Take a close look at the spacing in the 3 photos. You essentially just flip the tab 90 degrees to stay vertical, then you pull the cable carefully out. When putting the new one in, no need to press hard. Just a little bit so you have that 2-3 mm spacing and then flip the tab back down.

Totally forgot the thermal paste when I bought the replacement fan. Then I needed to wait 2 days for some arctic silver 5 to arrive. All worked well in the end. I combined it with the batterie replacement, worked well together.

Always amazing when it all works at the end. Combined the battery repair with the fan replacement. Looks like the battery I got from the Bay is an OEM from SMC. All went well. Now I just need to remove the display gate anti-glare with some Listerine or the W5 towelettes from LIDL (if in Europe) and the machine is like new. ;-) Thanks fixit and everyone who contributed and shared their comments.

I used a hot water bottle (for the body). Realized the one with the cloth cover was not doing anything, but had another plastic one. Poured boiling water in, sealed, and did 2-min at a time. A old airline loyalty card worked. Don’t use a credit card as it may deteriorate.