Введение
Follow this guide to remove and replace a broken or cracked screen on the Pixel 3. This procedure is for replacement screens that are not pre-mounted onto a frame. Due to the Pixel’s design, this requires removing the motherboard in order to access to the screen connectors.
This procedure will destructively remove the Pixel 3’s screen. OLEDs cease to work when exposed to oxygen or moisture, and are thus sealed in an airtight encapsulation (this is also why OLED panels turn black underneath a screen crack). It is very difficult to replace the front glass alone— the Pixel’s OLED layers are laminated to the glass.
Инструменты
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Heat an iOpener and apply it to the bottom of the phone for one minute.
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When prying above the power button, be careful not to insert the pick too deeply, or you will damage the fingerprint sensor cable.
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Apply a suction cup to the heated bottom edge of the back cover.
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Lift on the suction cup with strong, steady force to create a gap.
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Insert an opening pick into the gap.
The initial opening/insert is the hardest part of this repair, and if you end up having to use a flat-head screwdriver (etc) to get the first gap opened, you’ll scratch the phone. But it works.
I don’t recommend using a screwdriver. I tried this and it shattered the glass in that area. I replaced the battery on my Pixel 1 recently and noted that heating the FRONT glass on that phone enough to get a gap for one of the pics takes a considerable amount of time AND patience. I was one of the few who didn’t break or otherwise damage the glass in that process. I would say the same rule applies here. Allow for significant time and patiences to heat the old adhesive enough to get a pick inside the cover.
Definitely, this opening/insert is the hardest part of the procedure. I was unable to open even a slight separation with a suction cup and even with tons of heat from a hair dryer. What worked really well, and what I would highly recommend to others who experience really strong adhesive, is to use a small X-acto knife with a #16 blade. Make sure it’s a #16 (find on Amazon) because it differs greatly in angle and rigidity from the usual #11 blade. The sharpness of the blade makes it really easy to find the crack and open a gap, where you can then insert a pick with no problem.
I really wanted to level off the back of the phone when pulling on the suction cup in this step, but found it was actually pretty easy once I used the opening tool to push down on the edge of the bezel, at the crack, barely putting any force on the back of the phone at all (just to keep it steady).
I have about a 2 year old Pixel 3. iOpener didn’t work at all on this step, but once I broke out the hair dryer, I was able to get the phone hot enough to insert the pick (no screwdriver or xacto knife needed)
I’m having trouble with the iOpener too. It is frustrating because I practiced on a bricked iPhone earlier this week and it was effortless. My Pixel 3 is also about 2 years old. Out of curiosity, were you replacing the charging assembly because of the charging cables fitting too loosely on the phone or for some other reason?
Edwin -
I used a stanley knive to get started and then a combo of opener and plektrums.
All went well till I used to much force on the camera corner and broke the back into lots of small pieces. Be careful on that corner, people.
But the new camera does focus, so for a first attempt at fixing a phone I am happy.
I heated the bottom up with the Iopener and then used a rectangular razor blade and the suction cup to lift the bottom. Place the entire blade edge into the crack and push/pry while lifting with the suction cup. As soon as you have a gap start to open, have a second person insert a pick into the corner. It was actually really easy. I had given up after a couple of tries without a blade. My Pixel 3 is 2 years old.
Agreed with many other comments here. My Pixel 3 is two years old and neither the iopener nor a blow dryer were capable of loosening it enough. I ended up using a VERY hot iopener for a couple of minutes, the suction cup, and then a wide-bladed razer blade (about 80% width of bottom edge to spread out the stress and prevent risk of fracturing the rear glass panel). Once adding the razer blade I was able to get the pick in and follow the rest of the instructions as written.
I also had to follow this process but resorted to a heat gun on its lowest setting as I couldn’t get the iOpener hot enough (I was afraid of overheating and bursting it). Other how-to videos also show using a thin piece of plastic or metal to slide into the corner, saving substantial time.
Helped me to notice that the focus here is to lift in the center (like right over the USB C connector). Was able to get it with just the iOpener and pushing down on the rest of the phone with the pry tool. My phone is over 2 years old though and it took about 50 minutes of working / reheating / repeating
Destroyed the glass back trying to take it off. This is not an easy phone to take apart.
It would be nice if there was a heads up that the rear of the phone is glass….. Phone piping hot glass shattered and splintered
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Slice the adhesive along the bottom edge of the phone and around the right corner.
