How to fix broken plastic on the cover attaching the hinge

[trimad22]

My daughters computer is coming away at the left hinge. When I have searched the issue it seems most are coming away from the bottom but on her's it looks like the place where the hinge screw into the screen is broken. The actual plastic where the screw holds it together has broken and the plastic is still on the screw and not attached to the cover anymore.
Not sure if this can be fixed with glue or a replaced piece or not.

[REO51ST]

@trimad22

I have tried using a soldering iron to melt the plastic housing back together.

Then press the brass colored gnarl back into the plastic housing.

Does not work very well.

Your manual here.

http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c03564727

https://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-HP-Probook-Display-Support-Kit-657836-001-Compatible-6560b-6460b-6475b/...

REO

[trimad22]

Thank you! Sadly they do not ship to Canada and I am not having much luck finding it here. 
There is one for $151 though ....lol

Thanks at least I have to part number so appreciate the help! 

[Huffer]

Here goes. The hinge has "seized up" and has gotten harder to move than it should. This, unfortunately, is a common failure mode for many HP and quite a few other manufacturers' laptops. It is very hard to make a thin and light laptop with a thin and light hinge and have its resistance to movement stay just right during the life of the laptop. The damage you are seeing is a symptom, not the problem. As the hinge gets harder to move it pulls on the places it is mounted. If the mounting points inside the screen housing are damaged, then the mounting points in the lower chassis are already damaged or very soon to start showing signs of damage.

So how to fix? First thing is good triage. You have to disassemble and look at the component parts. It is a given the hinges need replacement and you have to be careful where you buy them because there are a lot of third party shops that make knock-offs and sell them on the internet cheap. One other solution I have seen is to find a way to loosen the hinges by loosening a nut. Problem is, if you don't get that right the screen won't stay up anymore. If the upper and lower plastic housings and the places where the brass screw inserts are located is torn up, then you have to replace the lower chassis and/or the screen backing housing. That can be expensive but you can scour eBay auctions for otherwise nonworking donor machines.  

I used to try to post a lot of advice to people having screen hinge issues, but it seems futile in the long run. HP will come in and basically close the thread by offering offline assistance. Sometimes people come back and report all is good; that HP fixed it free. Other times people come back and report HP offered to fix but wanted to charge money. Other times people say they were never contacted. Hard to know how HP decides if and how to help. 

Other times well-meaning people come in and repeat all kinds of crackpot theories about the problem they read on the internet like "the plastic is bad". Those people have never fixed one with their own hands I am sure. Lastly, you get some "homebrew" solutions involving drilling and glue and extra bolts. Again, these folks are well-meaning and in some cases ingenious but their methods are not really for mass consumption. 

Only once in blue moon does someone actually follow through with locating and buying parts and rebuilding the laptop at their own expense. The vast majority get one look at what is involved and head to Best Buy for a new laptop. 

I posted this for you because I detect a "fixer" in what you have done so far for your daughter. So I say all this one fixer to another. 

Let's see what direction this thread goes and if you want to know more, post back and we can discuss further. 

[Parttime-Fixer]

I have a similar issue with a laptop I bought my wife, when she lifted the screen the hinges came away from the screen cover. I used to work for HP as a hardware engineer and have worked on many different laptops. This looks like the hinges were too tight and the plastic cover eventually came away. What's worse no-one seems to be able to source a replacement screen cover. I have also thought about how to re-attach the hinges, but the plastic has broken, that held the screws. It's a good thought to loosen the hinges a little, this would certainly reduce the strain on any repair job. I can't believe HP sell laptops that have this problem, but then don't supply replacement parts.