Powerbook G4, hard drive or fan noise?

[Vaughan]

Hello, I have a Powerbook G4 with Mac OS X 10.4.11
Its about 4-5 years old now.

Recently the hard drive or fan (I think) has started to get louder. The noise is coming from the top left hand side of powerbook. Every so often it makes a loud churning sound for a bit, then it will slow down and stop.

1. Is this the hard drive or fan?

2. Can this be fixed?

3. Is this the end of my Powerbook??!!!

4. What should I do?

Thanks for your help and advice.

Mike


Hardware Overview:

Machine Name: PowerBook G4 15"
Machine Model: PowerBook5,8
CPU Type: PowerPC G4 (1.5)
Number Of CPUs: 1
CPU Speed: 1.67 GHz
L2 Cache (per CPU): 512 KB
Memory: 2 GB
Bus Speed: 167 MHz
Boot ROM Version: 4.9.6f0

[DeltaMac]

1. One of the two fans is located in the top left corner. Your hard drive is directly underneath the trackpad.
2. generally, the fan needs to be replaced
3. No, not the end, unless both fans stop working, and everything overheats. That may shorten the PowerBook life dramatically, and fairly quickly
4. Get the fan replaced.