“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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April 6th, 2006 at 5:28 am
Thanks for your great instructions. I too suffer from a Toshiba laptop overheating problem, but after a quick clean (well its an a70 so really a complete disassembly) all is working great.
May good fortune follow you wherever you go.
.fri
April 4th, 2006 at 9:18 pm
Check if the memory is seated properly. Check if all cables are properly connected. I think it is something simple as a bad connection. If you removed the CPU make sure it it’s seated properly and locked.
April 4th, 2006 at 9:09 pm
I don’t care about scratching this piece of junk, but thanks for the warning! I have owned the M35X for 13 months and have already gotten my motherboard replaced twice by Toshiba repair centers. I had the power jack problem before and all of a sudden the shutdown problem started yesterday. My heatsink was clean when I took it apart just now.
I finished putting it back together and unfortunately must have missed a detail. When I power on, it beeps a few times (a beep I’ve never heard before). The blue power light goes on and all the LED lights are on, but nothing happens. Any clues?
Thanks again for this amazing resource.
April 4th, 2006 at 7:44 pm
Hey Whitney,
Thank you for your help. I forgot to mark those screws on the picture in Step2. Fixed!
Also, I would recommend not to use a screwdriver when you separate the top cover assembly from the base, because you can leave scratches. Use any piece of plastic if you do not have a guitar pick.
April 4th, 2006 at 7:26 pm
Actually. they don’t seem to be circled in the step 2 photo.
Sorry to triple post.
April 4th, 2006 at 7:23 pm
Oops! I must have missed the photo with those corner screws. I feel so dumb.
April 4th, 2006 at 7:19 pm
cj2600,
I am following your incredibly clear instructions about how to disassemble a Toshiba Satellite M35X in order to clean my heatsink. I am stuck on Step 13 — removing the top cover assembly. I don’t have a guitar pick, but I have used a thin metal barette and a tiny flathead screwdriver to attempt to pry the top cover off. It is not separating at the back left and right corners. I can lift up the sides and the front (where the speakers are), but I can’t get those back corners to budge. Any suggestions? THANKS!
April 3rd, 2006 at 9:27 pm
Hi Sonja,
First of all, if your laptop is only 6 months old it should be still under warranty. Take it to a Toshiba service center and let them to fix your problem.
In this model the battery connects directly to the main board. Some circuits on the main board control charging and discharging the battery and switching between the AC power mode and the battery mode. If after reinstalling the operating system you still experience the same problem, then I can only blame the system board. Take your laptop to a repair shop and they will replace the main board.
April 3rd, 2006 at 5:50 am
Thanks a lot
… great job you guys are doing, really appreciate it… keep it up!
April 2nd, 2006 at 7:54 pm
Hello
I hope that you might help with an unusual problem with my Toshiba Satellite P35-S605, only 6 months old.
When I remove the power adapter cable from the back of the laptop, the laptop still thinks that it is running on AC power. In other words, even when it is running on battery it still thinks that it is plugged into the wall and it runs at full power. The laptop simply does not know that it is running on battery power, it always thinks that it is running on AC power.
I reinstalled the Windows operating system and there was no change – it always thinks that it is running on AC power. If I shut it down in hibernation mode while running on battery the battery recharge lights on the front of the computer stay on as if the battery is being recharged from the AC adapter, even when the adapter is not plugged into the wall or attached to the computer.
On the upside, it will still charge the battery, will still run on battery – always thinking that it is running on AC power.
Thanks