Toshiba Satellite A15 has a loud fan. Can I tighten the fan?

I own a Toshiba A15 Satellite laptop, and I have owned it for about two years. For the past couple of months every time the laptop is on the fan becomes annoyingly loud like it is loose or something, I was curious on how do I tighten the fan; I use this computer everyday, and it is painstakingly annoying. Any help would be appreciated.

If the cooling fan starts making a grinding sound, then it’s time to replace it. You cannot fix it just by tightening the fan. With Toshiba Satellite A15 it’s very easy to replace the fan yourself. You can replace it in 5 minutes. You can easily access and replace the CPU fan from the bottom of your laptop, here are some pictures. You can find a new fan of ebay for $40-$45. Search for “Toshiba Satellite A15 fan”.

61 Responses to “Toshiba Satellite A15 has a loud fan. Can I tighten the fan?”

  1. 1
    Chris Says:

    Hi, i have almost the exact smae problem with my toshiba Tecra S1 laptop.. it just makes a grinding sound like its scraping on something.. do u think i need to replace the fan as well? (or am I even able to replace the fan on the Tecra S1 series?)
    thanks

  2. 2
    Laptop Freak Says:

    Chris,

    do u think I need to replace the fan as well?

    I don’t know. Are you sure that the noise is coming from the fan and not from the hard drive? It’s very easy access the fan in a Toshiba Tecra S1 laptop, here’s a disassembly guide (www.irisvista.com) I’ve created for this model. Look at the step 3 for the heatsink assembly removal instructions. Remove the heatsink cover from the botoom of the laptop and make sure if the noise is coming from the fan. If it does, replace the fan. I’m not sure if you can buy the fan separately from the heatsink, I think you’ll have to replace the entire assembly (heatsink+fan). Here’s a part number for the Tecra S1 heatsink assembly: V000020970. Google for the part number and you’ll find it. When you replace the heatsink assembly do not forget to apply new thermal grease on the CPU, you can buy the grease in any local computer store.

  3. 3
    Walt Boychuk Says:

    Have Sat A45-S150 and recently noticed change in fan sound(don’t hear second fan kick in occasionally)and bottom of laptop might be getting hotter, or perhaps imagination? On your instructions for disassembly for this unit, is it all the way in step 20 that I can access the fan by the cpu? The bottom fan is still running. Just trying to do some PM instead of having it die and really start overheating. Any thought appreciated before I carry on.

  4. 4
    Laptop Freak Says:

    Walt,

    On your instructions for disassembly for this unit, is it all the way in step 20 that I can access the fan by the cpu?

    This laptop has 2 fans. The small one you can see on the step 20 and the main one is located under the motherboard. You still have to remove the motherboard from the base in order to access and replace the main fan.

    and bottom of laptop might be getting hotter, or perhaps imagination?

    Buy a can of compressed air, remove the heatsink cover as it shown on the step 4 and blow off the heatsink and fan with compressed air. It might be not necessary to remove the heatsink from the CPU. Overheating is a common issue with this model.

  5. 5
    chris Says:

    Hi,

    Can someone tell me what the part number is for my cooling fan, or where to buy replacement? This is a Toshiba Satellite Pro M15-405. I know the maddening noise that I now hear is the fan and not the hard drive because I’ve already replaced the hard drive, and its super silent. I saw the irisvista page on replacing this fan, and I know it looks like a lot of work, but I think i’m up to the task.

    cheers

  6. 6
    Laptop Freak Says:

    Chris,
    You can find the cooling fan for your Satellite Pro M15 laptop if you search by the part number: P000370160. Google for it and find the best price. Sparepartswarehouse sells it for $34.

  7. 7
    Walt Boychuk Says:

    Thank you for the quick response and the expertise. Heatsink was totally clogged, now runs with virutally no heat buildup.Hasn’t run this cool since I took it out the box almost 3 years ago. Also thanks to your site, I can field strip and reassemble my laptop. Again, many thanks. Walt

  8. 8
    jaime ross Says:

    i have toshiba M35 and the fan suddenly started to make a much louder than usual noise. how do i access the fan to replace it – or tighten it..

