This guide will step through the process required to repair a Motorola RAZR V3 “the phone”, including the flex cable and then replacing the housing.
The flex cable can be purchased from eBay for $7 US (including shipping), and the housing can be purchased for around $16 (including shipping). The flex cable is attached to the keypad circuit, which is automatically included in the purchase. When purchasing the housing, you need to make sure it is NOT a slip on case, skin, pouch, fascia, protector, etc, etc. The housing should include as a minimum the front, middle, back and battery cover. Keypad, hinge, pads, grommets, buttons may even be included, as well as TORX screwdrivers, make sure you buy all what you need. The included contents of my purchased housing were as follows.
To perform repairs on the phone, you require TORX T5 and T4 drivers, a small flat driver will come in handy as well, also at least 2 hours of spare time.
First a look at my broken phone, besides the obvious fact that it is broken into two separate halves, the hinge is broken and there is normal housing wear.
First remove the battery cover, battery and SIM card. Remove 2 TORX T5 screws under the battery cover circled in red. Separate the plastic case via two plastic clips as squared in red.
The antenna assembly can be removed by disconnection of the keyboard connector, squared in red. Remove the 4 TORX T4 screws, circled in red. These screws will be required for the new housing.
Now, if you need to preserve the keypad circuit; it is a little bit more involved. First, lift up the tabs of the metal keypad as circled in red and then pry of the metal keypad. Most likely the keypad circuit will be stuck to the plastic so extreme care is required when removing. It may be easier to reuse this whole part, as it seems all colour housing still have this same silver part.
Following is a photo of the new keypad circuit and the plastic keyboard housing.
Remove the backing of the keypad circuit and stick the circuit to the plastic housing. You will need to start from the bottom to allow the connectors to be threaded through the holes.
A photo of the completed keypad assembly.
Remove the antenna from the antenna assembly by first removing two black grommets and then unclipping the two plastic clips.
Once the circuit board is removed, remove all the following from the plastic housing as these are required in the new housing.
Insert all the old removed parts into the new housing as follows.
The change the screen housing, first remove the 4 rubber grommets as circled in red, and then the 4 TORX T5 screws behind.
Once the plastic screen housing is removed, the display circuit is visible. Carefully pry away the circuit from the plastic near all buttons and the backup battery as circled in red. The camera can be removed by lifting the brown tab as squared in red. Move the circuitry to the new housing and then connect the camera.
To connect the two clamshell halves, the hinge can be retracted in, the hinge is circled in red. This allows the two halves to combine; the hinge should then pop into place securing the two halves.
Finally, replace all the finishing touches such as labels, hinge caps and grommets. Photos of the new phone are below.
The following repair guide may be of further help
Motorola V3-Razr Repair Manual KS-042050-V1.2.pdf
