“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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June 26th, 2008 at 10:10 pm
Oleh Kusyy,
I noticed that on a Toshiba Satellite M45 some very strange problems could be related to the 6-button switch board on the left side from the keyboard. Here’s the part number V000050380, google it. Also, take a look at the ribbon cable witch connects this 6-button board with the motherboard, make sure the cable is not damaged. Here’s the part number for the cable V000917790.
If it’s not that board, then most likely your problem is related to the motherboard.
This is just a guess.
June 26th, 2008 at 12:13 am
I have also a Toshiba Satellite M45 and the pretty same problem. It could turn itself off right after Windows XP screen appears or at the user login prompt screen or later, no logic at all. I tried different memory and hdds, no success. It is definitely not overheating!!! Fan runs and heat sink is clear.
If anyone knows what is the cause, please, write me.
June 25th, 2008 at 4:56 am
Hi, I have a Toshiba Satellite M45-S265. It shuts down every time. I investigated and I followed almost all steps. They said that is over heating problems. I cleaned the fan and the heatsink, also I removed old thermal grease from the CPU and applying new grease for better heat conductivity, but the problem still there. I installed Its original recovery software just in case and i changed the fan because I saw It did not working so offen, but the problem still there. I see that in safe mode the laptop works, It doesn’t shut down. Is It has any relationship?
June 23rd, 2008 at 5:20 pm
Blow high pressure air through the grills in the back and put your vacumn on the fans intake side. Worked like a charm and not dismantaling. Took 5 min!!
June 21st, 2008 at 12:34 am
for format my laptop, can’t enter my setup. i try with f2,f1,all function key, del ,, but i am not able to enter my laptop bios setup..pls help me about this…model -TOSHIBA S5100-603
PS511E-05328-AR
June 19th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
toshiba laptop
swich on, light on but come power & off
June 12th, 2008 at 7:18 am
Ok, so hopefully someone on here can help me out. My laptop completely shut down yesterday. There doesn’t seem to be any power going to it (yes I checked the battery and cords) however, there is a clicking sound coming from the general area of the fan. Does anyone know what that indicates?
June 11th, 2008 at 7:23 pm
Before I saw this thread, I decided to buy a usb powered laptop cooling fan and it’s cooler than ever. Now that I’ve seen the pictures, I plan to clean out the fans – I’m sure that’s the problem.
Great site!
June 11th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
Robert Hall,
In order to replace the fan, you’ll have to take the whole thing apart and remove the motherboard. You’ll get help on http://www.irisvista.com
June 11th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
Jeff,
I posted instructions for replacing broken hinges on a Toshiba Satellite A45 laptop on http://www.irisvista.com/tech/
I’m not familiar with this utility. Maybe the CPU Hyper-Threading Technology (HTT) slows down the CPU because it’s idle, not loaded? Enter the BIOS setup menu and load default settings. Find out if you can turn off the CPU HTT in the BIOS.
I just went through some Toshiba fans I have in stock and they ALL are rated DC5V, not 12V. Find out how your fan is rated and try applying 5V on the fan. It’s possible the fan is bad and has to be replaced. Maybe the motor on the fan is weak and DC5V is not enough to start it. The only way to find out is testing the laptop with another working fan. As a last resort, I guess you can connect this fan directly, so it runs all the time as soon as you turn on the laptop.
Sony is good if it works. When it breaks, it’s very hard to find replacement parts and they are very expensive. I didn’t like my Sony because it had a HUGE AC adapter and was very noisy.
Toshiba used to make very good laptops but these days they are not as reliable as before. There are tons of replacement parts for out of warranty Toshiba laptops and they are not expensive.
I believe Dell make good laptops, but I don’t work a lot with this brand.
I like IBM ThinkPad (Not Lenovo but old IBMs). Very reliable laptops, but out of warranty parts are expensive.
Any laptop is good until it breaks.