Difficulty
Moderate
Steps
10
Time Required
30 minutes
Sections
4
- Rear Cover
- 3 steps
- Battery
- 2 steps
- Motherboard Assembly
- 4 steps
- Analog Stick Covers
- 1 step
Flags
0
BackDualShock 3
Full Screen
Options
History
Save to Favorites
Download PDF
Edit
Translate
Get Shareable Link
Embed This Guide
Notify Me of Changes
Stop Notifications
Introduction
What you need
Step 1
Rear Cover
- Remove the five 7.2 mm Phillips screws securing the rear cover to the controller.
Remove the five 7.2 mm Phillips screws securing the rear cover to the controller.
1024
Step 2
- Press on the rear cover between the analog sticks and slightly lift the lower edge of it away from the rest of the controller.
Press on the rear cover between the analog sticks and slightly lift the lower edge of it away from the rest of the controller.
Step 3
- Push the rear cover slightly toward the top edge of the controller to clear the front edge of the #2 triggers.
- Pull the rear cover away from the rest of the controller, being careful not to pop off the #2 triggers.
- If you happen to accidentally pop off the trigger buttons, we have a trigger button guide to reattach them.
Push the rear cover slightly toward the top edge of the controller to clear the front edge of the #2 triggers.
Pull the rear cover away from the rest of the controller, being careful not to pop off the #2 triggers.
If you happen to accidentally pop off the trigger buttons, we have a trigger button guide to reattach them.
Step 4
Battery
- Lift the battery off the motherboard for enough clearance to access the battery connector.
Lift the battery off the motherboard for enough clearance to access the battery connector.
Step 5
- Carefully pull the battery connector away from its socket on the motherboard.
- It may be helpful to use a pair of tweezers or pliers to grab the battery connector when you disconnect it for the first time. Only pull on the connector. Do not try to remove by pulling on the red and black wires.
Carefully pull the battery connector away from its socket on the motherboard.
It may be helpful to use a pair of tweezers or pliers to grab the battery connector when you disconnect it for the first time. Only pull on the connector. Do not try to remove by pulling on the red and black wires.
Step 6
Motherboard Assembly
- Remove the single 7.2 mm Phillips screw securing the motherboard to the front cover.
Remove the single 7.2 mm Phillips screw securing the motherboard to the front cover.
Step 7
- Slide the trigger button retainers slightly away from the front cover.
- Remove the #1 button on both sides.
Slide the trigger button retainers slightly away from the front cover.
Remove the #1 button on both sides.
Step 8
- Pull the vibration motor retainers away from the front cover to dislodge the motherboard assembly.
Pull the vibration motor retainers away from the front cover to dislodge the motherboard assembly.
Step 9
- Remove the motherboard assembly from the front cover.
- When removing the motherboard assembly, try not to tilt the front cover upside down as the buttons and their covers may fall out.
Remove the motherboard assembly from the front cover.
When removing the motherboard assembly, try not to tilt the front cover upside down as the buttons and their covers may fall out.
Step 10
Analog Stick Covers
- Pull the analog stick covers straight up off the joystick posts attached to the motherboard.
Pull the analog stick covers straight up off the joystick posts attached to the motherboard.
To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.
Cancel: I did not complete this guide.
79 other people completed this guide.
Author
with 3 other contributors
Andrew Bookholt
575,478 Reputation
618 Guides authored
Badges:
47
+44 more badges
geoff - Apr 22, 2018
Reply
Reassembly doesn’t quite follow these steps in reverse order. Proper reassembly with the shoulder buttons is tricky. However, its much more simple to omit resinstalling the ‘1’ buttons until the controller housing is completely reassembled. They have one-way snapping clips on the edges, and appear designed to installed this way. Also, it’s good to double check the internal ‘1’ button switches are correctly centered inside the controller housing before4 snap in the ‘1’ buttons.
efsebios - Aug 23, 2020
Reply
Question; do I have to remove the vibration motors to remove the joysticks?
brent valentine - May 17, 2021
Reply
Thanks Andrew, your guide worked like a charm. My roomie spilled soda on the controller and the buttons were sticky. Cleaned it all up and all is good. As an aside, this controller had a rattle inside from new. I found a little black piece of plastic that looks like a bridge of sort. Now the rattle is gone too.