To gain access to the laser, you need to remove the cover. There are two screws that need to be taken out.
I marked the center of my spindle motor before exctraction. There are a few paterns of screw holes on the top of the motor and I found this made it easier when replacing.
To remove the spindle motor, turn the spindle until you see the screw through the hole. Rinse and repeat.
You can now remove the spindle motor. Make sure the laser is all the way to the outer portion of the track to allow room for the motor to come out.
To begin removing the laser, you will need to free the ribbon cables. The larger one is attached by a metal clip. To remove, slide the clip and lift. The smaller cable is held in by tape. Take note of its path.
Flip over and remove the screws that attach the laser to the worm gear. Remove the middle scew first. This will release the clip that moves the laser assembly with the worm gear. Then, remove the outer two screws to release the remainder of the holder. Also note that the small ribbon cable is routed behind part of the plastic.
Go to the other side and remove the two screws that hold down the metal bar.
Remove the laser.
Switcheroo
After you get the new laser in the sled (do the last couple steps backwards), you will need to remove the calibration solder from the larger ribbon cable, else it ain't gonna work.
Test the two leads on the ribbon cable that use to be soldered together to make sure there is no continuity between them anymore. Its the 3rd and 4th from the left (or right, depends how you are looking at it).
Now is a perfect time to re-grease the gears and worm gear. I used regular automotive grease. Applied with a tookpick.
Time to put the spindle motor back in. I found it easier if you put the screws in first, the slide the motor back into place. You marked the center before removing it right?
Motor is back in. (recylcled image)
Now its time to reassemble the rest. Basically the steps all done backwards. A couple notes though.
-When you put the metal laser assembly cover back on, make sure the holes line up. There is a tab near the front that likes to be a pain.
-When putting the assembly back into the case, open the top of the CD drive like you did when taking it out. Makes life easier.
-When you are putting the CD control PCB back in, make sure the lid switch is in correclty.
-When putting the ribbon cables back in, make sure they face the right way. For the larger cable, the shinny part faces out of the case. For the smaller cable, the shinny part faces inside the case.
You should now have a working CD ROM (if you had a dead laser before, other problems aren't my problem).
Enjoy!
