“My Toshiba laptop suddenly shuts down by itself without any warning. Sometimes it works fine for hours, sometimes it shuts down in 10-15 minutes.” This complaint we hear from our customers over and over again. About 15-20% of all Toshiba laptops we get for repair, suffer from an overheating problem. Yep, OVERHEATING!
This is one of the most common problems with Toshiba laptops we deal with.
Indications of laptop overheating problem:
- The keyboard and the bottom of your laptop are very hot when the laptop is working.
- The CPU fans are working all the time at maximum rotation speed and operate much louder than before.
- The laptop suddenly shuts down by itself without warning. When it just started, the laptop was shutting down after 1-2 hours and how it shuts down after 5-10 minutes of operation.
- The laptop works fine when it runs idle, but shuts down as soon as you start using any memory demanding applications (DVD player, image editing software, video editing software, etc.).
Solution:
If the CPU heatsink is not clogged with dust and lint completely, you can use canned air and just blow it inside the laptop through the openings on the bottom and on the sides. It’s nice as a precaution measure, but it might not work if your laptop already has a problem and the heatsink is completely clogged.
- Open the laptop case, so you can access the CPU fan and the heatsink. In some cases you can access the heatsink through the latch on the bottom of the laptop. Sometimes (for example Toshiba Satellite A70/A75) you have to open the laptop case all the way down.
- Carefully disconnect the fan cables on the system board and remove the fan. If the fan makes unusual sound when it spins (grinding sound), I would recommend to replace the fan.
- Clean the fan and the heatsink with compressed air.
- I would also recommend removing old thermal grease from the CPU and applying new grease for better heat conductivity.
UPDATE: I just received a nice tip from MC N’Colorado. I think it could be useful for all of you with guys:
I decided to use a shop vac to suck the dust out and it worked. I tested it by letting the machine run all night and it worked. It’s been a couple of weeks now and I’m glad I did it. I was ready to take the machine apart, now I’m glad I didn’t. I’d suggest you use a heavy duty shop vac to clean out the fan and heat sinks first.
I agree. Try to fix the problem without taking the laptop apart first but I would recommend using a powerful air compressor instead of a vacuum cleaner.
If your laptop is still under warranty, you can take it to any Toshiba Authorize Service Provider and fix the problem at no charge to you.
Toshiba laptop disassembly guides with pictures and instructions.
Toshiba Satellite A15 Clogged Heatsink
Toshiba Satellite A35 Clogged Heatsink
Toshiba Satellite P15 Clogged Heatsink. Absolute champion!
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February 6th, 2010 at 10:54 pm
Dear All,
I have a Toshiba Equium A300D-13x PSAK2E. I came to know from forums that ihis has overheating problems. I was trying to update the BIOS downloaded from the site http://uk.computers.toshiba-europe.com . . . the whole updating process went well but now the laptop does not even start. onlu the power button is on. I can hear the fan zooming for a moment aand then nothing . . . .
I understand that there is a mess up of BIOS update but how can I repair it now . . . should I open the laptop and look for BIOS flashing switch ? . . . Can anyone guide me how to flash and bring my laptop back to life again . . . . HELP needed
February 6th, 2010 at 7:00 am
Hi,
Can someone please tell me how to reimage my Toshiba Satellite 2435-S255 laptop to factory settings by wiping out everything. I don’t have the CDs that came with it.
I tried F11, ctrl+F11. Neither one worked.
Help please.
Thanks,
KK
February 3rd, 2010 at 9:14 pm
I am using satellite a105 model of toshiba and had the same problem of auto shut down of computer with loud fan sound and overheating.Now I am using a ice pack wrapped in cloth under the cpu where the fan is present(my fan has stopped working too) and surprisingly the problem is solved . no more shut down guys …. I intend to use a laptop stand with fan to further resolve the problem. The ice pack has to be changed 2-3 times a day. This is an economic way of dealing with this situation.Hope it works for you too…. good luc
January 25th, 2010 at 1:18 pm
Regarding Raymond’s post #1092, it sounds similar to my problem. I have a 2 year old Toshiba Satellite U305 with very rare shutdowns under Windows or Ubuntu Linux –the kind that would otherwise only happen if you were to pull the plug when there’s no battery inside.
I have tried two different batteries. When the random shutdown happens, and I don’t have the battery inside, shuts off a few random seconds after Windows or Ubuntu begin to load. Tried disabling the second core in the BIOS and the Data Exec prevention, but that doesn’t help.
I don’t think the problem is the AC adapter for mine. Normally the problem happens after a long day when the unit is very hot. Oh well, it’s been a good laptop.
January 22nd, 2010 at 2:40 pm
raymond,
It’s possible the DC jack is not making good contact with the motherboard and has to be resoldered or replaced. It’s necessary to disassemble the laptop and take a look at the power jack from inside.
1. Remove the top cover as it shown at http://www.irisvista.com/tech/
2. If the jack has to be resoldered, you can use this guide: http://www.laptoprepair101.com.....air-guide/
January 20th, 2010 at 6:37 pm
My Toshiba satellite A75 runns only from the battery. It has 19.4 volts at the output. It will only run on battery power.
Green light shows it has power and it even charges the battery.
Omly run on battert. (any help please0
January 19th, 2010 at 2:54 pm
i have a toshiba satellite and iv had it for a couple of days now and i didnt have any kind of anti virus stuff and now when it goes the the welcome screen i have to wait 30 mins to load up and even the it is sooooo slow i want to reset the thing to when it first came outta the box but dont know how to