  9. 9
    Laptop Freak Says:

    Jaime Ross,
    Here’s a disassembly guide I’ve created for taking apart Toshiba Satellite M35. The cooling fan is located deep inside the laptop and you have to remove the top cover in order to replace the fan. Follow steps 1-17 to access the fan.

  10. 10
    Jon-E Says:

    Laptop Freak,
    I have had a Toshiba Satellite A60 for two years now. The fan makes a ricketty noise. I tried cleaning it but that didn’t help. When I tilt the laptop in certain directions the ricketting stops but starts up again as soon as it is level. I’m figuring something is loose but wanted your opinion first. What could it be?

  11. 11
    Laptop Freak Says:

    Jon-E,
    First of all make sure that this sound is not coming from the hard drive. If it does, replace the hard drive as soon as possible.
    Here’s a guide that shows how to access the cooling fan, just in case if you decide to fix the laptop yourself. You can remove the keyboard and check if there is something loose inside the laptop. If you need a new fan, you can find a replacement by the part number: V000042110

  12. 12
    chris Says:

    Got the fan for the M15-405, followed the disassembly instructions on irisvista, and after working about two hours, I had everything back together. Paid about $50 total with shipping included. The new fan seems to be working perfectly, and its as silent as a mouse. Wonderful! Now I can actually do some digital recording without the microphone picking up the fan noise. ;-) Thanks again!

  13. 13
    Sixto Castro Says:

    Hi. I have a Satellite Pro M15-s406 and the fan started to make a lot of noise, indicating that probably I need to replace it. 2 things please:
    1. fan part number
    2. wether or not I need to take apart whole laptop. When looking at your guide (http://www.irisvista.com/tech/laptops/Toshiba-Satellite-Pro-M10/replace-laptop-motherboard.htm), it seems that way.
    Thank you for your advise,
    Regards,

  14. 14
    beth Says:

    Reading this page with interest as my laptop is crazy loud, I have a Toshiba Sattelite Pro A10 and I’m pretty sure its the fan that’s noisy but how can I check it’s not the hardrive?

    Many thanks, Beth

  15. 15
    Laptop Freak Says:

    Beth,
    You can remove the hard drive and start the laptop without the hard drive. If the noise is still there, then most likely the hard drive is fine and you’ll have to replace the fan.

  16. 16
    beth Says:

    Thanks Laptop Freak!

  17. 17
    Vincent Says:

    I have a similar problem with my Hewlett-Packard compaq nx5000 laptop, and by “similar” I mean “it also makes a grinding noise.”

    This laptop is about three years old. It’s been in for repairs multiple times, for everything from a dead LCD backlight to a destroyed keyboard (which, by the way, was my father’s fault; HE’S the one that sprayed it down with water). In fact, it just recently got back because of the keyboard.

    So anyway, about a week ago, I was sitting on my laptop browsing the internet when I noticed it started making this loud grinding noise. Then the computer froze up. So, I popped out the battery, let it sit for a minute, and then put the battery back in and turned it on again. It started up without problems. Then, later on while I was using it that same night, it flashed this blue screen of death at me. I saw something about the kernel and memory dump, and then it turned off. When I went to turn it on again, the grinding noise was back and it wouldn’t start up, it would just say “Non-system disk or disk error.”

    This comment (and possible solution) has been published here: My laptop makes a loud grinding noise

  18. 18
    Clerk Says:

    Hi,

    I bought my first laptop 5 months ago, its Toshiba Tecra A7. whenever i run my laptop, the fan starts to function quitely but after a while it becomes a little bit noisy. ( noiser than most laptops which i have ever seen). what seems to be the problem, i mean is this normal? . Most of the time i dont run heavy applications just browsing, word , excel,…

    does cpu speed has something to do with fan cooling speed and thus noise? my laptop is 2.0 GHz daul core.

    do i need to replace the fan or bare the noise?

    Thanks for your help.

  19. 19
    michael Says:

    I notice my laptop fan is also making a grinding noise. I presume that this means that it will need to be replaced. Any ideas on where I can get a Toshiba Portege M200 cooling fan and how hard it is to replace it?

