Thanks, guys, and sorry to waste your time here. The cooler is for LGA
775 and I just found a new one, complete with heatsink, for $8 shipped.
At that price, I snatched it. I had in my mind that this was like a
$30-40 item (heatsink/ fan assembly) and maybe it was at one time but no
longer apparently. Bill


On 12/02/16 11:14, Bill Baxter wrote:
The problem is that I can't seem to remove it and also, after seeking
out websites suggesting lubrication a small hole, which I don't seem to
have, I am unable to lub it. The way the fan is attached to the
heatsink is by locknuts that are on the bottom of the heatsink and I
don't see any easy way to just pop off the fan and replace. The fan
itself is a Thermaltake Tt and the heatsink may be too for that matter.
Initially I tried removing the four screws holding the fan in place,
but the heatsink came out too and I had to clean and then recoat the
heatsink/ CPU before pushing and screwing the fan/heatsink assembly back
into place. This desktop is up and running as I write from it, but the
fan has become quite loud. Even if everything is off and I just spin
the fan by hand, I can hear the same vibration. Is there any way I can
just lubricate or replace the fan without also the heatsink, or is there
no choice but to have to replace them both?

A lot of these fans have a foil circle (that has printing on it)
covering the bearings and armature to prevent dust getting in. If you
lift the edge of the foil with the tip of a knife, you can peel it off,
put a tiny drop of oil on the bearing (or bushing, more commonly) and
that will shut it up until you can replace it. Put the foil back,
obviously.