Tighten Left Hinge on HP Pavillion dv9000

Looking for ways to keep the repair bills down, we decided to have a go at fixing an HP Pavillion dv9000 ourselves.  The left hinge on the 17″ model works itself loose over time and eventually will crack, and the hinge had become quite loose.

We found a couple tutorials of how to take the components apart, but the fixes described how to replace the hinge.  The dv9000 we worked with seemed like it needed only a tightening of the hinge.

Here’s what we did, and it worked (follow at your own risk…):

1. Took the 5 rubber plugs out from the screen front casing
2. Removed the 5 screws under the plugs
3. Starting in the bottom left corner, we popped off the front screen casing (not completely, but enough to see the hinge in the bottom left corner was not broken)
4. Took out the battery
5. Removed the screws from the top of the battery casing/house
6. Popped off the speaker and power button top panel
7. Tightened the three screws that hold down the hinge to the main board
8. Reassembled the unit

The screen is much more secure now.  The three screws holding the hinge down to the main board needed tightening.

So, if you think that the hinge isn’t broken, you could pop the speaker panel off and tighten the screws without taking off the display casing.

Good luck!