 500mhz
550mhz & 667mhz (non-DVI)
667mhz & 867mhz DVI
To determine if your machine is a DVI model, then you will need to look at the rear ports
on your unit. Look at the pictures below. The first picture is a NON-DVI model. (Notice
the VGA port next to the fan slots.

The picture below is from a DVI model. Notice the rectangular DVI port.

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Identification of Parts

Display
Bottom Pan Casing

Optical Drive
Inverter Board

Clutch Covers

Logic Board

Trackpad / Heat Exchange /Rib Frame

Modem

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Before proceeding with any repair, make sure your powerbook is shut down andunplugged. It is a good idea to let your powerbook sit unplugged for at least 15
minutes before proceeding with any repair.
It is strongly recommended that you remove the battery before proceeding with any
repairs.

Battery Removal

Turn the computer over withthe bottom up as shown.
Push the battery latch to theright as shown. The battery
will then “pop” up and you
will be able to remove itfrom the laptop as shown inthe second picture.

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Keyboard Removal
Before proceeding, you must first remove:
Battery
After you have removed thebattery, turn the computer
over and open up the display.
Then, depress the two
keyboard tabs as shown in
the picture. Holding the tabs
in, flip the keyboard up andtowards you. (If the
keyboard does not easily
come out, check to makesure you have not locked the
keyboard.)

To remove the keyboard
connector, grasp the cable asshown and gently pull up.
You can gently wiggle thecable from side to side if it
doesn’t come off easily. Do
not use much force. It shouldcome off relatively easily.

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Memory (Ram) Removal
Before proceeding, you must first remove:
Battery
Keyboard

To remove currently installed ram,
pry back the metal or plastic
fasteners holding in the ram asshown. Do this on each side. It’seasier if you do them at the sametime.

The ram chip will pop up. Justslide out to remove it. To install a
new chip, just align the new chipin the grooves, press in, and thenpress down until the fasteners clip
on both sides.

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Modem Removal
Before proceeding, you must first remove:
Battery
Keyboard

To remove the modem you willneed either a pair of pliers or a
5mm hex nut screwdriver or
wrench. Undo the hex nut in thelocation shown. Then pull themodem up to disconnect it fromthe motherboard. Lastly remove
the cable connected to the modem.

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Bottom Case Removal
Before proceeding, you must first remove:
Battery

Remove the 8 Torx screws from thebottom case with your Torx T8
Screwdriver. (Available fromwww.powerbookmedic.com)

Gently lift up on the case as shown.
Do not use much force at all or you
will break the trackpad casing.
Gently work your way around thecasing.

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Take special care near the DVD
drive area. This area is very delicate,and you especially risk breaking the
trackpad at this point.
When the casing is loose, lift up andplace it on a clean surface.

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Airport Card Removal
Before proceeding, you must first remove:
Battery
Bottom CaseTo remove the airport card, locate
the metal clip that holds the cableconnector in place. Gently pry thisback with your finger and pull up on
the cable to release it from theconnector.

Lift up on the card as shown. Thenpull the card out of its connector.
(You may gently rock the card side
to side to ease it out of theconnector.)

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Using your fingers, pull the cableconnector from the card. (If it is hardto pull the connector out, you can
use a pair of needle nose pliers togently pull the connector out while
holding the card. If you do this,
don’t use much force at all or you
risk breaking the card andconnector.)

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Hard Drive Removal
Before proceeding, you must first remove:
Battery
Bottom Case

Disconnect the orange hard drive
cable from the motherboard asshown.

Remove the two Torx T8 screws
shown in red. These are located in
the battery bay. Note – There are
two rubber washers, if they fall out
remember to put them back in when
installing a new drive.
Lift the drive up and out.

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Remove the orange cable from thehard drive by pulling the cablestraight up as shown. Do not use
excessive force, or you will bend theconnector pins.
Replacement note – If it is difficult
to put the hard drive back in, you canremove the torx screw from the rib
frame and move that portion of therib frame slightly to allow for more
wiggle room.

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CD / DVD Drive Removal
Before proceeding, you must first remove:
Battery
Keyboard
Bottom Case
Note – CDRW removal instructions
are similar but differ slightly.
Using a flathead screwdriver pry up
the EMI clip at the location shownin the picture. It will be behind theDVD drive. Put the clip somewhere
safe, as you’ll need to replace it
when you reinstall another drive.

Turn the computer over. Locate theDVD drive and two orange cables
connected to the motherboard.
You must first remove the orange
strip of tape covering the cables.
Then, undo the two orange cablesfrom the motherboard.

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Grabbing the drive from the sides
only, lift the drive up and out.
Note – There is a metal clip on thefront of the drive that attaches in two
small grooves. This should easily
come loose. You will need to put
this piece in the drive you are
replacing if it does not already haveit.

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Logic Board Removal / Replacement
Before proceeding, you must first remove:
Battery
Keyboard
Bottom Case
Airport Card (If installed)

Remove the four Torx T8 screws asshown.

