Chosen Solution
I spilled coffee on the upper left part of my keyboard, turned it over and then off, dried it, and waited. I turned it back on and the computer seems to be working fine except for the third row of keys in the middle. The keys from “w” to “o” don’t work (i.e.: w e r t y u i o). Coffee was not even spilled on the right half of the keys. I removed several of the keys and cleaned them with alcohol but they still don’t work. Many of them are not even sticky. There is no backlighting on part of the left side of the keyboard which seems to roughly correspond to where I spilled the coffee. But, on the “t”-“o” keys the backlighting works fine, the keys just don’t work. Would there be some short in the “wire” that connects these keys to the logic board? Any other ideas? Would it make sense to open the computer up and try to clean from the inside? Quotes from our local mac shop are pretty expensive just to look at the thing. Any insight is much appreciated!
there are many plastic layers with conductive traces inside the keyboard so I think the keyboard should be opened and the plastic layers cleaned before the traces are dissolved by the coffee. Doing so could also restore the keyboard backlight if you clean this specific layer (first one under the keyboard).
I think you can try to fix it - but as always with fluid damages - it’s possible that the damage is not fixable. disassemble it following the upper case guide. the keyboard isn’t covered in the 13" teardown - but maybe you have to disassemble it like shown on the 15" model: CLICK look out for “odd” looking stains, fluid damages leave white/greenish stuff between the parts (or connectors) - clean that with ipa (>90%) and a soft paintbrush, let it dry. reassemble it and power it on. good luck
