okay so i crashed my Mavic Air 2 about a month ago, nothing crazy, just clipped a branch at low speed and it came down maybe 4 feet onto grass. looked totally fine, props were okay, body had one small scratch. but ever since then the gimbal does this thing where it droops to one side on startup and then the horizon is never level in footage. like its constantly trying to correct and you can see it hunting in the video.

i took it to a local shop and the guy said the ribbon cable that runs through the gimbal arm is probably partially torn or has a weak connection after the impact, which i guess makes sense. he quoted me 140 dollars labor plus parts which feels steep for what it is but i dunno.

has anyone actually replaced one of these themselves? i found some ribbon cables on aliexpress for like 8 bucks and there are a few youtube videos but they all look terrifying to do, the connectors are so tiny. and im not sure if a droopy gimbal could also just be a motor issue rather than the cable, i dont really know how to tell the difference

the drooping and horizon hunting you're describing is almost certainly the ribbon cable, gimbal motor failures usually show up differently ? more like a locked axis or complete non-response rather than that drifting/correcting behavior. the cable getting partially damaged in a crash is super common on that model specifically because of how the gimbal arm flexes on impact.

i replaced mine on a Mavic Pro a while back and it was genuinely one of the most annoying repair jobs ive done, not because its complicated but because you basically need good eyes or magnification and a lot of patience with those ZIF connectors. if you're comfortable with small electronics work i'd say try it, worst case you break a cheap cable and have to order another one. but 140 bucks at a shop isnt totally insane for the time involved either

iFixit has a decent teardown guide for the Air 2 that's better than most youtube videos tbh. and yeah the aliexpress cables are fine, just make sure you're matching the exact connector type because there are a couple different versions floating around and people definitely order the wrong one