“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!
If you find this article useful, please consider making a donation to the author. Thank you!
April 18th, 2006 at 9:40 pm
Steve,
One antenna wire is called auxiliary. I would guess you need this antenna just in case if the main antenna cable is damaged, not sure. I asked other technicians if the performance would be reduced if you use only one wire, and nobody can give me a straight answer. It is not necessary to take it apart every 6-9 months; you can prevent the overheating problem if you use a compressed air to clean the fans. Blow inside the openings on the bottom of the laptop until the heatsink is clean. You have to take it apart only if the heatsink is completely clogged or if you want to replace thermal compound on the CPU.
I do not use Linux very often but know that it has a terrible support for wireless. Cannot help with drivers, you have to find some Linux gurus on the Internet.
April 18th, 2006 at 8:44 pm
You can install any LCD you can find and afford. When we have to replace the LCD screen on a laptop, we order from Toshiba any available on the moment screen ignoring the price. When you replace the LCD screen, the most important part to find a correct LCD screen with the same mounting points and the same connector type. All above mentioned screens should fit your laptop without any problem (not sure about K000024340).
April 18th, 2006 at 4:05 pm
Cj,
Thanks does it matter what lcd do I get for the toshiba satellite a75-s226? If it does, the more expensive the lcd is the better the quality?
April 18th, 2006 at 1:17 pm
Brandon,
There are a lot of different LCD screens listed for your Toshiba:
K000009680 LG LP154W01-A3
K000009660 CPT CLAA154WA01
K000016010 Samsung LTN154X1-L03
K000009670 Toshiba LTD154EX0C
K000019460 LG LP154W01-A5
K000023590 LG LP154W01-TL12
They all 15.4” WXGA screens. The last one is the most inexpensive.
There is one more K000024340 CPT CLAA154W05, but I didn’t find if it is backward compatible with other LCD screens.
I will create a guide for Toshiba Tecra M4 as soon as I get it for repair in our shop.
April 18th, 2006 at 5:10 am
The model number for my laptop is PSA70U-004004.
By any chance do you have any guides for taking apart a Toshiba Tecra M4?
April 18th, 2006 at 4:52 am
CJ,
Yes, it works with only the one wire attached, but I was wondering if it was only working at a reduced performance, possibly not getting signal or intermitent signal if I go to far away from the base station.
Since it was working, I didn’t figure I would rip it apart again immediately, If I have to clean out the heat sink every 6-9 months I figured I would replace the antenna next time I open the laptop back up.
I am also planning on putting Linux on this system in hopes that the lower CPU/Memory requirements of a Linux system would help to avoid disassembly as often, but I am having trouble finding drivers for the WiFi card. Do you (or anyone) know which drivers I would need for my Satellite A75-S226 system?
April 17th, 2006 at 9:49 pm
Hi Steve,
First try if the Wi-Fi will work with only one antenna cable attached. It might be not necessary to replace it. I haven’t created LCD disassembly guide for Satellite A75 yet, but you can use Toshiba Satellite P25 LCD disassembly instructions for example. The screw location would be different but you’ll figure it out. To replace the wireless card antenna cables you have to remove the LCD screen, the keyboard strip and the keyboard itself. Nothing complicated. Be careful removing the LCD mask; do not use a screwdriver, only fingers.
April 17th, 2006 at 9:39 pm
Brandon,
You cannot fix a dead pixel. The only way to get rid of it is to replace the LCD screen. To find a correct LCD part number I also need the model-part number witch you can find on the bottom of the laptop. Something like PSA70U-004004.
April 17th, 2006 at 11:50 am
CJ,
Thanks for all the help. I took my A75 apart last night cleaned out the lint and put it back together. Now I’m running CPUSTRES.EXE on it for the last six hours and I would have to say it’s like a new laptop.
Only problem I had was that I accidently smashed one of the small circular connectors for the internal wifi card and I can’t get it snapped on anymore. I found the part number for the antenna (K000016040) and I found where I can order one, but I don’t know how to take the LCD screen apart which is where the antenna runs through. Any help here would be appreciated.
April 17th, 2006 at 9:16 am
Thanks again cj2600. Do you know if theres anyway to fix an lcd because of the black spots or dead pixels? And Do you know the Toshiba Satellite A75-S226 part number for the lcd because I searched for lcds and they have many different part numbers. I was wondering which one would be the best one.