Undo the orange PCMCIA
connector from the motherboard by
gently prying it up.
Remove the battery connector cablefrom the motherboard by gently
prying it up. This connector can be
hard to remove sometimes. Use aflathead screwdriver while pullingup to make the job a little easier.

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Remove the backup battery cableas shown by gently pulling up.

Turn the laptop over.
Undo the three cables on the left
hand side of the logic board. These
cables are very delicate, so use
extreme caution

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If a strip of orange tape is covering the
trackpad connector, remove it asshown and disconnect the trackpad
cable from the motherboard. If you
have not already done so, remove thehard drive cable from the motherboard
as well. (It is located next to thetrackpad cable.)

Remove the three Torx T8 screws asshown.

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Locate the DVD drive and two orange
cables connected to the motherboard.
You must first remove the orange stripof tape covering the cables.
Then, undo the two orange cablesfrom the motherboard.

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Remove the orange piece of tapecovering the black and grey cable on
the right hand side of the logic board.
Carefully undo the cable.

Grasp the logic board as shown andgently pull up. Then gently pull theboard out and place it on an anti-static
surface.

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Display Removal
Before proceeding, you must first remove:
Battery
Keyboard
Bottom Case
Airport Card (If installed)
Logic Board

Remove the 4 Torx T8 screws on the
clutch covers as shown.

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Gently pry the clutch covers off ofthe frame. If you use a flatheadscrewdriver be sure not to chip yourpaint. They should come off easily.

Now, remove the 4 Torx T8 headscrews at the locations shown. Do
not remove the black screws on theblack hinge. *Be very careful
around the cables.

On the right hand side, gently
remove the pink and black cablefrom the inverter board as shown.
Then pull it through the hole in thecasing where the hinge attaches to.

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On both sides of the casing is thepiece shown in red. This piece
pivots up and “folds” over.
On the side with the display
cable and white and blue wire,
lift this piece up, and then,carefully guide the display cableand blue and white cable throughthe hole. You will have to turnthe display data cable to get it
properly go through the hole. Bevery careful with the cables!

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Display Take Apart / Hinge Replacement
READ BEFORE PROCEEDING
Working on the display of the G4 Titanium is a very risky procedure. If you are notcareful, there is a high risk of damaging your display. Also, the casing will not look
100% cosmetically perfect many times after performing this repair if you have neverdone this type of work before.
Physical Harm – The casing of the Display is extremely sharp, and you risk cutting
yourself on the casing if you are not careful. We strongly recommend using protective
gloves when performing this procedure.
By performing any work on your Powerbook and by continuing with this repair, youagree that Powerbookmedic.com is in no way shape or form responsible for any damage
done to your laptop or for physical injury done to yourself.
Before proceeding, you must first remove:
Battery
Keyboard
Bottom Case
Airport Card (If installed)
Logic Board
Display
Hinge Mount Removal
Hold your display as shown, and locate
the 2 hinge mounts shown in red in the
picture. They will be held on by two
black Philips head screws

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Remove the two Philips headscrews on each hinge mount asshown. Make sure to apply enoughdownward pressure so as not to strip
the screws.

Guide the hinge mount out andtowards you as shown.

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Opening the Display
On both sides of the display you
will notice 2 Torx T6 Screws asshown in red. If you want toremove the entire back panel (notrecommended) or get to thedisplay cable, you’ll need toremove all 4. If you are
performing just a hinge
replacement, you only need toremove one from each side. (Theones on the bottom of the display
where the hinges are located)

If your hinges are broken, the next
step will be much easier. If yourhinges aren’t broken, then there isa high likelihood of breaking themwhen you try to open the display
unless you take extra care.
Grab the display as shown, andpull with a fair amount of force
up. You are needing to break the
epoxy bond holding the display
together. Try to only grasp thedisplay as close to the edge as
possible. You do not want to put
pressure anywhere near the actual
LCD or you may break it.

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After the initial bond is broken, you need
to work your way around the display tobreak the bond. Do this slowly. If you try
to do too much at one time you’ll dent
your display casing. Again, only grasp
from the sides. If you are performing thehinge repair only break the bond up to
about 3-4” along the side…you want tobreak the bond as little as possible as it
will be a cleaner repair when you are
done.

Display Cable Replacement
If you are replacing the hinges, skip thesenext steps for the display cable removal.
Break the bond all the way around threeedges of the display. Do not break thebond on the top of the display (side withscreen latch mechanism) unlessabsolutely necessary. It is very difficult to
put the casing back together if you break
the top bond.

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After you work your way around, itshould look something like thepicture.

From the base of the display, open thedisplay as shown. You’ll notice there
is an orange piece of tape holding thedisplay cable to the display connector.
You will need to remove this piece oftape as well as the piece holding thecable on closer to the bottom of thedisplay. You will then be able toremove the cable from its connector.

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Note: this picture is turned aroundfrom the picture above.
The display cable is most easily
replaced by replacing the enter cableand frieze (the white cylindricalplastic piece that is about 7” long)
The frieze is held on by a light epoxy,so you just have to pull it towards you
and off as shown.
The cable will then be free. You canthen replace the cable. You will needto epoxy the case (and frieze back
together) Use a small amount of
epoxy all the way along the casingedge, and then clamp and let sit. See
instructions below for more
information on epoxy.

