“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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August 11th, 2009 at 10:18 am
I’ve being having problems with my Toshiba Satellite laptop, which started when it was just out of the one year warranty. I took it to Best Buy where I bought it and had to buy a new charger pack for 90 bucks and it worked fine for about 6 months.
I’ve been dealing with problems with booting up for several months and now the screen is dark and the computer shuts off after less than 5 minutes. It also reboots, but shuts down.
It may be overheating, and, if so, then I feel it is the manufacturer’s problem, not ours and they should repair the computer and send another.
Certainly, a computer should be workable for more than a year.
I intend to send mine to them and have them repair it or give me a new one.
August 10th, 2009 at 11:39 am
Hello, first and foremost I am appreciative for the laptoprepair101.com Documentation. My laptop is the
“A75-S211″.
I was having a heat related problem. I disassembled the laptop, cleaned the heat sink, reapplied new thermal grease. I hooked it back up and the heat related shut downs so far have not happened.
However!
I have a new possible problem:
Normal laptops usually boot up and you can hear the fan sometimes loud for a few seconds then they get quieter.
Since hooking it back up, the fans are running constantly fast and noisy. Maybe I hooked up the fan cables to the motherboard wrong? Or the fans are going out? Or maybe that is just how it sounds on this model. This laptop was given to me so I do not know how the fan should sound. Let me know what you guys think, that way I can take the most appropriate action to the situation.
Thanks,
August 8th, 2009 at 12:18 pm
Clint,
Have you tried removing dust from the heat sink? Spray compressed air into the air intake on the bottom of the laptop until it’s clean. Try running the laptop again.
Here’s how you can try if the laptop shuts down because of overheating. Turn on the laptop and when it starts blow air inside the same air intake on the bottom. This will help to move hot air away from the heat sink. Will it run longer when you blow air inside the fan? If yes, most likely your problem is heat related.
Could be:
1. Bad fan. Maybe the fan can start only when you turn on the laptop for the first time and cannot start after that. I’ve seen a failure like that a few times and replacing the fan helped me to fix the problem.
2. Maybe thermal grease between the CPU and heat sink dried out and doesn’t conduct heat as it should. Try applying new thermal grease.
3. There could be a problem with the motherboard. Maybe it cannot start the cooling fan after the initial start up.
Things I would try first:
1. Clean the heat sink.
2. Apply new thermal grease.
3. Replace the fan.
Just in case if you need it. Laptop disassembly instructions could be found at http://www.IrisVista.com
August 6th, 2009 at 8:17 am
I have a Toshiba A105 that is shutting off after 20-30 seconds each and every time. The fan comes on when you first boot it for a few seconds and then shuts off. I am uncertain if it just isn’t getting up to temperature where it needs to kick the fan back in.
I have tried to run the system on AC only, battery only, and both, but all three yield same results. Tried the two memory modules individually and swapping slots as well.
System will boot to windows quickly normally and then power off. The problem is not windows-specific, as if you are in the BIOS configuration, it will shut off after the same period of time.
Any ideas? I am at a loss, and I would prefer not to just start buying parts. The fan works fine and quietly when the system first boots, so it’s not a seizing fan that I can tell.
Thanks,
Clint
July 31st, 2009 at 11:40 pm
THANKS A LOT WITH THIS FUROM…I HAVE A A200-PSAE3…I ENCOUNTERED AUTOMATIC SHUTDOWN BEFORE, I TRIED TO FORMAT BUT STILL THE PROBLEM EXIST…SO I BRING IT IN THE TECHNICIAN TO REPAIR, BUT I THINK THAT TECHNICIAN IS NOT GOOD…I SEARCH IN THE NET ABOUT THIS PROBLEM THEN I FIND THIS FUROM…I DECIDED TO DISMANTLING MY LAPTOP TO CLEAN AND CHECK.BEFORE THAT I BOUGHT A THERMAL COMPOUND BRAND NAME NANO THERMAL COMPOUND.THEN I APPLY IT BETWEEN THE CPU AND COOLING FAN THAT CONNECTED TO THE CPU & HEATSINK…SUCCESS!!! IT WORKS NOW LIKE NEW, NO SUDDEN SHUTDOWNS…
July 28th, 2009 at 12:04 pm
The pictures helps a lot.
July 28th, 2009 at 5:33 am
I have a sat pro M70, and have cleaned out the heatsink, and put some new termal compound on the CPU, but it has not made much difference.
I am using Everest to tell me how hot the CPU gets, and when under any load (i.e. opening up word) it peaks to about 65 degrees c. When idle, it sits at around 43. This surely cannot be right (or good!). The other thing that concerns me is that the HDD is sitting at around 48! This is a new drive, as the old one died (probably as a result of the heat).
Is there anything that you can suggest?
The one thing in my mind is that the CPU needs to be replaced.
Thanks
Chris
July 24th, 2009 at 2:22 am
Hiya,
I have an A200 PSAE3 Edition, I disassembled and replaced the heat sink also cleaned out my fan. Oddly enough it still shuts down. It’s not due to over heating either… My Laptop only gets to a max of 50′C whilst gaming.
Any thoughts?
July 23rd, 2009 at 2:47 pm
I TRYED ON MY LAPTOP AND REALLY WORKS!! DISSAEMBLY GUIDE WAS VERY USEFUL!! THANKS!1
July 22nd, 2009 at 10:58 am
If the vacuum cleaner is the type that doesn’t have an extension tube, that is the motor will be very close to the laptop, you have to remove the hard disk first, otherwise the powerful magnetic field generated will surely damage it.