I’ve read this all through and at first it looked daunting, but the above comment which reduced it to many fewer steps got me interested. What is the most difficult part (I really don’t want to damage anything, rip off delicate connections etc.)

I’m hoping my magsafe connector is fried, as not expensive to replace. What visible evidence is there showing it has failed? Does it have to show signs of burning, or can it fail with no obvious damage?

Charger was getting very hot and no LEDs lighting up.

I replaced the power adapter and cleaned all magsafe contacts, the outer two were black (the ground terminals?) but plastic surround not melted. Laptop works fine with charger connected, but only shows 2% charge which never changes. If I take out connector, laptop closes down quickly. I hope the logic board is OK……