  20. 20
    jjmai Says:

    I have an old Toshiba Satellite A15-S129, the fan works alright, but it makes a loud winding-down sound as it stops/slows down periodicly (which seems like part of normal operation). It does not make such sound as the fan starts up. I’ve also cleaned the heatsink and used a new hard drive. Is it supposed to make that winding sound? Is it possible to keep the fan on all the time? Thanx in advance.

  21. 21
    Laptop Freak Says:

    Clerk,
    I cannot tell you if the noise you have is normal or not because I cannot hear it. I haven’t worked on Tecra A7 units yet but I believe it’s something similar to Satellite A105. I own Toshiba Satellite A105 and it’s pretty quiet even when it’s loaded heavily. If the fan in your laptop is unusually loud, probably you have a defective fan. Your laptop still should be covered by Toshiba warranty so you don’t have to repair it yourself.
    By the way, listen in the hard drive area. It’s possible that the noise you hear coming from the hard drive, not from the fan. If that’s the case, backup all personal data as soon as possible because you might have a faulty hard drive and it can stop working any minute. After that replace the hard drive and reimage it.

  22. 22
    Laptop Freak Says:

    Michael,
    Toshiba Portege M200 has 2 cooling fans inside – CPU fan and VGA fan. In order to replace fans, you’ll have to remove the laptop bottom cover. The VGA fan is attached to the bottom cover, you can see the fan connector on the step 10. The CPU fan is attached to the system board and is pictured on the step 15. It’s not necessary to remove the keyboard, you just have to remove the laptop bottom cover, follow steps 1, 3, 12, 11, 12. You can find new fans online if you search by the part number: VGA fan – P000388600, CPU fan – P000388599. I gave you part numbers for both fans because I’m not sure which one is making noise, most likely the CPU fan.

  23. 23
    Laptop Freak Says:

    jjmai,
    Nope, it should be quite. It’s pretty easy to replace the cooling fan for a Satellite A15 laptop, just remove the heatsink cover on the bottom of the laptop as it show  on the steps 2 and 3. You can find a new fan if you search by the part number: P000377310

  24. 24
    Ian Says:

    Since I am economy minded, I took the fan apart (easy to do) and cleaned the bearing assembly then used two drops of Boeshield T-9 chain oil. Problem solved, time 15 minutes, cost… $0.00. I have been running my satellite with the original fan for 3 years now, using this procedure to clean and lube it.

  25. 25
    eric Says:

    have a question how do you get the screen from shaking do i have to replace the motherboard or soundcard?

  26. 26
    David Says:

    Hey, when I bought my brand new laptop, it makes this loud fan noise. I have noticed this with other laptops, but I figured it just was never going to get quiet. It’s like when I start something up, the fan make a huge noise, and then settles down for awhile. Because it has done that with 2 laptops I have had, I’m guessing it can’t be fixed. Did I make a good conclusion, or is there actually a way to quiet down the noise? Thank you in advance.

  27. 27
    Banfffall Says:

    Dear Laptopfreak,
    I have a toshiba tecra M4 (a tablet) and recently it suddenly started making this annoying noise that comes from what seems like the fan. The loudness of the noise changes randomly and it’s really weird. Is this a problem with the fan and how do I solve it?

    Thanks a lot :-)

  28. 28
    Laptop Freak Says:

    David,
    Find a power management utility in the control panel and check if you can change the laptop performance in there. I believe you can set some laptops for a high performance (cooling fan starts more often and rotates faster) or you set them into low performance mode (quieter). I saw these settings on a Toshiba Satellite A75 notebook. I’m not sure if you have these settings for your laptop.

  29. 29
    Laptop Freak Says:

    Banfffall,
    If the cooling fan is noisy, you should replace it. I cannot hear the noise so I cannot tell if it’s coming from the fan, you’ll have to figure out yourself. Make sure the noise is not coming from the hard drive. It’s relatively easy to access fans on this model. You turn the laptop over, remove the battery, remove all cards (wireless, memory), remove all screws from the bottom and carefully lift up the bottom cover. You’ll see the cooling fan as soon as you remove the bottom cover from the laptop.

  30. 30
    Todd Says:

    Thanks to Ian for the comment about cleaning the fan. It works like a charm!

    My fan was very loud and very annoying, but I was hesitant about paying $50+ for a new fan. I didn’t even think to clean it.

