I figured what the heck. I removed all the screws and took the top off.

Hmm, this may have voided a valid warranty. I would never have done this
unless I was sure the warranty had expired. If the Drive Fitness Test
does not recognize your drive, nothing is lost. It will display a "technical result
code" that you can enter in the online RMA webpage. You will have to enter
more technical details, but you'll still get a free replacement drive.

Opening a drive can for sure be detected and may instantly ruin a drive.
Remember, a smoke particle is bigger than the distance between the heads
and the platters.

The manufacturing date is not necessaraly the start of the warranty period.
You can alway try.

Pim