Not Turning On Laptop. No Power When Power Button Pressed. Dell Latitude 5521. Motherboard Replacement

The computer was in use, and all of sudden the computer just shut off and could not power on. This laptop computer is not turning on when the power button is pressed down. The computer also does not display any charging indicator light when plugged in with the charger.

The component of failure in a similar situation is most likely the motherboard. In this article, the motherboard was definitely at fault is going to to be replaced. The In this article, the entire motherboard will be replaced.

On the bottom side of this latitude are the screws holding down the backing plate. These screws need to be removed in order to remove back plate, so that we can gain access to the system components.

Once the back plate is removed, remove the battery. The battery has one cable connecting to the motherboard and multiple screws located around the sides of the battery holding it down.

Once the battery is removed, there is a cover that covers the motherboard. There are screws holding this cover down, and this cover needs to be removed in order to remove the motherboard. Also remove the WiFi card and connectors prior to removing the cover. The screw locations are circled in purple in the picture below.

A quick tip, when removing other similar machines that have the same setup as this computer in regards with the cover, the cover can be slightly lifted up to see where it is being held down to remove the not so obvious screws holding down the cover plate.

After the cover is removed, the motherboard will now be accessible. In order to remove the motherboard, the connectors and screws that hold down the motherboard need to be removed. The connectors and screw locations are circled in white in the picture below. In addition, the bracket holding down the motherboard near the right corner is only removed when the heatsink and fan are removed. The heatsink and fan need to be removed first in order to remove the bracket located near the right corner of the motherboard.

Remove the heatsink and fan first before removing the bracket near the right corner of the motherboard.

The fan has two screws holding it, and the heatsink has four screws.

This is the bracket near the right corner of the motherboard. This bracket has three screws.

For the LCD cable, there is a hinge or lock holding the cable in place. The hinge or lock simply lifts up, and the connector can slide right off.

The motherboard can now be removed.

Reassembly of the computer is simply the reverse process of removal.

Just wanted to add some reminders when reassembling the computer. When reinstalling the heatsink and fan, remember to install the bracket near the right corner of the motherboard. Once the heatsink is installed, the bracket will be a little more difficult to install with the heatsink installed. It’s still possible to install the bracket, but to make things more simpler just install the heatsink and fan after the bracket is installed.

Also remember to apply new thermal paste to the heatsink. Apply the thermal paste to the CPU and video chip.