Lenovo Thinkpad X240 Touchpad Replacement Repair Guide

Difficulty

Moderate

Steps

Time Required

                          1 - 2 hours

Sections

Internal components
5 steps
Touchpad
5 steps

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Introduction

What you need

Step 1

              Remove back cover

Ensure that any internal batteries are powered down in the BIOS.
Remove external battery using the two finger clips on the underside.
Loosen all eight (8) screws on the underside of the laptop. These screws have retention clips so should not be removed completely from the back plate.
Remove back plate of laptop and set aside.

Ensure that any internal batteries are powered down in the BIOS.

Remove external battery using the two finger clips on the underside.

Loosen all eight (8) screws on the underside of the laptop. These screws have retention clips so should not be removed completely from the back plate.

Remove back plate of laptop and set aside.

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Step 2

              Remove internal battery and HDD

Identify and remove the internal battery.
The internal battery is held in by up to three screws, circled in red in the photo.
If there is no internal battery then remove the spacer shown in the second photo. This is held in by one screw.
Remove the internal HDD or SDD.
This is held in a carrier tray which is attached to the frame by a single screw circled in orange.
The data connection to the motherboard has a silver shield which is held in place by a single screw, circled in yellow in the photo.
Set the HDD and internal battery aside.

Identify and remove the internal battery.

The internal battery is held in by up to three screws, circled in red in the photo.

If there is no internal battery then remove the spacer shown in the second photo. This is held in by one screw.

Remove the internal HDD or SDD.

This is held in a carrier tray which is attached to the frame by a single screw circled in orange.

The data connection to the motherboard has a silver shield which is held in place by a single screw, circled in yellow in the photo.

Set the HDD and internal battery aside.

Step 3

              Remove speakers and BIOS battery

Remove right speaker by taking out the screws marked in red.
Remove tape holding BIOS battery marked in orange.

Remove right speaker by taking out the screws marked in red.

Remove tape holding BIOS battery marked in orange.

Step 4

              Remove motherboard

Remove connectors
Start with the large connector in the middle at the bottom of the motherboard. Here it is marked in red.
Then ease up the two connectors, one underneath the large connector just removed. These are done by raising the black tab on the connector to vertical then pulling gently on the ribbon cable. These are marked in orange in the photo.
Also lift the connector on the upper left of the keyboard, marked in orange. Just unplug it by lifting it up with your nails or with a small screw driver
Ease the antenna cables for the wifi and 3G out of their black holder, and pull the holder off the motherboard towards the top side of the laptop. This is marked in yellow.
Underneath you will find one screw, which you should remove.
Another two motherboard screws are marked in green, these should be removed.
Remove the motherboard by easing it to the right from under a tab marked in blue near the BIOS battery, and gently placing it back towards the top of the laptop.

Remove connectors

Start with the large connector in the middle at the bottom of the motherboard. Here it is marked in red.

Then ease up the two connectors, one underneath the large connector just removed. These are done by raising the black tab on the connector to vertical then pulling gently on the ribbon cable. These are marked in orange in the photo.

Also lift the connector on the upper left of the keyboard, marked in orange. Just unplug it by lifting it up with your nails or with a small screw driver

Ease the antenna cables for the wifi and 3G out of their black holder, and pull the holder off the motherboard towards the top side of the laptop. This is marked in yellow.

Underneath you will find one screw, which you should remove.

Another two motherboard screws are marked in green, these should be removed.

Remove the motherboard by easing it to the right from under a tab marked in blue near the BIOS battery, and gently placing it back towards the top of the laptop.

Step 5

              Keyboard tray

Remove keyboard tray, starting by moving the antenna wires out of their clips, shown in red on the photo.
Then remove the 5 screws holding the keyboard tray to the frame. These are marked in orange.
Finally ease the tray away by pulling it downwards and from under the top tab, marked in yellow.
The keyboard and touchpad connectors should be visible.

Remove keyboard tray, starting by moving the antenna wires out of their clips, shown in red on the photo.

Then remove the 5 screws holding the keyboard tray to the frame. These are marked in orange.

Finally ease the tray away by pulling it downwards and from under the top tab, marked in yellow.

The keyboard and touchpad connectors should be visible.

Step 6

              Touchpad

Remove backing from under the touchpad connector.
Once removed, there is a second backing underneath. This should be pulled up and away from the connections but not completely removed.
The connection to the touchpad will be revealed.

Remove backing from under the touchpad connector.

Once removed, there is a second backing underneath. This should be pulled up and away from the connections but not completely removed.

The connection to the touchpad will be revealed.

