Power button not working on Macbook PRO 13" 2013 - ideas on how to reset SMC

We have a 2013 13" MacBook Pro that is behaving strangely on the keyboard. As far as we are aware there has been no water damage to this MacBook.

Symptom:

• Power Button on keyboard shutdowns but won't allow a restart.
• Left Shift key works, but won't switch to uppercase.
• Closing the lid and reopening 5 mins. later, the keyboard will not respond. A restart from the menu will reboot and keyboard comes back to life.

Thoughts are to reset the SMC, but with the power button not working this is proving very difficult to do.

Any ideas on away around this issue?

If you disconnect the battery, it will reset the SMC.

• Remove the back cover
• Using a plastic spudger, disconnect the cable from the battery to the logic board
• After 30 seconds, replace the connector to the logic board
• Replace the back cover.

In another related post, I detail how the SMC is reset.

Replace the Keyboard

The symptoms you are describing point to an electrical short in the keyboard. See this related post for more details.

Bottom Line

If you are hoping that the SMC reset will fix these problems, it will be a fruitless endeavor. The SMC regulates power distribution and cooling, not functionality (resetting the NVRAM wouldn't help either). The only way to repair this is to replace the faulty components.