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Leave a pick in the bottom edge to prevent the adhesive from re-sealing.
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Heat the right edge with an iOpener and continue slicing the adhesive with an opening pick.
What is the required temperature to soften the glue? Can I just use a small bag filled with boiling water or a heat gun.
The iOpener is a plastic bag filled with what appears to be water so probably, yes.
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Continue heating and slicing through the rest of the phone perimeter. Leave a pick in each edge to prevent the adhesive from resealing.
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When slicing above the power button, do not insert the pick more than halfway in to avoid damaging the fingerprint sensor cable.
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Once you have sliced around the perimeter of the phone, carefully lift the left edge of the back cover.
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Flip the back cover along its long axis and rest it so that the fingerprint sensor cable is not strained.
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Remove the two 4.1 mm long Phillips screws securing the fingerprint connector bracket.
A magnetic screwdriver tip helped here.
If you purchase iFixit’s kit for this replacement, their included driver is magnetic. Helped immensely!
after replacing my camera, my screen had a big green/white vertical stripe. I didn’t see the disclaimer about overtightening these screws. I think it may be related.
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Use the point of a spudger to slide the fingerprint connector bracket out from under the NFC coil.
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Remove the fingerprint connector bracket.
Re-inserting this is tricky and requires pretty good dexterity. The shiny metal frame of the wireless charger is also not held down, so you may wish to gently apply pressure to it as you try to re-position the connector bracket.
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Use the point of a spudger to pry up and disconnect the fingerprint connector from its socket.
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Remove the back cover.
When reassembling is it better to first attach the new adhesive back gasket to the phone back or the phone chassis frame?
Hi Tom!
It depends on the adhesive. Carefully align the adhesive to the phone by matching the contours. Note which adhesive side is backed by a clear liner, and which side is backed by a colored liner. The clear liner should be removed first. Whichever component the exposed adhesive faces should be the first surface to apply to.
Hope that helps!
Two things:
1) I recommend attaching the adhesive to the Phone frame and not the back panel. As you attach, you can more easily see the gaps and guide the adhesive along the groove, leaving equal space all around.
2) To transfer the fingerprint sensor, you will need double-sticky tape to make a new gasket. Put the tape on the back from the inside, and trim with a blade to make the sensor hole. To attach the sensor, place it on something small to raise it off your working surface, then lower the back over it. You’ll be able to see the sensor alignment as you lower the back, which helps get a good position.
Oh, and be prepared: Removing the old adhesive is teeeeedious!! It will take you some time. :-b Alcohol is not a strong solvent, so don’t expect it to remove much; it is mostly for cleaning afterward. In the end, I used one of iFixit’s flat metal tools from the big toolkit to remove the final remains. Its was blunt enough to not cut metal shavings as I cleaned.
I ended up reusing the original adhesive as it was in pretty good shape. So far, no problems.
Does your IF356-119-1, Google Pixel 3 Rear Cover Adhesive, template use 2 sided pressure sensitive tape? Do I simply align it on the back cover and then press it to the device to reassemble the unit? If so, how long til the back cover is “glued” to the unit?
Hi Martin,
The rear cover adhesive is indeed two-sided PSA (pressure sensitive adhesive). Apply firm even pressure for a minute to bond the adhesive to the unit.
When scraping the adhesive off the back cover be careful and don’t apply too much pressure (and/or position the cover against the surface so that it’s supported against the tool used), especially in the corners, or the glass cover rounded edges could break.
My battery swelled and did all the hard work getting started popping the back open so I didn’t need the iOpener to get the back off, but now the iOpener is handy to heat up the sticky foamy factory original adhesive.
I found isopropanol ineffective. I found heat softens it considerably. Just very warm, like hot water warm, is effective. Use tweezers or a plastic blade to help pull it off. Metal blades will either gouge the plastic or, worse, create metal shavings that will wreak havoc.
Are there any solvents other than isopropanol that work and won’t harm the plastic? How do pros speed up this step?
I think pros often use heating pads or special jigs. They’d set the temperature, set the phone on the pad, and let the phone heat up for a few minutes. Heat guns are also a popular choice.
I found that an opening pick worked well to scrape the glue off the inside of the curved edges of the back cover
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Remove the five Phillips screws securing the wireless charging coil:
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Two 1.9 mm screws
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Two 4.2 mm screws
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One 4.3 mm screw
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Remove the wireless charging coil.
