Replacing Trackpad After Spill, Is It Worth The Repair? Which parts?

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MacBook Pro 13" Touch Bar 2016

A1706 / EMC 3071—Released in November 2016, this 13" Macbook Pro introduces the OLED Touch Bar. Features a dual-core "Skylake" Intel Core i5 CPU and four Thunderbolt 3 ports.

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Bartosz Skiba @bartosz_skiba

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Posted: Jan 28, 2019

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Replacing Trackpad After Spill, Is It Worth The Repair? Which parts?

Hi guys,

About a month ago my Macbook pro took a small, albeit damaging spill of tea. Thanks to the keyboard cover that I had on at the time, none of the tea managed to get through the keys while some of it went to the hinge and trackpad.

After careful cleaning and drying with isopropyl alcohol, everything has been working fine to this point except some inconsistency with the trackpad. The tracking mechanism itself has no issues, the haptic engine however is very un-uniform and doesn’t feel like it registers a click anywhere beyond the bottom of the trackpad.

My question is, would anyone recommend replacing the trackpad or should I simply live with the machine for now given that water damage can render the macbook useless down the road from corrosion. Appreciate any input!!!

Also, if I would replace the trackpad, the two components from I-Fixit would be the trackpad itself and the ribbon cable correct?

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mayer @mayer

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MacHale Enterprises

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Posted: Jan 28, 2019

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I’ve had these go bad with just one drop of water. Of course you should fix it! There are LSI indicators on the pad that turn red when wet. By opening the machine you can see if there is any residual liquid in it and clean it up. Here’s how to do it:

MacBook Pro 13" Touch Bar Late 2016 Trackpad Replacement

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Hey, thanks for the advice!

So for this repair, I would need to order both the replacement trackpad alongside a new ribbon cable for it?

I see the replacement instructions aren't too intense, but there isn't' anything about correctly attaching a new ribbon cable. Is that just a straightforward connection?