“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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November 26th, 2006 at 7:57 pm
Khalid,
Here’s a guide that shows how to remove the heatsink from a Toshiba Satellite P15 laptop. The processor is located right under the hetatsink. To remove the processor, you’ll have to open up the socket first by turning the screw-lock into “Open” position. After that you can lift up the CPU.
BE CAREFUL. When you lift up the heatsink, the processor might come out with the heatsink. In this case you’ll have to separate the processor from the heatsink using a flathead screwdriver. Insert the screwdriver between the processor and the heatsink and slowly rotate the screwdriver until the CPU separates from the heatsink. Be very careful with the CPU pins.
November 26th, 2006 at 7:48 pm
Hisham,
Do you get any LED lights when you plug the AC adapter? May be the AC adapter is bad and has to be replaced? You can find a multimeter and check if the adapter outputs any power at all.
November 25th, 2006 at 9:36 pm
Please
Could you tell me how can I remove the prossecor in TOSHIBA Satellit P15-S409
best regard
November 25th, 2006 at 3:01 am
Hi
I have toshiba laptop satellite 1137
it suddenly turn off
now it doesnt work any more!!
what should I check!
thank you
regards
November 22nd, 2006 at 8:15 pm
I have two A75 Series Toshiba notebooks that I use extensively for video editing and DVD burning. Both of them have max memory, max power settings, and upgraded 7200 RPM hard drives so they’re running hot.
I got the crazy idea of using my leaf blower– Weedwacker Groundsweeper 2510 to BLOW out the crud and dust. Better than ANY air can around but LOUD. Put on ear plugs and remove main extension tube for portability. For only $30.00 (Just Google the model), you can get a radical blower. Awesome power tool. You’ll see AND hear the results. My fans are so quiet and they don’t kick-in to high very much at all anymore. Just do this once a month. Definitely not the extravagant high tech solution, but industrial strength, baby.
November 19th, 2006 at 5:46 am
My satellite M30-604 shuts down when the graphics card is in use. It drains the battery down to 0% then shuts down even with the AC in. It works fine with the graphics card not in use. Any ideas guys?!?
November 16th, 2006 at 10:18 pm
David,
When you start a restore process from the CD, do you get a “WRONG MACHINE” message on the screen? Usually it’s written in big letters and this message takes almost the entire screen.
BTW, do you use the original Toshiba restore CDs?
November 16th, 2006 at 6:41 pm
hello,
I have a toshiba satellite 1415-s173 laptop. When I try to use the recovery CD I get the following message:
” This Recovery and Applications CD is not configured to work with this machine (Portable CD).
This CD is for: Satellite 1415
Please use the correct Recovery and Applications CD. ”
Any suggestions?
Thanks,
David
November 13th, 2006 at 4:06 pm
I have a satellite p15- s479 and I warn all of you that the design of the jack in back or on most all computers is designed somewhat flexable and when you bump the cord or plug it does not take much to break the stem or post inside where the charger plugs in. Mine snapped off so for now I have a small spring inside the plug that goes into the back and I cut a good fitting piece of nail about 1/2″ long and plug it into the back and it works. I do not recomend anyone do this except as an emergency or real need to use the computer. But! since I first done this about six months ago I thought my batter was going bad because it would stop charging after a while and I purchased a new battery which seems a little better but still have a problem so I ordered a battery from getpartsonline.com and it is now in the mail. BUT! after looking around I am wondering if something is over heating, I will check that as well. I can use it for a while and it starts beeping and then just shuts off after a while. I tried to take apart the computer to get to the charger plug but I saw that I have to tear it most all the way down. Since I am kind of handy at these things I am considering cutting out a chunk for easy access to the plug and re vamp it with a better design.
I also had to buy a new computer when this first happened to me so I purchased another satellite but not a pro. for some reason it shorted out and Toshiba said to ship it to them and they will repair upon further questions I find out that most likley no matter what the problem is they will re image the hard drive. OUCH!! I must not lose all my research that I did not back up so I was looking at the warrenty info and see that when you ship it to them that they don’t want it with third party hardware in it OUCH!! again because I had ordered a new western digital 60 gig that I would send to them to re image I purchased it from 4allmemory.com and they got it to me right away but it was only a 40 gig. so they sent me a 60 gig with a return shipping label for the wrong one they sent me. I went to put it in and found that it is not the same one and will not plug into the satellite. Many emails and phone calls and I am not getting any results yet. The have what seems like an easy way to find the right part and order but even tho they say they guarantee it to be the right part that does not matter if you can not get what you need right away. It is a month later now and I guess I have to find another place and order another one and hope they remove the ones I sent back off my charge card.
I don’t know why but I try and do the right thing but it seems like I always run into some kind of problems. I think I will go with HP the next time but I doubt that will stop some of the same problems I have had. Wishing all of you better luck that I have.
November 13th, 2006 at 2:50 pm
I have model TOSHIBA SATELLITE M35X the cooling fan is not working at all i can blow air in the open in you can hear the fan spin but as soon you stop blowing on it stops