Dell Inspiron 14Z Hard Drive Or Memory Or Keyboard Or Wireless Module Or Ram Replacement Repair Guide

Difficulty

Moderate

Steps

Time Required

                          40 minutes - 1 hour

Sections

Hard Drive or Memory or Keyboard or Wireless Module or RAM
15 steps

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Member-Contributed Guide

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Introduction

What you need

Step 1

              Dell Inspiron 1470 Disassembly

Tools needed:
1 Phillips screwdriver (261/PHO x 75 works nicely)
Pry tool/spudger
Screws/parts bin

Tools needed:

1 Phillips screwdriver (261/PHO x 75 works nicely)

Pry tool/spudger

Screws/parts bin

1024

Step 2

Slide the battery lock switch to ‘unlock’ position and remove battery to reveal three silver phillips screws (5mm length). Remove these.

Slide the battery lock switch to ‘unlock’ position and remove battery to reveal three silver phillips screws (5mm length). Remove these.

Step 3

Unscrew the 2 screws from the memory and accessory bay doors, but do not try to remove them entirely, as they are held captive to the bay doors by a retaining clip. Using a spudger, pry around the sides of the memory bay door until you’ve released the plastic clips, the lift the door away from the casing and set it aside. No prying is necessary for the accessory bay door - just pull it away and set it aside.
Remove one small (2x3mm) screw securing the back end of the optical drive, just to the left of the memory/wireless card bay. Remove the optical drive by sliding it out away from the laptop casing and set it aside.
DO NOT remove the 2 (Blue) screws marked with a “D” as they are are for the “LCD” hinges. Remove 8 long (2.5x5mm) screws (green) from the bottom casing. Remove the 1 (pink) screw and note that it goes in at a different time when you are re-assembling.

Unscrew the 2 screws from the memory and accessory bay doors, but do not try to remove them entirely, as they are held captive to the bay doors by a retaining clip. Using a spudger, pry around the sides of the memory bay door until you’ve released the plastic clips, the lift the door away from the casing and set it aside. No prying is necessary for the accessory bay door - just pull it away and set it aside.

Remove one small (2x3mm) screw securing the back end of the optical drive, just to the left of the memory/wireless card bay. Remove the optical drive by sliding it out away from the laptop casing and set it aside.

DO NOT remove the 2 (Blue) screws marked with a “D” as they are are for the “LCD” hinges. Remove 8 long (2.5x5mm) screws (green) from the bottom casing. Remove the 1 (pink) screw and note that it goes in at a different time when you are re-assembling.

Step 4

Remove the memory modules one at a time (top first) by carefully prying the silver catches away from the sides of each module . Then simply pull each module out and away from its slot.
Detach the wireless antenna wires from the wireless card by carefully gripping the connector of each wire and gently but firmly pulling directly away from the card. Do not pull by the wire itself to avoid potentially damaging the card and/or connectors.
Remove one small (2x3mm) screw securing the wireless card. Remove the wireless card from the board by pulling out and away from its slot, and set it aside.

Remove the memory modules one at a time (top first) by carefully prying the silver catches away from the sides of each module . Then simply pull each module out and away from its slot.

Detach the wireless antenna wires from the wireless card by carefully gripping the connector of each wire and gently but firmly pulling directly away from the card. Do not pull by the wire itself to avoid potentially damaging the card and/or connectors.

Remove one small (2x3mm) screw securing the wireless card. Remove the wireless card from the board by pulling out and away from its slot, and set it aside.

Step 5

Remove one long (2.5x5mm) screw from the accessory bay. NOTE: In some versions of the laptop, this screw is not accessible or may not exist. If that is the case, you can ignore this step.

Remove one long (2.5x5mm) screw from the accessory bay. NOTE: In some versions of the laptop, this screw is not accessible or may not exist. If that is the case, you can ignore this step.

Step 6

Remove 3 small (2.5x3mm) screws from the optical drive bay area.

Remove 3 small (2.5x3mm) screws from the optical drive bay area.

Step 7

Now take a deep breath…this part is nowhere near as bad as it is for other machines, but if you’re like me, you’re always worried about breaking a plastic clip or bending the plastic too far, etc. Just go slow and steady, and it’s not so bad.
Turn the laptop over and open the lid wide. Gently but firmly grip the plastic molding just in front of the screen, where the battery would normally sit, and pull upward to release the plastic retaining clips there.
Slowly work your way around to the right side of this molding, and continue around the keyboard, releasing the retaining clips. Note that this is the top molding only, and that there is another larger molding underneath. A spudger or pry tool can come in handy here if you feel that pulling up with your hands isn’t working well enough, or you don’t trust your own strength.
When you have released all the clips, DO NOT pull the molding away from the machine just yet, as there’s a small ZIF cable we’ll need to detach from the power button first.

Now take a deep breath…this part is nowhere near as bad as it is for other machines, but if you’re like me, you’re always worried about breaking a plastic clip or bending the plastic too far, etc. Just go slow and steady, and it’s not so bad.

Turn the laptop over and open the lid wide. Gently but firmly grip the plastic molding just in front of the screen, where the battery would normally sit, and pull upward to release the plastic retaining clips there.

