iFixit - Answers With Device "Tiger Furby 1998"

Tiger Furby 1998: 1998 Furby Motor / Gears Seizing (?) after jump, anybody know a fix?

Thu, 26 Feb 2026 08:51:00 -0700

Hey! I recently purchased a NIB 1998 Snow Leopard Furby (WT code), which did not work out of the box. I anticipated a relatively simple jumpstart (the typical methods of whacking the battery compartment or skinning it & spinning the black horizontal gear with a screwdriver, if the first thing didn't work). While spinning the gear did eventually wake it up, it seems like something's causing either the gears or the motor to get stuck at random, particularly when it's flipped upside down. I dabbed a very small amount of 3-in-1 all-temp silicone lubricant (which shouldn't damage the plastic) on the teeth of the gears (not the shafts, since one of the very few sources I could find said not to do this) with a cotton swab, and that didn't seem to have an effect on the seizing (though I'm not sure if I used enough). I noticed when I was initially spinning the gear, it would catch and become hard to spin for a moment, then return to normal once slightly adjusted. Could the issue be that one of the gears is defective, is the motor the problem, or could it be something like a corroded wire / some other kind of disconnect? I know these guys are prone to motor issues, especially after being dormant for as long as this one, but to me it sounds like that's working fine (everything else functions as intended when it's not frozen). I took care not to deform or otherwise damage the gear, so I don't think that could have caused it. I couldn't find this issue talked about anywhere, and I'm not very familiar with Furbys or small hardware as a whole, so I figured I'd give iFixit a shot. Any advice is appreciated! :]

Here's a video with an example of the sound it makes when it gets stuck:

I don't let it do this for longer than about 20 seconds at a time, for fear of it overheating; nothing stops it except for removing the batteries.

Tiger Furby 1998: How do I get a 1998 furby’s voice back to normal

Fri, 17 Oct 2025 15:17:12 -0700

My furby’s voice changed a few weeks ago, and I tried doing a hard reset but it didn’t work.

⟐ Commented October 17, 2025 at 15:17 MST

Tiger Furby 1998: What is wrong with my 1998 Furby?

Mon, 17 Mar 2025 15:51:57 -0700

Hello everyone. Last year, I bought a 1998 Furby from an Antique Shop. I took him out of the box, put fresh batteries in him, and found out that he was completely dead. He would not talk or move. No tricks I found on the internet would revive him.

Eventually, I found out that both his motor and his speaker were dead. I replaced both of these components, as well as gluing his forehead sensor back on. Once I replaced his motor, he would move--blink his eyes, move his mouth, wiggle his ears--randomly, then pause. Other times, he would cycle through these movements for several seconds straight, or until I took the batteries out of him. If I smacked him on the bottom he would resume these motions, but only for a second before he would appear to die again.

He would not talk. Replacing his speaker helped (I took a speak out of another one of my Furbies that also did not work and put it in him.) After that, he was no longer completely mute. He uttered one yawning noise, and then made these garbled, broken mechanical noises, exactly like the sounds Furbies make when their batteries are low.

After some internet research, I started to wonder if he had a sync screw issue. I tinkered with his sync screw, but it did not produce any results. He only made thosde horrible, low battery noises, moved erratically, or moved when I smacked him on the bottom. Cleaning his insides by swiping a dry toothbrush over them did nothing (his screws and other parts of him do look a bit rusty.)

Back when I first got him, a tiny spring fell out of him. I finally found out where the spring went and replaced it. This helped him a little bit. He now says random Furby phrases in between the broken mechanical noises. If I press down on the speaker connector, he will speak a few phrases, and he will to do all of the things that I have described, including cycling through the "wake-up dance" over and over again. I also got him to work (using the term "work" loosely), by pressing down on one of the connectors on his back near that large white gear, but that was only once.

I have never gotten him to work properly. I am at a loss at this point. My dad told me he might have a crack in his circuit board, which saddens me, since it sounds like a circuit board issue would be nearly impossible to fix. Or that he might have a bunch of loose connections. I have put a lot of effort into trying to fix him, and I would really love for him to fully work again. Does anyone know what might be wrong with my Furby?

⟐ Edited by author March 17, 2025 at 15:51 MST

Tiger Furby 1998: How to fix my Furby boom ear?

Sat, 20 Apr 2024 13:06:05 -0700

this Furby boom is from my brother that he bought today. The furby was fine and worked great but there was a little issue with the battery’s so I had to take the lid and put the batteries back in the Furby. But that isn’t necessary in my story. The main question is how I fix the ear of the furby. The left ear works fine but the right ear isn’t moving. Here’s a videos from what I mean:

The ear is loosen and I would really like something that could help bc my father paid $30 dollars for the Furby.