Why my Toshiba laptop suddenly shuts down by itself without warning?
“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.).
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!
Entry Filed under: Toshiba Laptop Problems
881 Responses to “Why my Toshiba laptop suddenly shuts down by itself without warning?”
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Pages: « 89 … 11 10 9 8 7 6 [5] 4 3 2 1 » Show All
March 13th, 2006 at 9:10 pm
Thank you so much for your quick reply! I read the two posts and it is obvious that my laptop is suffering from the broken solder connection. I have soldered things before, but never a motherboard. How much do I have to worry about heating up the board? I don’t want to heat it up too much, but that it causing the solder to ball up and not stick to the board. Thanks again.
March 13th, 2006 at 9:07 pm
Hey Brendan,
To fix the DC jack you have to remove the system board from the laptop. I guess you’ve done it once already. You can find more information in these posts:
Toshiba Satellite 1900. Laptop loses power and shuts down without warning.
Toshiba Satellite M35X and Satellite A75 power jack and battery charge problem.
March 13th, 2006 at 8:37 pm
Hey, I just followed your disassembly guide, absolutly flawless. I cleaned my fan and heatsink, which had a 1/4 inch thick piece of the “felt” dust on it. Couldn’t believe that. What I am wondering now, is how I should go about replacing my chargin plug, which is also damaged. In order to get it to charge I have to apply downward pressure to the plug, and make sure it doesn’t move. If you know of any tutorials on how to fix this, or if you’ve written one, that would be great. Thank’s so much.
March 13th, 2006 at 11:44 am
Ok I tried the Video card removal, cleaning and reseating but it didnt work unfortunately. Was worth a try though. At least I managed to put it all back together and its working - which proves your instructions are top notch cause Ive never looked inside a laptop before! So people its not that hard, just take care and label each screw you take out!
The model numbers seem to match 5105 = US, 5100 = europe. So at least Ive more options now to look for a new video card, and I know I’ll be able to put it in if I get one. Took the opportunity to give the insides a good cleaning anyway.
Thanks again for the advice.
Steve
March 13th, 2006 at 8:40 am
Hi Cj,
Many thanks for the fast reply. Will let you know how I get on.
Best regards,
Steve
March 11th, 2006 at 3:20 pm
Hey Michael,
You have to apply a new thermal compound directly on the CPU. The laptop CPU is pictured on step 25 in Toshiba Satellite A75 disassembly guide . After you apply the thermal compound you have to attach the heatsink and secure it using 4 silver screws.
March 11th, 2006 at 2:38 pm
Thanks for all the information. This is by far the best site. I have a A75 - S229 with had an overheat problem. So I followed the intstructions found herein and i seem to have fixed it. While I had the computer dismantled, I also applied the Artic Silver five but I am not sure I applied it on the right place. I did not place it directly on the CPU but the place that covers the CPU where it makes contact with the heat sink - it is a square plate. Is this the right place or do I have remove the plate to put the Silver on the CPU itself?
March 5th, 2006 at 6:47 pm
You would be surprised Meg, but Toshiba Satellite A75 laptops with a Celeron CPU inside experience the same overheating problem as laptops with Pentium CPUs. You can prevent the common overheating problem with this model if you buy a can of compressed air and clean the heatsink 2-3 times a month. Just make a few shots inside the fan opening on the bottom of your laptop. If you have some dust inside the heatsink, it will go away through the openings on the side. Also do not use the LAPTOP on your LAPs
, use it on a flat surface.
March 5th, 2006 at 6:18 pm
Thanks for the great site! You are a lifesaver for those of us out here with out of warranty Toshiba laptops. I have a A75-S229 with the common overheating problem. Sent it in for “motherboard replacement” while under warranty and I am having problems again now that the warranty has expired. Do you know if it is possible to change processors in this model? If I switched to a Celeron processor would that reduce the heat production? Is this even a possibility? Do you know if Toshiba is doing anything to make this right? I have tried to find out information from the company but they are not very forthcoming. I love this model with the exception of it overheating all the time. Thanks for any help you can offer.
March 5th, 2006 at 3:37 pm
Hi Bruce,
You can clean up your Toshiba Satellite A30/A35 heatisnk without pulling it out. You have to remove the heatsink cover and blew the dust out with a canned air. The dust collects between the heatsink and the CPU fan, so clean it properly. After that you can check your job with a flashlight. If you can see the CPU fan through the heatsink it should be good enough to fix the overheating problem. You have to remove the heatsink if you want apply a new thermal compound on the CPU (Artic Silver thermal compound is a good one).