I never removed the motherboard to replace that fan. I ended up recycling that laptop and a stack of others. I think they gave me a dollar for everything.
At one of many points where I was wasting time instead of fulfilling my various responsibilities I saw this:
I do not believe that laptop coolers make much air pass through laptops, I think they mostly blow warm air away from the bottom and cool that way. However, Linus directed gale force winds through this desktop, which did not seem to mind.
Idiot manager making idiotic claims is an idiot.