    It’s very simple to remove and clean the cooling fan from a Satellite A15. For those of you who haven’t done much technical work like this, here are the details.

    1. Unplug the laptop and remove the battery

    2. Close the laptop and turn it so the underside is facing up.

    3. Three screws hold in a cover for the fan/heat sink. Remove the screws, making sure to mark the position of the longer screw.

    4. The fan is held in by two screws, remove them and unplug the fan.

    5. With a pair of “tech tweezers” (pointed ends, not flat ends), gently pry open the metallic cover of the fan and remove it

    6. The fan blades will slip off of the spindle. Clean the spindle with electronics cleaner (nothing that leaves a residue) .

    7. Gently clean the blades with a moist q-tip

    8. Add a small bit of light lubricant to the spindle. I used graphite.

    9. Replace the fan on the spindle and reinstall cover, bending the metal tabs back into place

    10. Plug in the fan and reinstall

    11. Replace fan/heat sink cover and reinstall

    12. Enjoy the once-again quiet operation of your laptop!

  31. 31
    Brent Says:

    IT WORKS! My fan was making a horrible noise, sounded like it was on its last legs. Then I found this site, and the posting of Todd on

    Todd Says:
    January 20th, 2007 at 1:04 pm

    I see he got it from someone else though. ;-) But thanks for the step by step instructions.

    This was extremely easy to do. I tried it once, and it didn’t work until I removed it again and cleaned the brush area with electronics solvent. That worked like a charm, the fan sounds brand new, and I just saved 45 bucks and wait time for the part to get here.

    So I would suggest to anyone who feels good about pulling the back panel off of their laptop to simply give it a try to clean it before going any further!

    Thanks!

  32. 32
    JB Says:

    I followed the instructions Todd recommended for cleaning and lubricating the fan axle and bearings. At first, I noticed that the fan was much more quiet. However, after a few hours, the horrible noise came back. I do not really want to spend $50+ on a new fan. As a matter of fact, who knows if the fan to be purchased from the internet is not used? Shouldn’t Toshiba sell replacement parts? I looked at a website, but shipping is $10 for that little fan. They say that shipping is based on 3.3 lbs. However, that little fan weighs less than 1 lb. I know the packaging should not weigh 2.5 lbs. Is there anything else that anyone recommends?

  33. 33
    Laptop Freak Says:

    JB,
    Toshiba doesn’t sell this kind of replacement parts directly. Search on the internet by the part number P000377310 and you’ll find a better deal.

  34. 34
    nic Says:

    hi,

    my Toshiba A10 makes REALLY REALLY loud noises and i can feel the vibrations when i place my hand on the keyboard. I’m pretty sure it’s coming from the fan since the noise starts when the fan goes on. It sounds as if the fan is violently hitting another part of the laptop. When i removed the cover and looked at the fan, i couldn’t tell if there was something wrong with the fan. I actually think it is one side of the heatsink (the gold thing) hitting the side of my laptop….since it looks like the only part that can move (besides the blades of the fan)…should i buy a new fan?

    thanks so much!

  35. 35
    Laptop Freak Says:

    Nic,
    Probably it’s just a bad fan and you should replace it, it’s not expensive and takes only 2 minutes. I don’t know how it can hit the heat sink; I don’t think it’s possible.

  36. 36
    Susan Says:

    I found this page on February 1, got really brave, printed the disassembly instructions, found an online supplier that ordered the part direct from Toshiba, and waited for the part to come. It sat in my kitchen for about a week before I worked up the nerve, today, to actually try this. I’ve been working on a cold lately and the noise was so bad coming from the grinding fan, every time it clicked on it was making my headache so much worse.

    I followed the disassembly instructions just at the beginning, took out the battery, unscrewed the cover over the fan, was very careful with the little bitty screws, used two tiny little screwdrivers that I already had, and literally five minutes after I started, I was done. Turned the laptop back on, and WOW. No more headache, no more vibrating, no more sounding like I’m working in a sawmill. Just a nice gentle whoooooooosh when it’s working. Just like it’s supposed to!

    THANK YOU SO MUCH for making this so easy — for someone who’s definitely not a techie! — just an average 49-year-old woman from the midwest. Without reading this thread, I never would have had the knowledge, or confidence, to “try this at home.”