Can I leave the wireless charging coil out?
This may also allow a bigger battery!
You may be able to! Note that this is not only the wireless charging coil, but also the NFC antenna (the upper loop).
The 1.9 mm screws are actually screwed into the head of another screw beneath them. Sometimes the lower screw unscrews instead of the upper. That leaves both screws attached to the coil. If possible you should separate the two screws and screw the lower one back in first using a small flat blade screwdriver.
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Use the point of a spudger to pry up and disconnect the battery connector from its socket near the right edge of the phone.
The connecton board is quete flexible … be careful otherwise other connectors may get looze.
This is also valid when re-assemble … pusing battery conector may cause other conectors to “pop“.
The square connector directly below the battery connector came undone and will not pop back into place.
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Remove the two screws securing the camera bracket:
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One 4.1 mm Phillips screw
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One 4 mm standoff screw
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Remove the camera bracket.
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Normal view camera
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Wide-angle camera
Make sure that the cameras each go in exactly the same spots or not the phone will boot loop forever. The connectors on both of these cameras are the same, so they will easily connect on both sides. So be careful.
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Use the point of a spudger to pry up and disconnect the connector for the camera(s) you are replacing.
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Insert the point of a spudger behind the edge of the camera module and pry up to loosen it from the frame.
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Remove the camera(s).
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Use the point of a spudger to pry up and disconnect the loudspeaker connector from its motherboard socket near the right edge of the phone.
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Remove the following four Phillips screws:
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One 1.9 mm screw
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One 4.3 mm screw
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Two 4.3 mm screws with thinner shanks
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Remove the tiny grounding clip from the left screw hole. Be careful not to lose it.
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Remove the small plastic insert from the right side of the USB-C port.
The three 4.3 mm screws highlighted in Orange are not all the same. The one closest to the battery is slightly different, a larger diameter. It would be good to note this for reassembly.
Thank you! I will adjust the guide to reflect this!
Ah, all great and everything but this should be in big bold red letters: “Be sure to reinstall this insert before you screw down the daughterboard.“
Screwed 4.3 thin screw without that small insert and penetrated new screen module behind…
Noted and changed!
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Insert the point of a spudger under the bottom right corner of the loudspeaker.
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Pry up to loosen the loudspeaker from the phone.
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Insert the point of a spudger under the top left corner of the loudspeaker.
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Pry up to loosen the loudspeaker.
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Insert the flat end of the spudger under the top edge of the loudspeaker, towards the left edge.
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Pry up to loosen the loudspeaker.
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Remove the loudspeaker.
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If it is in good condition, you can re-use the gasket. Make sure that the gasket does not cover the exit hole.
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If the gasket is pulled out of place, remove it and replace the adhesive with a pre-cut strip or Tesa tape.
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Use the point of a spudger to pry up and disconnect the blue antenna cable from its socket on the charging assembly.
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Use the point of a spudger to carefully pry up and release the blue antenna cable from its grounding clips.
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Use the point of a spudger to pry up and disconnect the black antenna cable from its socket near the USB-C port.
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Carefully de-route both antenna cables and move them away from the charging assembly.
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Use the point of a spudger to pry up and disconnect the charging assembly's connector from its motherboard socket, near the right edge of the phone.
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Carefully peel the flex cable from the top of the SIM card reader.
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Use the flat end of a spudger to carefully pry up the black tape holding the display flex cable in place, near the right edge of the phone.
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Slide the point of a spudger in the crevice underneath the black tape bridging across the battery and the motherboard.
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Slide the spudger along the crevice to pry up the tape from the battery side.
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Carefully peel the tape from the battery and fold it out of the way.
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Use a spudger to pry up and disconnect the following seven press-fit connectors from their motherboard sockets:
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External buttons connector
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Top microphone connector
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Earpiece connector
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Left squeeze sensor connector
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Screen connector
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Right squeeze sensor connector
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SIM tray connector
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Use the flat of a spudger to carefully pry up and bend the earpiece speaker's flex cable upwards, out of the way of the motherboard.
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Remove the six screws securing the motherboard in place:
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One 4.2 mm Phillips screw
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Three 1.9 mm Phillips screws
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One 4.3 mm Phillips screw
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One 3.83 mm standoff screw
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Remove and retain the three small metal grounding clips.
During reassembly, don’t forget to replace the plastic piece before placing the 4.3mm screw.
