“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 23rd, 2006 at 4:54 pm
Amazing, it wasn’t the processor at all. Apparently I also have the DC Jack plague that’s been going around. Though, it shorts out the entire board to the point where the laptop will not boot even with a fully charged battery. I am hoping that resoldering will alleviate the situation. I am having difficulty removing the mother after removing all the screws (even the screws for the HD incasing). The laptop is a Toshiba M35X-149S. I followed the pictures, but am I missing something, a movement or button to get the motherboard detached from the black plastic bottom?
May 23rd, 2006 at 2:15 pm
Christopher,
Check out if the CPU is locked and seated properly. Sorry, but you’ll have to take it apart again. Check out the comment #154. After you reseat the CPU put the top cover back but do not screw it for a while. First, turn it on and see if you can get the video on the LCD screen. To boot the laptop and get the video you need only the system board, the memory and the CPU (with heatsink and fan attached).
May 23rd, 2006 at 2:04 pm
Hey..first off; thanks to everyone. The problem: after taking apart my Toshiba Satellite M35X-S149 laptop and cleaning out the heatsink, it no longer boots up and there is a blank screen. The power, battery, and HD light in the front are solid green and the power button solid blue. The fan kicks in, but after a few seconds the computer goes silent. The power light and lights in the front all remain green. I’ve tried the basic stuff (w/ & w/o battery, removing RAM, etc.) and no such luck. Most likely this is happening because of a loose part. Now I’m a broke college student so any help would be GREATLY appreciated.
May 23rd, 2006 at 12:10 pm
Craig,
Try to reboot the laptop first. Then I would try to change the screen resolution. Right click on the desktop and then go to properties. Click on the settings tab. Set the screen resolution to 800×600. If it’s a wrong resolution, set it to 1024×768, etc.
May 23rd, 2006 at 12:02 pm
had to use F5 to get screen to stay on – now it is stuck on that with screen too small to see verything. Cant get it to go back to normal size. Please need help!!!!!!!!
May 21st, 2006 at 2:43 pm
I have been searching for 2 weeks how to disasemble my m35x-s149 laptop to resolder the power port.I very impressed with the step by step, and photos to walk me through it.Thank You very Much.
May 18th, 2006 at 6:18 am
So, I took the laptop apart again, now when removing the heatsink the CPU came off with it. I cleaned the heatsink (it was extremely clogged), put all back on, but the laptop didn’t start:( So, rereading this forum again I thought it is most likely the CPU lock problem, took the laptop apart again, and I don’t even know what that lock looks like:) I didn’t have anything similar to what the pictures of other laptops have, with a screw-like thing on top. After very long staring at the CPU seat, i decided that the metalic rod on the side must be the lock, and it was! Now the CPU seated properly, and the lappy booted up all happy! Just for other folks like me with a Satellite A65 to know… Now my CPU is not heating up, HDD is running at normal temperature, and the CDROM as well.
Thank you very much for a great webpage!!!
May 17th, 2006 at 7:13 pm
I have a Toshiba Satellite A75 that I have had for only five months, and I am beginning to have problems with overheating. I’ll work on it for an hour and it will shut off automatically out of nowhere. I also experience overheating after only 10-15 minutes. I paid $1500 for this brand new laptop, and this is what I get! Sometimes even when I elevate it with something such as a big book and make sure that the two fans underneath are not obstructed, it still overheats! Down with Toshiba!
May 17th, 2006 at 8:56 am
I have a Toshiba Satellite A15, and i have had so many problems with it… first, the power cord ceased to function and i had to purchase a new one, second, the hard drive crashed and i had to purchase a new one of those as well, third, the fan ceased to function, i cleaned it, but now, the computer will not turn on at all. i don’t believe that the fan and the not turning on are connected, but either way, they happened around the same time. i must say, this laptop was not the ideal purchase for a student on a small budget.
May 17th, 2006 at 1:19 am
Thanks for the reply. Will try again this weekend.