Well, to start- you have to ask yourself if it's even worth the time and hassle. Refurb Gamecubes are about $79 and new $99. You might spend the better part of a full day just diagnosing/isolating the problem before nailing it down to what's broken.
SirSpanky0 said:
When I turn the power on, the fan turns on but that's it. No picture, no light, no disk spinning. Is there a quick remedy for this? Has this happened to anyone else? Do I have to buy another cube?
Does the power light flash once then turn off? Or is it totally dead- not coming on even for a moment?
If there is no light, it's definately a bad/burned out component. I don't know of any quick/easy or common issues where the power light is dead on power-on. It's usually something more invasive internal to my knowledge.
The best case is there IS a fuse in the unit that is fairly cheap to replace, but it's not user serviceable. You need a special screwdriver (4.5mm) to get into the thing and the fuse isn't in the easiest location to replace (requires some internal surgery). If you know a local that mods these things (for Japanese games or whatnot), they might have the tools and expertise to check/repace the fuse.
If you want to try this, I'd try googling and usenet on how to install a USA/JPN mode switch as the surgery is similar. You'll have to remove the mainboard and get under this to get to the fuse. You'll still need the special 4.5mm security screwdriver to get the unit apart though.
And yes, the fans will still spin if the fuse is blown. It's a mainboard fuse only on the power lines to the GPU/CPU. It's commonly blown by overseas users using incorrect power converters.