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Hinge Replacement
Note: Some of these pictures are taken with the display still attached. It is possible to do
the repair without removing the display module, but in so doing you risk more damage toyour unit. We strongly recommend against this!
There are two main ways your hinges can break. We will cover the repair of both types ofbreaks below.
Break Type # 1
The picture to the left shows the first typeof possible hinge break. If you’re lucky,
this is what you’ve got. The hinge isbroken off only at the base. This makes
extraction of the bad hinge much easier.
Follow the instructions above to break thebond on about 3-4” of the casing on theside of the casing of the hinge you need toreplace.

Use a flat tool to nudge the bad hinge up.
Do not use a lot of force or you will dent
your casing.

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Follow the hinge along, and continue
gently nudging the hinge up until you
believe it is sufficiently loose to be
extracted. Again, do not use much force.

Use a pair of need nose pliers to pull thehinge towards you and out. Note: Do notuse much force. You want the hinge tocome out easily. If you use too muchforce the hinge will break and extraction
will be much more difficult.
If you have extracted your hinge at thispoint, skip the next step on the second
type of break.

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Break Type # 2
With the second type of break, there is astronger likelihood that the repair will
leave your casing slightly damaged. In
this type of break, the hinge breaks
higher up into your casing. This makes
extraction of the bad hinge much moredifficult.

If you haven’t done so already, follow
the instructions above to break the bondon about 3-4” of the casing on the sideof the casing of the hinge you need toreplace.
Then, extract the first part of the broken
hinge.

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If the rest of the hinge does not comeout easily, you will need to use a flathead tool to follow the piece of thehinge and break the bond with the hinge
and the casing. The less force you use,
the easier it will be to close your casing.

A lot of times, you will damage the thinpiece of metal that connects the top
casing to the bottom casing. When you
close your display back, it will normallygo back into position, but you may haveto prod it in certain places with a flathead screwdriver to allow the casing toclose correctly.

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Use a pair of needle nose pliers to
extract the hinge when it is loose
enough to be pulled out.

Putting it Back Together
To put the display back together, youhave to bond it with epoxy or contact
cement. We use Loctite Quick Set
Epoxy. It is very strong, and does thejob well. The downside is that if you
make a mistake in the repair, gettingback in may be more difficult. Contact
cement has a more glue consistency,
and while it won’t look as pretty or be
as strong, it will be easier to undo if you
make a mistake.
If you use the epoxy, premix the twocomponents. (You can use broken
hinges to mix.)

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Apply the epoxy to the hinge. Apply
enough to thoroughly coat the hinge,
but not enough so that it drops off thehinge or that there are big gobs. If you
use too much you could damage thedisplay. Also, BE CAREFUL with the
epoxy. Do not get the epoxy on yourdisplay or you will damage it. Make
sure you only get it on the hinge andthe area it needs to go in.

Line the epoxied hinge up with thehinge hole.

NOTE: If you are repairing thehinge around the inverter wire, be
extremely careful that you guidethe wire into the frieze before
putting the hinge in. You want theinverter cable to come out of thefrieze and no other place or you will
have a whole other set of problems
on your hand.

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Guide the hinge into place. Make surethe hinge goes all the way back andthen fits snugly into its corner.
Wipe off any excess epoxy!

Use a strong spring clamp (available at
Wal-mart) to clamp the display shut.
Only clamp the edge of the display! Do
not put the clamp on the actual LCD or
you will break it. Let the epoxy sit for
24 hours or as the instructions say. 24hours is a good time to let the epoxy sit
however.
After it is dry, use a cleaner like GOO
BE GONE on the case if you
accidentally got some epoxy on it.
Reassemble your laptop.

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Rib Frame / Heat Exchange Replacement
Before proceeding, you must first remove:
Battery
Keyboard
Bottom Case
Airport Card (If installed)
Logic Board
Display

Remove the two torx T8 screws asshown.

Remove the 4 Torx T6 Screws near
the ports as shown.
This will loosen two pieces from therib frame (panel mounts). Remove
these panel mounts.

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Along the rib frame there are 4
small torx T8 screws. The two
shown to the left are in the hard
drive cage. The one in the
picture below is under the airport
cable near where the airport cardgoes. The last picture is hard totell, but it is near the inverter
board on the left hand side of thecasing.
Remove all 4 screws.

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Gently lift the rib frame up and out.

Disconnect the audio cable on theleft hand side and right hand sideof the unit. If it is wrapped inorange tape, remove the orange
tape.
Note (The picture shows themodem and PCMCIA card cage.
These pieces should have been
removed prior to this step if you
followed the instructions.)
The heat exchanger will now lift up
and out.

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At Powerbookmedic.com, we strive to make our manuals as accurate as possible. If you
would like to see something in this manual or would like to see something improved inthis manual, please email us at: sales@powerbookmedic.com
For all of your powerbook & ibook parts and repair needs, visit us at:

Copyright © 2003 Powerbookmedic.com. All rights reserved.

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