Just installed a new hard drive and now my fan is spinning at max speed.

I'm currently using an iMac 20'' early 2008 edition and I'm pretty sure I jacked something up. My last just HDD failed so I installed a new one last night. It was my first time every opening up the machine and installing anything, so it was a bit scary. Overall, it wasn't too bad but I did make one mistake. When unplugging the temperature sensor, I pulled on the wire instead of the plastic thing and the metal wires came out. I tried to stuff the wires back in and they seemed to fit back in fine. Anyways, once I started the machine, the fan was blasting at full speed.

That was yesterday. Today, I went back in assuming that I connected it wrong, but I couldn't find anything wrong with it. I unplugged the wires again and tried putting them in a little more firm. Still blasting away.

Then I tried doing a SMC reset, but that didn't work. I've downloaded two fan control programs, but can't get either of them to lower the fan speed. I tried HDD Fan Control Monitor Demo and iMac Fan Control.

Any suggestions on what I can do? I can't help but feel I'm going to blow the fan motor out if I leave it like this too long.

Oh, and I'm hoping none of these suggestions require me to go back into the computer. I don't have the proper tools, so I feel like some screws may be close to fully stripping.

Merged threads - please do no crosspost.

Star Nuts said:

Oh, and I'm hoping none of these suggestions require me to go back into the computer. I don't have the proper tools, so I feel like some screws may be close to fully stripping.

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You destroyed the temperature sensor by pulling the wires out. You can't just shove them back in and expect the sensor to work. You need to replace the sensor otherwise the fans will operate full speed and will likely fail before long.

chscag said:

You destroyed the temperature sensor by pulling the wires out. You can't just shove them back in and expect the sensor to work. You need to replace the sensor otherwise the fans will operate full speed and will likely fail before long.

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Are there any fan apps that let you adjust the fan speed without basing it off the current temperature? Say a low, medium, or high speed? I'm probably gonna have to order something online and I'm stationed in Germany right now, so I'm expecting it won't arrive for the next few weeks.

You can give SMCFanControl a try. Not sure how effective it will be with the not working temperature sensor but since it's free, worth giving it a shot. Let us know if it works for you.