“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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May 14th, 2009 at 2:26 pm
Hi,
I have a Toshiba Equium M40X-230. It’s four years old now and the fan has become extremely noisy. What steps should i take to reduce the noise? (I don’t know much about laptops)! Thanks x
May 3rd, 2009 at 8:48 pm
I opened my laptop and cleaned the heatsink and fan from dust. I turned it on without closing the parts completely and it works fine. Then I turned it off and removed the thermal sink, and it shuts down back on me, about every 10-20 minutes or less.
How does the thermal grease works by the way? And can I use the Thermalike Thermal Grease for my Satellite 1805-s274?
What can be the problem with my laptop?
April 30th, 2009 at 5:13 am
And yes it was purchased in the United States, sorry I forgot that part of the information before.
April 29th, 2009 at 4:17 pm
I’m guessing the Part # is same? The Part # is PSPBUU-01900J, Model is X205-SLi2. Anywhere recommended to buy? Thanks
April 29th, 2009 at 12:55 pm
Memory Hole Troll,
I use same Toshiba grease for all laptops I repair. It’s either pink grease (part number: GY4C0000T210-01) or gray grease (part number: X-23-7762-01). You can google the laptop number and find it.
April 29th, 2009 at 11:35 am
Do you recommend a metalic or ceramic based thermal paste for this fix?
April 28th, 2009 at 8:50 pm
Ken B,
Did you buy your Satellite X205 in the United States? If you did, you can give me the laptop model number from the sticker on the button (It’s close to the serial number) and I will look up the motherboard part number for you. After that you can research for a new motherboard by the part number.
April 28th, 2009 at 4:34 pm
I’m going to test it whenever I remember to bring my multimeter home. If I test it and it turns out to be a motherboard (as I figured it may be), do you know of any places to buy one? Or how to know which one to buy. Any place to get one for cheap, maybe used? Thanks for the help.
April 27th, 2009 at 9:06 pm
Jenifer,
Check out this guide for taking apart Toshiba Satellite A200/A205 laptops.
This might happen with many different brands and models, not just Toshibas.
April 27th, 2009 at 7:24 pm
Ken B,
If the AC adapter is plugged in but power LED doesn’t light up, it’s one of the following:
1. Dead AC adapter.
2. Bad DC-IN plug.
3. Dead motherboard.
I would definitely test the AC adapter first and make sure it outputs correct voltage.
If you never had a problem with the DC-IN jack, I would doubt that your problem is related to the jack but it’s possible. I just had to mention it.
If the motherboard gets power from the adapter but it’s dead and power LED doesn’t come up, most likely it’s bad motherboard.
If it would be a bad video card (actually two video cards sandwiched together), the power LED would light up anyway when you plug the adapter.
Just this morning I was troubleshooting a Satellite 205-SLi3 notebook with bad video cards. The laptop was turning on but without any video. Also, I was getting a beep error (three long beeps).
I don’t know if you feel comfortable doing this but when the laptop is disassembled you can plug the power adapter and test with a multimeter if power gets to the motherboard. Test voltage at the connector where the DC-IN harness is connected to the motherboard. If the motherboard gets power but has no signs of life, most likely it’s bad motherboard.