I am happy to give good news on this little project. I was able to separate the CCD/Sensor board from the lens module with the bad autofocus motor. I borrowed a friend's heat gun and I slowly heated the assembly up while I held it in a vice, applying upward pressure along one edge of the CCD/Sensor board.
View attachment 159915
It took 4 or 5 attempts, but eventually a thin line appeared and grew as I applied pressure, and not long after, the two pieces popped apart. It was indeed glue that was holding the two together:
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The old lens module is on the right, and the new lens module is on the left. You can see the glue residue around the top edge of the old lens module. The CCD/Sensor board is in the middle, with the sensor visible.
I had some old DSLR cleaning swipes and fluid handy, so I cleaned off the sensor (it received a little bit of dirt from the prying off process).
Next it was time to affix the CCD/Sensor onto the new (left hand) lens module. I dry-fitted the CCD/Sensor onto the new lens module, and it was surprisingly easy to fit completely flush onto the lens and with exactly the same orientation and positioning (it turns out there are some little guide edges and what-not molded into the plastic of both the CCD/Sensor board and the lens module. I then applied some beads of super glue to the new lens module and glued the CCD/Sensor board to the new lens module. Here's a shot of the CCD/Sensor board attached to the new lens module:
View attachment 159916
Then I attached the ribbon cable from the new lens module onto the connector on the CCD/Sensor board, re-installed the camera assembly back into the gimbal, and..... Success! Autofocus works perfectly again. Below is a picture from the drone (looking down onto the new replacement
Air 2S service unit that I purchased). Note the nice focus onto the microfibre green cloth texture:
View attachment 159914
So, if anyone else is out there and encounters this sort of situation where the lens itself is broken (cracked or otherwised damaged, like for me with the autofocus motor), know that it is possible to replace just that part.
Here's where I ordered it from:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004584521351.html
Also for future reference if that link goes away... I have a spare module that I ordered (I mean, it was so cheap). I see that the site says this part is discounted 90%, so that really good price may go away at some point.
