Google Pixel 3 XL Flash Diffuser Replacement

Written By: Arthur Shi

Comments: 12

Google Pixel 3 XL Flash Diffuser Replacement

Difficulty

Moderate

Steps

Time Required

10 - 30 minutes

Introduction

This repair guide was authored by the iFixit staff and hasn’t been endorsed by Google. Learn more about our repair guides here.

This guide shows how to remove and replace the plastic flash diffuser on your Pixel 3 XL.

Tools

Parts

Google Pixel 3 XL Back Cover Adhesive - Genuine

Step 1

Heat an iOpener and apply it to the right edge of the back cover for a minute.
A hair dryer, heat gun, or hot plate may also be used, but be careful not to overheat the phone—the display and internal battery are both susceptible to heat damage.
While you wait, note the following areas on the back cover:
Strong adhesive—there are large patches of adhesive near the bottom of the phone.
Fingerprint sensor cable—be careful not to slice through the cable as you pry

Step 2

Apply a suction cup to the heated edge of the back cover, as close to the edge as possible.
Pull up on the suction cup with strong, steady force to create a gap.
Depending on the age of your phone, this may be difficult. If you are having trouble, apply heat to the edge and try again.
Insert the point of an opening pick into the gap.

Suction cup doesn’t work on severely cracked glass.

Jeffrey Kongthong - 22/12/20

Step 1 - 2 took me about 50 minutes. Back and forth with heat and trying with suction cup. I could get my finger nail in but not the pick. Took two people, but we finally got a pick in. 2 year old phone.

Andrew Messier -

Took about 15 minutes and three total attempts. On the third attempt, I also used a thinner, metal, pick to widen the gap just enough for the plastic pick to fit (Though be careful as you can easily break it with a metal pick). The phone is three years old.

Hotohori -

Could not get in with the pick or in from the side. Targeted the bottom of the phone with the iOpener and managed to gently create some space for the pick with the opener tool.

Daniel R. -

I also struggled here for a while. I ended up working my way around the entire edge of the phone until I found one spot where I could pry up the back panel. I used a jimmy instead of the opening pics. I also used a hairdryer on lower heat instead of the iopener. 3 year old phone.

Bryan Wethington -

Took 30 minutes + to get the back cover off. Used another suction cup to grip from the busted screen and the ifixit suction cup for the back. A thinner Acoustic guitar pick was required opposed to the standard Blues picks provided in the kit (har-har). Would HIGHLY suggest getting a pick into both the back and the front before removing the panels as it will give you more surfaces to pry from. Made that mistake...

Brian Sommer -

Step 3

Slide the opening pick along the right edge to slice through the adhesive.
The adhesive gums up and becomes hard to slice once it cools. If that happens, re-apply heat to the edge to make slicing easier.
Once you have sliced through the edge, leave an opening pick in the seam to prevent the adhesive from re-sealing.

Step 4

Apply a heated iOpener to the bottom of the back cover for a minute.

Step 5

Use an opening pick to slice around the bottom right corner and continue along the bottom edge of the phone.
Work slowly as you slice around the corner to prevent the panel from cracking. If the slicing becomes hard, re-apply heat.
Leave a pick in the edge to prevent the adhesive from re-sealing.

Step 6

Continue heating and slicing the remaining edges of the phone.
Be careful as you slice along the left edge of the phone. If your pick feels like it's stuck near the top, you may have snagged the fingerprint sensor. Retract the pick out of the seam slightly and try again.
Be sure to cut through the thick portions of adhesive near the bottom and right edge of the phone.

Step 7

Gently pry up the right edge of the back cover.
Use an opening pick to slice through any remaining adhesive along the edges.

Step 8

Swing the right edge of the back cover upwards and rest the flipped panel along the left side of the phone.
Be sure to maintain slack on the fingerprint sensor cable and prevent it from being pinched.
During reassembly, this is a good point to power on your phone and test all functions before sealing it up. Be sure to power your phone back down completely before you continue working.
During reassembly, follow this guide to install custom-cut adhesives for your back cover.
If you replaced the fingerprint sensor, you'll need to use this software tool to make the phone recognize the new sensor.

Reassembly is way harder. The adhesive guide is generic and not super helpful, so don't be surprised if things went smoothly until you get to this step and then everything starts sticking to things its not supposed to.

Christopher Trimby -

This is great but how you address that fact that the phone is tied to a particular fingerprint sensor and after replacing, the new sensor is not recognized by the original phone?

Dave -

Hi Dave!

There's a software calibration tool that you can use to calibrate your new fingerprint sensor. I've updated this step to include a link to the tool.

Arthur Shi -

I have a pixel 3 xl and I can't get the tool to work. I finally got the driver's installed after several hours and it says it's for pixel 6 and up basically. So I tried the other option and it's basically saying to do a factory reset? Did I mess something up on the install or what am I doing wrong here? Thanks

Cody L Paulsell -

Step 9

User tweezers to carefully peel up the yellow tape over the fingerprint sensor connector.

This step is utterly unnecessary. It achieves nothing, and the tape is there for a reason (I'm not sure why, maybe to prevent short circuits). I didn't remove this tape while disassembling and it didn't change anything.

Krzeszny - 24/08/22

The Kapton tape should adhere to both the cable and the connector. It helps prevent the cable from slipping out of the ZIF connector. You're right in that you don't have to completely remove the tape—I've adjusted the step to reflect this.

Arthur Shi -

Step 10

Use the point of a spudger to carefully flip up the black lock bar on the fingerprint sensor's ZIF socket.
Grasp the cable's tab with your fingers or tweezers and gently walk the flex cable out of the socket.
To prevent shorting, be careful not to touch the metal contacts on the flex cable with your tweezers.