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Carefully remove the antenna bracket from the top left edge of the phone.
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Orient the clips such that the silver side is facing upwards.
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The teardrop shaped clips should have their points facing towards the phone edge.
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The double-holed clip dips downwards towards the frame's top-right screw hole.
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Insert the point of a spudger near the top left corner of the motherboard, right below the rear-facing camera.
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Pry up gently to loosen the motherboard, bending all flex cables away to accommodate for the movement.
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If the motherboard feels firmly seated, check for any flex cables or screws that may still be connected.
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Insert the spudger underneath the top edge of the motherboard and carefully pry up to loosen the motherboard.
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Lift the left edge of the motherboard and carefully swing upwards it towards the right. Carefully push any press connectors snagging the motherboard out of the way.
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Carefully lift the top end of the motherboard away from the frame.
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Remove the motherboard.
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Apply a heated iOpener to the bottom edge of the screen for a minute.
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Place a suction cup near the bottom edge of the screen, near the USB-C port.
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Lift on the suction cup with strong, steady force to create a gap.
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You can also try heating and pulling up a long edge of the phone to gain access.
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Insert an opening pick into the gap.
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Continue heating edges with an iOpener and slicing the adhesive with an opening pick, until you've sliced through all of the adhesive.
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Insert an opening pick into the seam between the phone frame and the bottom edge of the screen remains.
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Pry along the edge to loosen the screen from the frame.
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Continue applying heat and slicing along a screen edge until you've loosened enough material to be grasped with your fingers.
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Grasp the edge with your fingers and slowly pull the screen remains away from the phone frame.
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Thread the screen cable and digitizer cable out of their cutouts.
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Remove the screen.
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Clean all adhesive residue from the phone frame. Adhesive that's left behind may apply uneven pressure against the replacement screen and potentially damage it.
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Apply a pre-cut adhesive, or double-sided tape to the phone frame's perimeter.
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Peel all plastic liners from the back of the replacement screen to expose the adhesive.
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Carefully thread the screen cable and the digitizer cable through the phone frame's cutouts.
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Lay the screen onto the frame and place some books on top for an hour to help the screen adhesive bond to the frame.
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To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.
Take your e-waste to an R2 or e-Stewards certified recycler.
Repair didn’t go as planned? Check out our Google Pixel 3 Answers community for troubleshooting help.
To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.
Take your e-waste to an R2 or e-Stewards certified recycler.
Repair didn’t go as planned? Check out our Google Pixel 3 Answers community for troubleshooting help.
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Комментариев: 24
To change only the screen glass… Do you have to disassemble the whole phone or just steps 39 to 42?
Thanks
Hi Adrián,
The OLED is bonded to the screen glass. Unlike LCDs, trying to remove the glass only will most likely destroy the OLED screen.
How to differentiate between a pre-mounted and a non pre-mounted display? I don’t want to order the wrong part, hence the question.
The pre-mounted part will come with the frame, which is the majority of the phone body. The screen is already stuck affixed to the frame, but you would have to transfer everything else onto it. The display only part looks like a thin panel with adhesive on the back. It would look like this part.
When buying a replacement screen do I need to buy it with a frame?
This guide is meant to be used with replacement screens without frames. If you buy a screen with a frame, you will have to transfer many components from your existing frame onto the new one.
My Pixel 3 has a broken screen and also the touchscreen is not working (well, only for half the screen; the top half works just fine, the bottom half does not). Will this guide and replacement parts also fix the touchscreen functionality?
This guide should resolve any issues with the screen, which includes touch functionality.
Also, only because the part in iFixit is out of stock, is this the same part?
Unfortunately, this is not the same part we sell. Like many aftermarket screens for the Pixel, the linked part uses a cheaper LCD panel, while the original Pixel has an OLED. The part may install properly, but the image quality will be different.
Hi again @arthurshi . Following up on my comment from Dec 2. I bought the tools and replacement screen, and performed the repair yesterday. Thanks for the guide!
Everything seemed to go alright… but sadly, the touchscreen functionality remains broken. I installed the new screen. The phone turns on and the screen turns on just fine, but it does not respond to my touch :(
Do you think then that the motherboard’s circuitry for the touchscreen is broken? Or is it more likely that I didn’t connect one of the two screen connectors (I believe the large one is for the display, and the small one for the touch)? Anything I can do to debug/test where the problem is?
