Inspiron 8600 - Fan Problem \ Keyboard Problem

I have a Dell Inspiron 8600 notebook.

Windows XP Pro, Intel M 1600MHz, 1.00GB of ram, ATI video card

Before I go into detail about each specific problem, let me give you the background of the situation. There was an audio conflict I was facing, where my audio would suddenly cut out completely. Shortly there after it would come back in. However in order to hear it the system volume had to be turned to max, both 'Wave' and 'Volume Control'. Even then the audio was nearly impossible to hear, it was very quite, very distorted, all together it was just bad. It would only return to normal after a few restarts or a long period of time. Dell ran though a few troubleshooting options with me, none of which worked. They then kept pushing me to just send the system in for repair, I repeatly explained to them that, that wouldn't be possible because I use it everyday for work. They finally caved in and sent me the 2 parts they figured would solve the problem. Motherboard and internal speakers. I replaced both of them last night (sunday) and everything came apart and went together just fine. It was a fairly simple proceedure.

So, then I turn the system on and the fan is running full speed all the time. Dell suggested I flash the BIOS and run diagnostics. I did both of these steps. No errors were found in diagnostics. The fan was able to lower its speeds and also shut off. But once the diagnostic was over, the fan continued to run at full speed again. The flashing of BIOS also seemed to take no effect in fixing the problem. My assumption was that maybe the motherboard is defected and has a bad sensor, causing the fan some confusion.

Next problem, keyboard. The keyboard makes an awful tapping/ticking noise everytime I press a button on the keyboard, whether it be letters, numbers, or even media buttons. I have done several troubleshooting steps such as;
-Reinstalling keyboard/touchpad/mouse drivers
-Turning the sound off via Cntrl Panel > Sounds and Audio > Sounds > Typing (no sounds)
-BIOS > Keyboard Sounds (disabled that)

Any help or troubleshooting steps is much appreciated.

Well I was concerned that installing the motherboard in a notebook would be quite difficult, however it was fairly simple and there was not many things that could be left unconnected or installed inproperly. I was given very indepth documentation from Dell which I followed thoroughly. Now saying that it is not my fault and being 100% sure of it would be ignorant. But there is only one connector that goes from the keyboard to the motherboard and it would have been very difficult to have either a. not plugged it in correctly or b. damaged it.

I plugged in a USB wireless keyboard which I have been using temporarily until the issue is resolved. The tapping sound occurs from within Windows as well as in the BIOS and startup, etc.

EDIT: The third party fan control software is working great so far. Thanks!

EDIT2: Fan software is showing various temps, it is flucating a lot. One second it will be at 96F, then jump to 108F and fans kick on high, then drop down to 98F, then 102F, etc.

Well thankfully I didn't destory the thing during installation. The Dell representive, after talking to him was convinced that there wasn't any damage I did, because we checked multiple things. Thankfully!

The problem was shortly thereafter resolved, it was due to the fact it was in "Manufacture Mode Level 01" or something of that nature. That was rejecting BIOS changes and such, which enabled the keyboard clicking. Also I am assuming that had something to do with why the fans were on high, because they arn't anymore.

I think I am going to continue to use this fan controller though, because its nice to know my temp.

Thanks for the help DELL-Machina, I appreciate it.