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Nintendo Wii DVD Drive Replacement

Prerequisite Only
This guide is only intended to be used as a prerequisite for other guides. It's incomplete by itself.

What you need

  1. Nintendo Wii DVD Drive Replacement, Faceplate: step 1, image 1 of 2 Nintendo Wii DVD Drive Replacement, Faceplate: step 1, image 2 of 2
    • Use a metal spudger to remove the white plastic screw covers stuck to the lower case near the front of the Wii.

  2. Nintendo Wii DVD Drive Replacement: step 2, image 1 of 1
    • Remove the two 8.3 mm Tri-Wing screws hidden under the covers you just removed.

  3. Nintendo Wii DVD Drive Replacement: step 3, image 1 of 1
    • Remove the single 5.9 mm Phillips screw under the controller port door nearest the faceplate.

  4. Nintendo Wii DVD Drive Replacement: step 4, image 1 of 1
    • Use a metal spudger to remove the rubber foot stuck to the side of the Wii near the DVD drive opening.

  5. Nintendo Wii DVD Drive Replacement: step 5, image 1 of 1
    • Remove the single 5.9 mm Phillips screw hidden under the foot you just removed.

  6. Nintendo Wii DVD Drive Replacement: step 6, image 1 of 2 Nintendo Wii DVD Drive Replacement: step 6, image 2 of 2
    • Carefully pull the faceplate away from the front of the Wii.

    • Use a pair of tweezers to disconnect the LED cable's plastic connector from the motherboard.

    • Remove the faceplate.

  7. Nintendo Wii DVD Drive Replacement, Outer Case: step 7, image 1 of 3 Nintendo Wii DVD Drive Replacement, Outer Case: step 7, image 2 of 3 Nintendo Wii DVD Drive Replacement, Outer Case: step 7, image 3 of 3
    • Open the controller port cover until it is perpendicular to the black controller port bezel.

    • Pull the controller port cover straight up to release it from the outer case.

    • Repeat this procedure for the memory card port cover.

  8. Nintendo Wii DVD Drive Replacement: step 8, image 1 of 2 Nintendo Wii DVD Drive Replacement: step 8, image 2 of 2
    • Remove the two remaining 4.1 mm Phillips screws along the top edge of the black plastic controller port bezel.

    • Lift the bezel from the long edge furthest away from the controller ports and remove it from the Wii.

  9. Nintendo Wii DVD Drive Replacement: step 9, image 1 of 1
    • Remove the two 5 mm Phillips screws above the controller ports.

  10. Nintendo Wii DVD Drive Replacement: step 10, image 1 of 1
    • Use a metal spudger to remove the three highlighted screw covers stuck to the side of the Wii.

  11. Nintendo Wii DVD Drive Replacement: step 11, image 1 of 1
    • Remove the following screws:

    • Two 5 mm Phillips screws

    • One 8.2 mm Tri-Wing screw

  12. Nintendo Wii DVD Drive Replacement: step 12, image 1 of 1
    • Use a metal spudger to remove the two rubber feet stuck to the bottom face of the Wii near the rear ports.

  13. Nintendo Wii DVD Drive Replacement: step 13, image 1 of 1
    • Remove the two 8.2 mm Tri-Wing screws hidden under the feet you just removed.

    • You may use a 4 mm hex driver to extend your bit into the recesses and reach the screws.

  14. Nintendo Wii DVD Drive Replacement: step 14, image 1 of 1
    • Lift the outer case straight up off the body of the Wii.

  15. Nintendo Wii DVD Drive Replacement, DVD Drive: step 15, image 1 of 2 Nintendo Wii DVD Drive Replacement, DVD Drive: step 15, image 2 of 2
    • Remove the small Phillips screw securing the battery door to the bottom panel.

    • This screw is captive to the battery door.

    • Pull the battery door out of the Wii.

    • The system time will be reset once you remove the battery door.

    • This is a good time to change the CR2032 battery if it hasn't been changed recently.

  16. Nintendo Wii DVD Drive Replacement: step 16, image 1 of 1
    • Remove the 8.2 mm Tri-Wing screw that was hidden beneath the battery door.

  17. Nintendo Wii DVD Drive Replacement: step 17, image 1 of 1
    • Remove the two 8.2 mm Tri-Wing screws securing the DVD drive shield near the controller ports.

  18. Nintendo Wii DVD Drive Replacement: step 18, image 1 of 1
    • Lift the DVD drive shield upward and remove it from the Wii.

  19. Nintendo Wii DVD Drive Replacement: step 19, image 1 of 1
    • Remove the four 9 mm #1 Phillips screws securing the DVD drive to the bottom panel.

  20. Nintendo Wii DVD Drive Replacement: step 20, image 1 of 1
    • Lift the side of the DVD drive opposite the controller ports enough to access the cables on its bottom face.

    • Carefully pull the DVD drive power cable out from under the plastic shroud near the heat sink.

  21. Nintendo Wii DVD Drive Replacement: step 21, image 1 of 1
    • Pull the DVD drive power cable away from its socket on the DVD drive.

  22. Nintendo Wii DVD Drive Replacement: step 22, image 1 of 2 Nintendo Wii DVD Drive Replacement: step 22, image 2 of 2
    • Use your fingernail to flip up the retaining flap on the DVD drive ribbon cable socket.

    • Be sure you are prying up on the retaining flap, not the socket itself.

    • Pull the DVD drive ribbon cable out of its socket.

    • Remove the DVD drive from the Wii.

Conclusion

To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.

40 other people completed this guide.

7 Comments

My problem was an object that had been lodged in the drive - in fact, I didn't need to replace the drive. I successfully followed thru step 19, and at that point, I was able to extract the foreign object through the gaps in the disc housing. Then I reversed the steps through to the start and everything is working again.

JJones - Reply

I used this to access the drive area where I successfully identified and removed a plastic toy 50p coin my 2 yr old had carefully inserted in it; The Wii works again now

I am v gratefuil for these excellent instructions

And a tip - use a computer/laptop to view; an iphone was a wee (Wii?) bit too small!

david simpson - Reply

You can also download our free iPad app.

David Hodson -

Your instructions were very thorough, and my Wii now works again, thanks!

Robotai - Reply

I’ve replaced the drive & receive the same error.

it doesn’t appear to read the disc.

Could it be the ribbon cable needs checking or

do you need to run a WII update as the device realises a hardware change and it won’t work until

an update has been run.

Brendon J - Reply

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