Any help is much appreciated. And thanks again for the very useful guide! Even if things don’t end up working, I still learned a lot!
Hey @balldude,
You are right in that one connector is for the screen, and one is for the touch (digitizer). Both must be connected in order for both screen and digitizer to function. The press-fit connectors contain very small contacts. Any small amount of dirt/finger oils on the contacts may cause issues. You can clean them by wiping with lint-free cloth and isopropyl alcohol.
If the screen still won’t respond to touch after that, it may be that the circuitry responsible for the digitizer is broken on the logic board.
Hey, did you try what arthurshi advise and if so did it work. I am also having the same issue and I would hate to buy a new motherboard. Thank in advance.
Hi Jose.
I tried reattaching the connectors a few times and testing it out. I couldn’t get it to work, unfortunately. I ended up buying a new Pixel 4 and sending in the Pixel 3 to Google as a trade-in, for which I received $105.
Hope that helps, and good luck!
Hi to be more in depth the problem I been having is that when I took the screen of my pixel 3 there was a piece of flashing(not sure the proper turn that came off with screen it was glued down to mid frame and the screen is supposed to sit in it. Can you buy this part or do you have to buy a whole new mid frame ? Thank you for your time and all your guides they have been very helpful to me.
Hi S Lee,
Are you speaking of the part shown in step 44? If so, that is part of the display panel. It should be fully removed before you install a replacement screen.
Do NOT follow the author's advice to just “bend up the earpiece speaker flex”. This might work fine enough for board removal, but going backwards, you will likely rip the flex trying to jimmy it back in place. The flex is like plasticated paper ribbon. Just remove the earpiece speaker before you reassemble, and place it in its spot after you put the board back in.
Ps. The plastic insert in step 19 should be given a bit more attention. If you forget to reinstall this plastic insert, the screw that you replace in that spot will instatly ruin your lcd - no matter how gently you screw it in. You'll be left with a green or pink line through your lcd. It seems worth mentioning, as I have seen this before.
Hi Sarah!
Thanks for the suggestions! I will make a note of that and your comment above in the relevant steps.
Followed the guide and was able to install the display in my Pixel 3. Adhesive removal is super frustrating though. But I have a current issue, the rear camera is vibrating like crazy. You could actually hear the camera move around (autofocus) when you open the app. Any ideas?
Hi Levi,
It sounds like the adhesive holding the rear camera is not holding the modules in place. If possible, open the phone, pry the rear cameras up, and install some replacement adhesive.
Hi Arthur, thanks for replying. I feel like I wasn't able to word my problem properly so I made this short video https://youtu.be/cnym7ROK6eU
Seems like an issue in OIS or focusing. Do I need to replace my camera module?
I had major difficulty removing the back panel.
I’m unsure if there was a crack prior to removal of the back panel as the attempt to use the suction and pry tool had catastrophically failed. Huge cracks sprawled as the pry tool was inserted, quite a bit of force was necessary to have the pry tool inserted whilst awkwardly positioning my hands to hold the phone down whilst pulling up on the suction tool. I had used heat tools to ease the adhesive behind the panel but may have lost patience as the heat bags provided does not seem to have the same effect as a heat gun would. That being said, the heat bags, while they heat up I’m unsure if they heat up to the critical temperature of the adhesive for it to weaken.
further instruction for the temperature of the bags would help; what is the max temperature I can warm the bag up before it fails (explodes in the microwave) while meeting minimum temperature required to ease the adhesive. currently it said to warm it up for 30sec, 1 every 10 mins, doesn’t cut it.
Older devices may require 2 or more minutes with a very hot iOpener. Also note, the photo shows the opener on the FRONT of the phone. The heat needs to be applied to the back of the device!
Rick Johnson - Ответить
I just realized that I was trying to pry apart the front of my Pixel 3… and have separated the class from the display. ??♂️ Even though the rest of the directions show the back, it would be nice for the first picture to also show the back, just to be safe.
JR Raith -
Agreed, I’ve done exactly the same and completely broken my display. I probably should’ve paid more attention to the initial steps before diving in but the step could do with a new picture for sure.
Daniel Fryer -
Thanks for the comments! I’ll add a note in the step warning people to make sure to pry the back cover, not the screen.
Arthur Shi -
I prefer my favorite opening method with something like this. Dental floss. So thin it can slide in the gap. A little sawing to get it far enough past the edge to lift and get the first pick in.
John Hoffstetter - Ответить