Slowly work your way around to the right side of this molding, and continue around the keyboard, releasing the retaining clips. Note that this is the top molding only, and that there is another larger molding underneath. A spudger or pry tool can come in handy here if you feel that pulling up with your hands isn’t working well enough, or you don’t trust your own strength.

When you have released all the clips, DO NOT pull the molding away from the machine just yet, as there’s a small ZIF cable we’ll need to detach from the power button first.

Step 8

Swing the front end of the molding up toward the top of the laptop lid rest the edges on the screen (don’t worry, this plastic is very light and won’t damage your LCD by just resting against it).
You should see a small cable coming up from the laptop casing and attached to a small connector at the left side of the molding you just pried up. Swing the bottom of that connector up and away from the board it’s attached to, and remove the cable by tugging on the blue handle labled ‘PB’. The molding is now completely detached, and can be set aside.

Swing the front end of the molding up toward the top of the laptop lid rest the edges on the screen (don’t worry, this plastic is very light and won’t damage your LCD by just resting against it).

You should see a small cable coming up from the laptop casing and attached to a small connector at the left side of the molding you just pried up. Swing the bottom of that connector up and away from the board it’s attached to, and remove the cable by tugging on the blue handle labled ‘PB’. The molding is now completely detached, and can be set aside.

Step 9

Remove two small (2x3mm) screws securing the keyboard to the casing.
Gently pry up the top-center of the keyboard to release the catches to the far left and right of the keyboard. Once you’ve cleared those catches, lay the keyboard face-down on the touchpad area.
DO NOT pull the keyboard away from the machine yet! It is still attached to the motherboard.

Remove two small (2x3mm) screws securing the keyboard to the casing.

Gently pry up the top-center of the keyboard to release the catches to the far left and right of the keyboard. Once you’ve cleared those catches, lay the keyboard face-down on the touchpad area.

DO NOT pull the keyboard away from the machine yet! It is still attached to the motherboard.

Step 10

Remove the keyboard cable from the motherboard in the same way you removed the ‘PB’ cable from step 8, and set the keyboard aside.

Remove the keyboard cable from the motherboard in the same way you removed the ‘PB’ cable from step 8, and set the keyboard aside.

Step 11

Remove 4 long (2.5x5mm) screws from the keyboard tray.
Disconnect the three cables shown from the motherboard.

Remove 4 long (2.5x5mm) screws from the keyboard tray.

Disconnect the three cables shown from the motherboard.

Step 12

Unscrew the ground screw pictured here. It will remain attached to its cable via a retaining clip.

Unscrew the ground screw pictured here. It will remain attached to its cable via a retaining clip.

Step 13

Remove the black fabric tape from the middle of the keyboard tray to reveal the wireless antenna wires we saw earlier. Set this tape aside.
Slowly and gently pull the wireless antenna wires through the top of the keyboard tray and out of their routing channels built into the top of the tray.

Remove the black fabric tape from the middle of the keyboard tray to reveal the wireless antenna wires we saw earlier. Set this tape aside.

Slowly and gently pull the wireless antenna wires through the top of the keyboard tray and out of their routing channels built into the top of the tray.

Step 14

Using a spudger/pry tool, begin prying up the keyboard tray molding along the optical drive bay area. Work your way around to each side and pry up the molding to release all the retaining clips.
When you have released all clips, you can pull the keyboard tray molding away from the laptop casing and set it aside.

Using a spudger/pry tool, begin prying up the keyboard tray molding along the optical drive bay area. Work your way around to each side and pry up the molding to release all the retaining clips.

When you have released all clips, you can pull the keyboard tray molding away from the laptop casing and set it aside.

Step 15

Remove the 4 long (2.5x5mm) screws securing the hard drive cage to the laptop casing.
Slide the hard drive cage away from it’s connection point - that is, to the left in the picture - and slowly lift the drive from the left side and pull away from casing.
To remove the drive from the cage, simply remove 4 small (3x3mm) screws from the sides of the cage, and pull the drive out.

Remove the 4 long (2.5x5mm) screws securing the hard drive cage to the laptop casing.

Slide the hard drive cage away from it’s connection point - that is, to the left in the picture - and slowly lift the drive from the left side and pull away from casing.

To remove the drive from the cage, simply remove 4 small (3x3mm) screws from the sides of the cage, and pull the drive out.

To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.

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                                                                                      10 other people completed this guide.

Author

                                      with 4 other contributors

                    Matt

Member since: 01/10/2011

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Suhail - Jun 15, 2012

Thank you to Matt for creating this post. It was incredibly accurate and very helpful!

parsabbaluca - Jun 15, 2013

Before paying or buying a laptop, make sure to check everything on it, im fixing my friends dell inspiron 1470, headache

donfello - Oct 1, 2014

That’s for that. It was really helpful!

metanis - Aug 16, 2019

Used this awesome guide to disassemble and install an SSD. This old laptop flies now!

Member-Contributed Guide#

Introduction#

What you need#

Member-Contributed Guide

Introduction

What you need