“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!
If you find this article useful, please consider making a donation to the author. Thank you!
June 11th, 2008 at 1:42 pm
roc,
If the screw is kinda glued, you can try heating it up with a soldering gun. It’s easier to remove a stuck screw when it’s hot.
June 11th, 2008 at 11:02 am
I gotta replace the CPU fan on my Toshiba A45 S130. I have pulled every screw on the bottom and still no access. Any help out there? Anyone know of a website that will talk me through it? Thanks Robert Hall
June 11th, 2008 at 8:50 am
CJ I need your guidance, knowledge, & experience on this problem.
I’m pretty sure I know (with dread) what your answer will be, but I have a hard time just giving up on projects like these. I have just purchased a Satellite A45-S150 (2.4 ghz mobile pent 4, 512 ram, 80 gig toshiba hdd) off of a guy from Craigslist. In his ad he stated two problems, AC PS cord connector was bad (replace PS already), and screen won’t stay up (bad right hinge/haven’t done). When I met him I installed a diagnostic program to test out. Results showed that optical drive was intermittent, everything else was OK(or so I thought). Have had it for a week but long story short, Intel’s Processor Diagnostic utility indicates the CPU is operating at a tenth of the frequency it should (.29 ghz) and the 533 mhz bus was at 103. So, OK I thought CPU was bad and I could replace fairly cheaply. At that time I flashed bios to most current and then I started getting that warning about the cooling system had a problem. Then I looked deeper and opened her up. Heatsink fins had some dust but not enough to block flow. Reassembled and then checked to see if both fans were working. Secondary fan was OK, BUT the primary wasn’t operating at all. Checked if it would come on for those few seconds at boot up, nada. Then opened her up again and checked the primary. Applied 12 volts to the fan directly and everything checked out, operated strong and sound. CPU temp probe checks out and gives seemingly accurate readouts. I figure the mobo is shot (not totally, I still can run windows on it, it’s just slow & hot. What is your take? Unfortunetly I don’t have the funds to purchase another laptop or to buy another board for this one and the wife is pretty upset that it looks like we lost on this one.
Thanks for your effort on all of us DIY’ers. Your site has helped bridge that impassable gap between the pros and the wannabes. Your invaluable effort and solutions help us more than you can realize.
Regards,
Jeff
PS I your opinion, who designs and manufactures the best laptop consistently? The guys who work on these things should have the best opinions. I have had a Sony, Dell, and Toshiba, and the Dell seemed bullet proof.
June 10th, 2008 at 4:26 am
i cant unscrew the screws to open get to my sink and fans … now wat i also have an a35 toshiba
June 8th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
Lazar,
First, try cleaning the heat sink with compressed air. Find a can of compressed air and spray it into the air intake on the bottom and on the side. I think this model is similar to a Satellite A105/A135. You’ll find disassembly instructions at http://www.irisvista.com/tech/
June 8th, 2008 at 8:03 am
I have overheating problem with my Toshiba Satellite L100-121 laptop. I would like to disasemble it to clean CPU heatsink, but I cannot find how to do it. Could you help me about, please?
June 6th, 2008 at 7:42 pm
Pete,
If you get a “Fan Error” message on an IBM laptop, the first thing to try is replacing the fan. In most cases, the cooling fan comes with the heat sink, so you’ll have to replace the whole thermal module (heat sink and fan). Here are service manuals for IBM laptops, they have laptop disassembly instructions.
June 6th, 2008 at 3:32 pm
Thinkpad T43 running Windows XP SP2. I recently cleaned out my cooling fan, but it still will not run when I start the computer. They spin for a short while, and then stop, and then the computer displays a “Fan Error” message. What should I do?
June 5th, 2008 at 10:28 pm
E Fash,
Go to the Toshiba support website and find out if there is a newer version of BIOS available. Download and install the latest BIOS, it might help.
June 5th, 2008 at 6:56 pm
Thanks for the tip on how to fix this annoying, and apparently common Toshiba Satellite problem…just purchased a new fan on ebay, shipping within Canada
The purchase took less than a minute. The install will take less than 5 minutes. This will be much cheaper than replacing my laptop!