“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 1st, 2009 at 8:53 pm
josh,
Can you start the laptop from AC power when the battery is removed?
June 1st, 2009 at 8:49 pm
Matt,
Nope it’s not a problem with the adapter or battery.
Also, I doubt that it’s related to overheating. The laptop is relatively new and most likely the cooling fan is still clean.
Your description sounds like a problem with the motherboard. I would suggest taking it to the authorized repair center while it’s still under warranty.
June 1st, 2009 at 7:01 pm
hey can anyone help me i have a toshiba satellite a355 . new model came out in december . ive been having this problem that the computer does a hard shutdown randomly . toshiba support said it could be a battery or AC adapter issue but now im not sure . i recieved a new batter and it still happened . now im recieving a new AC adapter and well see if it happnens too
June 1st, 2009 at 10:12 am
my satellite A100 battery ran out which is a usual thing so i put it in bag and put it away. The day after i put it on charge and the battery light has come on permanatly and the laptop wont turn on. Does this mean battery is broke?
May 30th, 2009 at 10:58 pm
Hello. Noticed this site whilst trying to find the answers to my “auto-shutdown” feature that just revealed itself this evening. I do appreciate your site as it the most comprehensive site thus far.
Having said that, I too suffer from the auto shutoff that many have complained about. I did the aforementioned steps and low and behold, the heat-sink fan area was a bit dusty (understatement in fact it was clogged solid). I am hoping to pick up some thermal putty (whatever it’s called) tomorrow and see if my system is fixed. Is this the same problem that would cause the power to not come on at all? I seem to have no power, no lights, nothing.
But I did have a problem with my Satellite M45-S169 that I haven’t seen here and it is the fact that the thing stopped working a few months ago, no shut-down, just locked. I rebooted and started and it worked fine. Then the same thing. I read somewhere else that there is a section to the left of the mouse pad that when applying pressure, elevates the problem. The next time the problem came around, I pushed down on that area and it worked again. After a while the problem became worse and the quick fix was not working. I went to the hardware store near my home and bought a very strong wood clamp and affixed it to the same area and it works. My question, however, is there something that can be done that doesn’t looked so trailer-trashy?
Andy
May 30th, 2009 at 1:35 pm
I have a toshiba laptop, its a few years old. It started to give me problems… when i would turn it on, sometimes it would run for hours, then at other times it would only run for like 3-15 minutes. now i cannot get past the boot menu. ive tried using a recovery disc, but in the middle of using it the computer shut down so now it says that there is no operating system installed or partial corruption, something of that nature anyhow.. PLEASE HELP!!
May 24th, 2009 at 6:02 pm
Hey I have a toshiba satellite M35X. It keeps on overheating and now it is at the point where it shuts off immediately after 5 seconds. How do I access the cpu fan and the heatsink? I looked at the disassembly instructions but could still not figure out how.
Thanks
May 24th, 2009 at 7:49 am
my laptop has been overheating for a while. it worked fine a week ago but it keeps rebooting itself. i can’t get into a safe mode at all and i dont’ have a recovery cd. any suggestions?
May 19th, 2009 at 8:07 pm
I have a Toshiba Tecra A4 Laptop. It will pass the POST, and try to load Op sys, but then shuts down abruptly. I can get into the boot screen. I tried booting from the CD drive, from a floppy drive, but it shuts down. Any thoughts?
May 18th, 2009 at 11:08 am
Leanne,
Maybe the fan is noise because it’s clogged with dust? Buy a can of compressed air and spray it inside the fan grill on the bottom. This will remove most dust from the fan and heat sink. Does it help? If not, apparently the fan is going bad and has to be replaced.