Refurbishing Your N64 Controller

It is well known that N64 controllers are very susceptible to wear and tear. After thousands of rotations in Mario Party and power slides in Mario Kart 64, it becomes very inaccurate. It wobbles horribly when in the neutral position, and after a while, pushing the stick the full way to the edge only registers about 75% in the game. This seriously detracts from the gaming experience, especially where accuracy or speed and agility of the analogue stick positioning matters. I mean, how are you going to use the Golden Gun properly while your brother is running around spraying you with the KF7 Soviet? The rest of the controller is fine, it’s only the analogue stick that’s at fault. Luckily, it is possible to replace the analogue stick. I’m about to take you through the procedure now.

You will want to buy a new analogue stick somewhere, probably online. You could try eBay. The controller stick looks like this:

Now, take an official N64 controller with a worn out analogue stick. It will soon be good as new.

 

Flip it over and remove the screws with a small Philips screwdriver.  

There are nine screws in total that you will need to remove. The two smaller screws in the rumble/memory pack slot will require some care, as they were quite tight for me, and you run the risk of stripping the screw head. Now you can take off the ‘lid’ (the underside of the controller).

 

The Z button won’t fall off, but the L and R shoulder buttons probably will. Don’t worry about it, they are easy to put back. Note that the switches for the L and R buttons aren’t clipped down, but the short wire will hold it pretty steady. Here’s the other half, full of lovely Nintendo electronic goodness.

 

We want the old analogue stick out of there, so first step is to disconnect the little connector to the right hand side. I used a flat head screwdriver to prize it off gently.

 

Next you need to release the switch that’s clipped on to the analogue stick (this is for the Z button) and remove the outer three screws that hold the stick down. Leave the central one alone as it holds the analogue stick module together. Here’s the controller, ready for analogue stick removal:

 

Here it is from the other side, with the stick removed. The little brown thing is the Z button’s switch which is now loose.

 

Now, as mentioned before, the central screw of the analogue stick holds it together. It’s spring loaded, so once opened will be difficult to put back together. For that reason, don't do this with your new analogue stick! I took apart my old one, so here’s what it looks like.

 

That’s the lid off. Then when it pops apart, it looks like this:

 

I shook out all the plastic grinding dust which built up over the years. There was way more in there than I expected. Here’s a picture next to a penny for scale:

 

Now, before the new stick went in, I took the opportunity to give the controller a thorough clean. The circuit board for the controller can be lifted up, as nothing is holding it down. If you’re feeling overly cautious, you may want to wear an anti-static wrist strap for this. I didn’t though. The circuit board can be completely lifted free from the controller. The controller’s cable acts as an anchor, so gently pull it free, noting it’s orientation for when you put it back in.

 

There’s three little rubbery button contacts, and underneath are the plastic buttons that you will recognise from the functional side of the controller. They all just lift out, leaving a shell. At this stage, I took some cotton buds and kitchen roll and cleaned off all the dirt and grime from all the nooks and crannies of the controller. Here’s an action shot:

 

Here’s my desk once I was done cleaning. I set the two halves of the shell together for the photo.

 

Now to put everything back together. Slide the circuit board back in place. You may have to push the switches for the L and R buttons back into their slots. Now you can place the new analogue stick in position, and put in the three screws to hold it there. Pop the switch for the Z button back into the jaws on the analogue stick module and set the L and R buttons in place.

 

The plug for the analogue stick needs reattached. One of the wires will be marked white. This wire needs to be towards the centre of the controller to keep the plug correctly orientated. I used a small set of long nosed pliers to gently push the plug in neatly. I went from end to end, basically rocking it into place.

 

Check that all the buttons are on the right way around. I’m pretty sure that they all go in properly only one way, but just give it a check, then put the lid back on and put the screws back in. Your controller is now good as new. Enjoy!