“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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October 17th, 2006 at 7:49 am
CJ2600:
I started the laptop the way you advised me. First try, I got full display on its (laptop) screen, but for a split second. I went back to the external monitor (using Fn + F5)…everything ok on the external (display). I tried again switching to the laptop but did not get the same result as the first test. However, I am able to see a very dim display of the desktop on the notebook. It didn’t happened days ago when I tried using Fn + F5 by myself. So, could it be the LCD inverter? Is there a “dimmer” function as software or hardware on the satellite M45-S331?
I think I am gonna tried changing the LCD inverter. Its cost is about $40.
Any other recomendation, I would be please to follow.
Thanks a zillion,
Jose
October 16th, 2006 at 6:20 pm
Jose,
Try this. Start the laptop with the external monitor attached. When it’s completely booted to the desktop (on the external monitor), try switching the video from the external monitor to the internal LCD screen by pressing Fn+F5 keys. Press on Fn first and hold it down, then tap on F5 for a few times. When you hold down Fn and tap on F5 one time, you might get a menu that shows where the laptop outputs video (I get this menu on my Satellite A105 laptop). Change it to the internal LCD screen. Try it and let me know how it goes.
October 16th, 2006 at 7:43 am
cj2600:
Regarding my Satellite M45-S331, yes, it shows the Windows Xp image when starts booting, but nothing else, not even a dime image of the desktop after a couple of seconds had passed.
I had it on working over the weekend using an external monitor and (it) works perfectly. Boots, loads and does run all software without trouble at all.
I do not mind having to fix an inverter, cable, etc. or other minor problem, but I won’t go (for sure) for a new screen. It would be about $500, close to 70% what the laptop is worth now.
May be you can come with a wiser advise.
Thanks a lot,
Jose
October 15th, 2006 at 8:08 pm
Jose,
Yes, I’ve seen it before many times but there is no straight answer to your question. It could be a bad inverter, screen, video cable or even motherboard.
You mentioned that the screen is black. Is it completely black or you still can make out an image on the screen? When LCD inverter fails, the backlight turns off, but you still should see the desktop (very dim image). Can you?
October 12th, 2006 at 4:06 pm
I do have a Toshiba Satellite M45-S331. Last night, after being off for 3 hours, I turned it on back and it did so, but there was no display at all on the LCD. It was total black. I tried reseting, turning the laptop off, taking the battery out and so on and I got the same response. I let it go. This morning tried again with the same result. Then, I connected an external LCD monitor and it worked, all the display was ok (on the external monitor).
I ran some software tests and found no problems. Afterwords, I asked somebody from Toshiba Thecnical support and was told to take the notebook to a technical representative to fix what appeared to be a LCD problem. I did so and when the technical guy turned the laptop on it worked perfectly (without external monitor). Brought it back home, had it working for a couple of hours and got back the same problem: a black screen. Went back to connect the external monitor and got display on it and all systems working ok.
So, have you ever se anything like this? LCD inverter or other cheaper part?
Thanks on advance
October 11th, 2006 at 1:49 pm
I already tried just the motherboard, monitor, and ac or battery, same thing, blue light and no video, cpu led activity or anything, I wish I could figure out whether it’s the motherboard or the CPU, oh, and I know it’s ot the monitor because a. the CPU led would still work and b. the external monitor I plugged in I know works would have turned on, Randy.
October 11th, 2006 at 11:25 am
Randy,
It looks like you know how to take it apart with closed eyes. Probably, you’ll have to take it apart one more time.
Here’s what I try when I have a situation like yours. I take the laptop apart completely and assemble it outside the case on my bench. With Satellite A75 it’s pretty easy.
You’ll need only the motherboard and the CPU with the cooling module. The motherboard has integrated memory module, the power switch is also located on the motherboard.
After the motherboard is removed from the case and the CPU with the cooling module is attached to it (as it shown on the step 23 here), connect an external monitor, plug the AC adapter and press on the power button located on the motherboard. If you can start the laptop and get some basic video on the external screen, then most likely the motherboard with CPU are fine. Start to assemble the laptop and test after each step. Check if the top cover has any bent metal pieces, which can cause unwanted grounding.
If you still cannot get any video on the external monitor, then either the motherboard or the CPU is bad. Reseat the CPU just in case and test again. That’s as far as you can go without test parts. Further troubleshooting will require either a test motherboard or a test CPU. From my experience a laptop system board fails much more often then a CPU.
October 11th, 2006 at 10:58 am
Connie,
Check out my post “Laptop has a bad video on the LCD screen. What is wrong?” From your description I can say that it could be a faulty LCD screen, a faulty o loose video cable.
October 11th, 2006 at 10:52 am
Giulio Brunetti,
Check out this disassembly guide for Toshiba Satellite A60 notebook. The DVD drive in this model is secured by one screw on the bottom; I believe this screw is marked as B2. The screw is located close to the lower right corner of the memory bay. After you remove this screw, pull the drive from the notebook as it shown on the step 4.
October 10th, 2006 at 11:05 am
Does anyone else have any ideas on my laptop? I don’t want to spend $75 for the CPU if the board is bad, is there a way I can test it?