Step 7

              Remove connector

Remove connector to touchpad by easing the black tab on the white connector upwards, and using tweezers pull the connector downwards away from the connection.
This will be the most difficult connector to reconnect when you are reassembling, study it now and have the appropriate tools such as tweezers available.

Remove connector to touchpad by easing the black tab on the white connector upwards, and using tweezers pull the connector downwards away from the connection.

This will be the most difficult connector to reconnect when you are reassembling, study it now and have the appropriate tools such as tweezers available.

Step 8

              Remove old touchpad

As the touchpad is held in place by glue strips, the next steps are necessarily destructive . You should be prepared with a new touchpad that you have confirmed will work before removing the old one.
If you raise the keyboard frame to extract the touchpad, be careful of the two sides as they are not well supported and could easily snap.
You can remove the top part of the old touchpad by using a spudger or plastic tool to take it off the hinges.
Using a spudger between the frame and the touchpad get underneath and separate from the glue strip.
Once removed, you can see the old glue strip by raising the keyboard frame.

As the touchpad is held in place by glue strips, the next steps are necessarily destructive . You should be prepared with a new touchpad that you have confirmed will work before removing the old one.

If you raise the keyboard frame to extract the touchpad, be careful of the two sides as they are not well supported and could easily snap.

You can remove the top part of the old touchpad by using a spudger or plastic tool to take it off the hinges.

Using a spudger between the frame and the touchpad get underneath and separate from the glue strip.

Once removed, you can see the old glue strip by raising the keyboard frame.

Step 9

              Attached touchpad connector

Before pressing new touchpad onto glue strips, remember to install the connector. This will be much harder (although still possible) if you do it after putting the new touchpad in place.
As with other connectors, the black tab has to be raised vertical, ribbon cable inserted in, and then the black tab returned to the horizontal position to lock the cable in.
This was the most difficult action and required the use of two angled tweezers, so ensure you have appropriate tools before commencing this step.

Before pressing new touchpad onto glue strips, remember to install the connector. This will be much harder (although still possible) if you do it after putting the new touchpad in place.

As with other connectors, the black tab has to be raised vertical, ribbon cable inserted in, and then the black tab returned to the horizontal position to lock the cable in.

This was the most difficult action and required the use of two angled tweezers, so ensure you have appropriate tools before commencing this step.

Step 10

              Insert new touchpad

The new touchpad should have the black tape reapplied in the same order as removal. There was the top piece to bend under the connector, then the larger black piece of tape over the top.
The connector should be folded and bent the correct way along with the other keyboard connectors and reattached to the motherboard.

The new touchpad should have the black tape reapplied in the same order as removal. There was the top piece to bend under the connector, then the larger black piece of tape over the top.

The connector should be folded and bent the correct way along with the other keyboard connectors and reattached to the motherboard.

As the touchpad is held in place only by glue strips, it would be wise to save some of the old ones and use them under the new touchpad.

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                    Doug

Member since: 09/20/2016

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KasikCZ - Apr 15, 2019

You dont need to Remove MotherBoard, just unscrew the ones holding touchpad, lift up touchpad, remove cable, and swap with new one, its litte harder to stick cable back in bacouse there is so little spaces, but its easier that you show. But still, nice guide,.

peko - Dec 30, 2019

which 3-button touchpad X250 model should you choose?

because I read that some X250 touchpad was not compatible with the X240 cover

Doug - Dec 30, 2019

This one worked for me, however you should always consult the system service parts manual for complete information.

Barnaby Wilmott - Jun 27, 2020

Thanks for the detailed info.

All worked fine but I have some suggestions to simplify the procedure…

Ignore steps 3,4,5,6. Peel the black plastic back in the oposite direction from what is shown in step 7. The connector is exposed and, with the aid of a bent paperclip, the retaining bar can be lifted and the cable removed. On my machine, the clunkpad was only held in by two screws. Lift the screw side with a spudger and slide the pad across towards that side and it pops out - no glue! Fixing the cable to the new touchpad is a bit interesting but can be eased by using a strip of plastic cut from a credit card (or two thicknesses of milk bottle). The plastic can be pushed up against the connector as the cable is replaced - which directs the cable to the right spot and stops it getting caught on the bottom edge.

Simples!

Barnaby - June 2020.

slawomir kortas - Apr 24, 2021

Great manual. I also skipped steps 3,4,5,6 and was able to replace the touchpad on my x250 in around 20 minutes. I added a new double-sided tape square in place of the old glue pads.

HINT: if you’re wondering how to release the touchpad connector, have a look at the replacement touchpad on your desk. It helped me visualize how to release the touchpad tape.

Member-Contributed Guide#

Introduction#

What you need#

Member-Contributed Guide

Introduction

What you need