“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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May 16th, 2006 at 6:10 pm
[...] Be very careful when you remove the heatsink from the CPU. Very often the heatsink comes out with CPU attached to it. Pay attention or you can damage the CPU pins. When you put the CPU back into the socket, do not forget to open it. After the CPU is in place, lock the socket or your laptop will not start after you assemble it. Here are some comments for fixing Toshiba Satellite A35 overheating problems. Make sure to read it before you jump in. [...]
May 15th, 2006 at 6:47 pm
Artur,
Is it possible that the hatsink with fan is not seated properly? May be you replaced the thermal grease but didn’t secure the heatsink the way it should be secured? I’ve seen some units (Satellite A75 for example) when the cooling module had loose screws and there were a big gap between the CPU and the heatsink. The final result – overheating. Make sure that you use a good thermal grease and the cooling module is seated properly. If the cooling module is not seated properly, it will explain why your hard drive and the DVD drive is running hot.
May 15th, 2006 at 6:33 pm
andyandval,
The red arrow is pointing on the Wi-Fi card itself. To remove the wireless card you have to remove a metal bracket located above the card first. After that you carefully push on the white plastic latches on both sides of the wireless card. The wireless card will pop up and will stay at 30 degrees to the system board. After that you have to grasp the card and pull it from the slot.
May 15th, 2006 at 6:27 pm
Ragesh,
Make sure that the grinding sound is not coming from the hard drive. Sometimes a failing hard drive makes the same grinding sound as a failing cooling fan. Remove the hard drive and turn on the laptop. If you do not hear the grinding sound, most likely the HDD is bad and you have to replace it.
If it’s a fan problem then you can use Toshiba Satellite P15 disassembly guide. You can find a link to the guide in LINKS tab on the right side. Remove the fan and replace it. It is not necessary to remove the heatsink to clean it, just use compressed air to blow off the dust from the heatsink. You have to remove the heatsink only if you want to replace thermal grease on the CPU. Be careful with the CPU pins.
May 14th, 2006 at 8:58 pm
also I forgot, my HDD overheats too, rund at more than 45 C all the time, and the CD/DVD drive is very hot too, I don’t know why. Any explanation for these?
Thanks a lot!
May 14th, 2006 at 8:56 pm
CJ,
You are my hero! My CPU’s fan was running like crazy all the time, today I took the laptop (A65-S126) apart, replaced the thermal grease, but didn’t have a blower, so just kinda blew into it. So now the fans don’t run all the time, but the CPU temperature shows 62C. And previously at this temp the fan would kick in. Why is that? Shouldn’t the fan start now too? Is worth to take it apart again, this time with a can and blow all the dust away from the sink?
Also has anyone tried replacing the CPU. The site mytoshiba.com has very cheap P4s for this model, but I am not sure of the quality. Anyone has any experince?
May 13th, 2006 at 5:43 am
Thanks for the A75 disassembly guide. One question, to remove the wifi card you have a red arrow pointing to the right. I’m having trouble with that. Push it to the right to remove it? Thanks again.
May 13th, 2006 at 1:02 am
Hi cj2600,
I have a Toshiba Satellite P10-803. There is a constant whirring and grinding sound when I switch on the PC. I suspect it is related to the heat sink and fan getting clogged. Can I use the instructions for P15 as you had mentioned in some previous comments for cleaning it my self.
The 2nd thing I noticed was that when I was writing a DVD/reading it took some time recognizing the DVD. I had previously written a DVD with no problems. CDs work fine. I am thinking of using a DVD cleaner CD available in the market. Is there anything specific that I should go for? And is there a laptop specific DVD cleaner?
May 8th, 2006 at 11:46 pm
Ruby,
Unfortunately Toshiba Satellite A65 doesn’t have a hatch on the bottom of the laptop for an easy heatsink and CPU access. If you want to avoid this problem in the future, you can prevent it. Buy a can of compressed air and blow inside the fan on the bottom and then inside the opening on the side. Do it 2-3 times a months and you will not get a clogged heatsink again.
Also, you can remove the keyboard for a better heatsink access. To remove the keyboard, follow steps 5-8 on this disassembly guide . After the keyboard is removed, used compressed air to clean up the heatsink.
It is not necessary to take apart the laptop completely if you want to clean the heatsink. It is necessary only if you want to replace thermal grease on the CPU.
May 8th, 2006 at 11:33 pm
Assuming toshiba fixes these current problems. What is the procedure for fixing these overheating issues (when they happen again) on the a65.
Do you have to take it completely apart?