Sound not working and smell coming from laptop

[ssnowskaterr]

Several weeks ago, my sound suddenly stopped working on my Asus X555L laptop. The laptop is less than 2 years old, bought brand new from newegg. There was a red X in the bottom right sound icon & no audio playback devices could be found. Attempted to fix by reinstalling drivers multiple times many different ways, but nothing worked. I tried troubleshooting via google but I eventually gave up.

Last night, I heard popping/cracking sounds coming from the laptop speakers while I was typing. I was able to replicate the sounds by physically tapping on the laptop near the touchpad, below the keyboard area. After a few minutes, I noticed an odd smell seemingly coming from the laptop. My laptop was not hot to the touch. I shut off the laptop and unplugged it. I turned it back on this morning and noticed the same smell almost immediately came back, so I shut it off.

I have an idea what I think is the issue, but I'm no expert so I'd like your advice & opinions.

Sorry for the any spelling/formatting issues as I'm on mobile.

 

[hang-the-9]

Take apart the system, clean off the fans and heatsink, apply new thermal paste, check motherboard for burn marks.