How to fix a laptop fan that struggles to spin

So my parents have this HP laptop, been around since 2016. I go to boarding school, and play games like minecraft on the laptop with no problems. Although when I recently came back from school and tried playing games I met a problem. The laptop overheats pretty fast, and switches off when its too hot. It also gives me an error message on boot up saying the the fan isn't working properly.

When I checked the fan, I noticed that the fan tries to spin but seems to struggle against something and can't go on, so it halts. It tries again after like 4 seconds but the same thing happens.

I've tried cleaning the fan but it didn't work. I even tried spinning it manually and friction doesn't seem to be a problem cuz it spins kinda well compared to what I see in videos. At a point I did it when the laptop was on, so here is what I noticed, If I spun before the interval, where the fan would try to spin again, it would spin normally and when the fan does try, its as if it picks up from the momentum and tries to spin further but struggles and halts, please key the fact that it struggles and doesn't just spin and stop. I wanted to conclude that it could be voltage but before that I thought I'd try lubrication. But I don't want to do something that might spoil the fan. I'll try doing a BIOS reset like I've seen in other solutions.

I have told my mom to get it fixed, but seeing as she doesn't run big apps that cause the fan to overhear and shutdown. She might not be bothered enough to do so.


I noticed that the fan tries to spin but seems to struggle ....

I wanted to conclude that it could be voltage ...

before that I thought I'd try lubrication....

I'll try doing a BIOS reset like I've seen in other solutions. ....

  1. Struggles to spin is likely a worn out bearing.

  2. Voltage: You would need to find the connection point on the board, unplug it, find the fan voltage (5 or 12 volts), and power it with a good DC supply to check voltage.

  3. Lubrication: Don't do this. A low percentage that it might work for a short time, but could make a mess to because if you even tried it would be less that a pin point of lubricant. Lubrication will not really help a worn bearing. Not a good idea.

  4. BIOS: Upgrading BIOS will not fix a fan hardware problem.

So as others have noted, replace the fan. I wanted to give you some supporting information.