Expert: Octane - 5/28/2010

Question
Hi.  I have a Wii that was bought about three years ago. This wii makes random grinding noises and beeps whenever i turn it on.  Lately these noises have become much louder.  Whenever i put any game in eventually it comes up the the screen saying that the disc could not be read.  If i put a game in it will work for anytime between 5 and 20 minutes and then randomly comes up with that screen, no matter if the game is new or old.  So i was wondering if i should get it repaired or just buy a new one off ebay.  On most of the repair sites they have repair categories.  The one that i think applies to my problem is unability to read disc.  But it does read the disc, but only for a few minutes.  So, im not sure what to do.  Thank you so much

Answer
Gday Mathew,

Well it sounds like the Wii drive is beginning to fail.  By the sound of it one of the motors is starting to give out or a gear assembly is being stripped.  Occasionally the drive can get miss aligned or get something in the gears (Dirt, fluff, hair) causing the noise.

You could possibly do the repair yourself or send if off for repair or back to Nintendo.  (Depending on what kind of warranty you have)  The cost of a new drive will run you about $50.  They are reasonably easy to install (although you need a couple of security screw bits to disassemble your Wii)

Plenty of Youtube videos on how to disassemble.

Hope this helps you out.

Octane