Hardware How repareble is a WiiU gamepad vibrating motor?

[legoinventeor]

I recently dropped my WiiU gamepad from my desk. At first sight, the console was fine until I realized it was vibrating very weirdly.

 

[KleinesSinchen]

Do you really want to repair the rumble motor? Not sure if this is possible. However, replacing it is not very hard. But be careful anyway when opening the Gamepad. You will have to follow the ifixit guide to open the outer case. It shows you the position of the screws. However there is one point in this guide where I disagree: Step 5 shows a picture of a person pulling on the cables of the rumble motor.

The plug is quite hard to remove and pulling on the cables might tear them. You could argue: I don’t care, my motor is broken anyway. But if you do not gently remove the plug you might damage the connector on the mainboard. It took me a minute gently rocking on the plug to get it out without any damage.

This cable is also the reason to open the case slowly after removing the screws as you can’t just separate the two parts without unplugging the motor first. After unplugging there are some more screws holding a plastic piece which secures the motor in place. My photo flash made the screws nearly invisible. (I need better camera equipment!)



You find replacement motors on ebay. They come, at the first look from China or Hong Kong so it takes time, but they ship to Spain and are really cheap.

 

[legoinventeor]

Do you really want to repair the rumble motor? Not sure if this is possible. However, replacing it is not very hard. But be careful anyway when opening the Gamepad. You will have to follow the ifixit guide to open the outer case. It shows you the position of the screws. However there is one point in this guide where I disagree: Step 5 shows a picture of a person pulling on the cables of the rumble motor.

The plug is quite hard to remove and pulling on the cables might tear them. You could argue: I don’t care, my motor is broken anyway. But if you do not gently remove the plug you might damage the connector on the mainboard. It took me a minute gently rocking on the plug to get it out without any damage.

This cable is also the reason to open the case slowly after removing the screws as you can’t just separate the two parts without unplugging the motor first. After unplugging there are some more screws holding a plastic piece which secures the motor in place. My photo flash made the screws nearly invisible. (I need better camera equipment!)

View attachment 154202

You find replacement motors on ebay. They come, at the first look from China or Hong Kong so it takes time, but they ship to Spain and are really cheap.

Thanks a lot! I tried reassembling the motor first to see if it's just badly connected, and it seems to be working but it might be a bit less powerful. I'll order a replacement if it stops working again.

 

[Chunbe]

How do you get the plastic piece that's holding the vibration motor in place off? It seems to be stuck on the back casing no matter how hard I tried with the three screws mentioned removed.

 

[legoinventeor]

How do you get the plastic piece that's holding the vibration motor in place off? It seems to be stuck on the back casing no matter how hard I tried with the three screws mentioned removed.

Right now I don't remember if I had something like that but I might open it again to see.

 

[KleinesSinchen]

How do you get the plastic piece that's holding the vibration motor in place off? It seems to be stuck on the back casing no matter how hard I tried with the three screws mentioned removed.

Hard to give an advise for that. Last time I did not even remove that part. But I tried now. Patience and care and not much force. After removing the three screws the plastic piece can be removed. It is snapped in on multiple locations. I can give you two photos so you can see on where the points are clicked into place. Maybe it helps:

 

[chemooon]

Do you know which type of connector they use? It's getting hard for me to find spare these rumble motors...

 

[CMDreamer]

Do you know which type of connector they use? It's getting hard for me to find spare these rumble motors...

If you're replacing the whole part, just cut the connector and solder it using two cables on the new replacement motor, so you can reconnect it easily, don't forget to isolate the wires.

 

[jarrettf18]

Hello everyone. I recently noticed my gamepad started making a squeaky type Rumble sound every time the rumble would go off in FF Black Water. I went ahead and purchased a new motor and wanted to make sure its my motor causing this issue before I crack open my gamepad. Also is it fairly easy to replace? Want to make sure because these pads get more and more expensive by the day. Thanks

 

[KleinesSinchen]

Hello everyone. I recently noticed my gamepad started making a squeaky type Rumble sound every time the rumble would go off in FF Black Water. I went ahead and purchased a new motor and wanted to make sure its my motor causing this issue before I crack open my gamepad. Also is it fairly easy to replace? Want to make sure because these pads get more and more expensive by the day. Thanks

It is pretty easy to get to the motor. The plastic piece holding it down is secured with some screws and "clicked" in place.
Just look at my photos above. Not sure what to add.

The decision is obviously yours. I can't know if your rumble motor has a problem.

Good luck!

 

[gaga24]

Hi, Tiramisu made me to start using Wii U again . My gamepad is making this silly noises, i i was thinkig to replace rumble motor.
I having trouble to find replacment part, can some one tell me where to find replacment, and even better, if i can use some other controllers rumble motors.

 

[Naendow]

Same problem here. It is hard to find the motors in my country. :/

 

[Ryanborambo]

Hard to give an advise for that. Last time I did not even remove that part. But I tried now. Patience and care and not much force. After removing the three screws the plastic piece can be removed. It is snapped in on multiple locations. I can give you two photos so you can see on where the points are clicked into place. Maybe it helps:

View attachment 171143 View attachment 171141

Hi, sorry if this is reviving a dead thread, but the 2 rubber bits need to be pushed out from the back to remove it.
I can’t send images sadly but there is also 2 plastic tabs that are above (looking at the gamepad upright) the battery compartment.
Push the whole plastic piece with the motor away from the battery compartment gently, then up. Should come out easy.

Post automatically merged: Feb 25, 2024

How do you get the plastic piece that's holding the vibration motor in place off? It seems to be stuck on the back casing no matter how hard I tried with the three screws mentioned removed.

Hi, sorry if this is reviving a dead thread, but the 2 rubber bits need to be pushed out from the back to remove it.
I can’t send images sadly but there is also 2 plastic tabs that are above (looking at the gamepad upright) the battery compartment.
Push the whole plastic piece with the motor away from the battery compartment gently, then up. Should come out easy.