  37. 37
    Todd Says:

    I see some ppl have had some success with the lubrication. I wanted to follow up because the noise came back about a day after I initially lubricated the fan with graphite.

    So this time I used two drops of sewing machine oil. It’s been running quietly for weeks now.

  38. 38
    Ryan Says:

    Hi I am using an acer travelmate 2200 series to be specific a travelMate 2201LCi. As of recent my fan has gotten alot louder, this has been since ive started using two moniters (one attached and built in). But evn if I only run one monitor the Fan persists to be loud. I have been told my my tech suport gu to look in process’ (Im inside of a server) but its only system idle process running at a high rate 95-98 so i really don’t know my problem.

  39. 39
    Daniel Says:

    I have a Westinghouse laptop. This giant electronics company only makes one laptop. I am having problems with the cooling fan. The fan “roars” when it cools. This is very distracting when using the laptop in a classroom or business meeting setting. The company says that the fan is designed to work that way. I have tried Speedfan but the program does not work with this laptop. Is there anything I can do to change the way the fan runs. It would be just fine if it ran m,ore often but without “roaring.” Thanks for your help.

  40. 40
    Silvia Says:

    I have a Toshiba satelite A70/A75 series, the fan is making noices and after 30 minutes or less it shut downs because is overheating; where can I buy the fan to replace it?, could it be also the battery?, I noticed when I plug the battery charger it overheats more. I purchased the latop less than 2 years ago.

    Thank you so much for your answer

  41. 41
    Laptop Freak Says:

    Silvia,
    Here’s the part number for a Toshiba Satellite A70/A75 notebook: K000016310.
    You’ll find the laptop disassembly guide at http://www.irisvista.com

  42. 42
    Andrew Says:

    I have a westinghouse laptop and it will power down on its own. The fan seems to not work properly to cool it. How do I find a replacement fan?

  43. 43
    rajnish Says:

    Sir,
    I have almost same problem. My fan is making sound from past 4 months and I am not finding any satisfactory advice on that. It was ok, then I go for a journey in a bus with my laptop for 3-4 hours and whene I turn it on after journey fan was making almost grinding sound.It seems it is touching something inside laptop.1 more problem , Recently I observed that whenever I push my ac adapter cable in to my power port of laptop, Laptop starts making sound( beeping kind of sound). When my laptop is off or in stand by mode then it does,not make soung while charging by ac adapter. some day I also got some blue screen errors saying “beggining dump of physical memory” kind of message. It was just a blinking of message ,then it restarts and gave message and over and over again untill I recover my windows. Please any soution that can solve my any problem upto some extent

  44. 44
    Eric Says:

    My notebook is a A15-s1292. I had the same problem for a few months. But just 2 days ago the fan got so loud that I could no longer use the notebook in my office. So I rushed to the local computer repair shops (Wanchai, Hong Kong) and tried to get a replacement fan. But I had no luck. They told me that I had to special order the fan, which would cost me HK$680 (USD $80) and the new fan wouldn’t come until two to three days. I called Toshiba’s official support agent in Hong Kong and they told me they didn’t sell replacement parts except batteries.

    Because I needed my computer badly, so after I went home I removed the fan from the notebook. I took the fan apart, and it was very easy. The metal plate on one side of the fan is secured by three metal tabs. I used a small screw driver to slightly loosen 2 metal tabs, and the metal plate fell off easily. The fan blade was attached by magnet, so just with a very slight pull I detached the fan blade from the motor. Then I used a cotton swap dipped with WD40 to clean the shaft/axle of the blade, and removed some dust. After that I put the fan together and connected it back to the computer. It took about 30mins and it’s working quietly now.

  45. 45
    Rohan Says:

    Quick Software solution to the original problem, for Dell notebooks.
    Hit “Fn+z”
    This will slow down the fan!!!!

  46. 46
    Laptop Freak Says:

    Hey Rohan,
    Thank you for sharing your experience. I’ve published your comment as a post, so more people can see it. It’s here: Fan started making a lot of noise.

  47. 47
    anita Says:

    I have an IBM thinkpad (ThinkPad T42 2378-DUU) and last night it started making noise. It is 3 years old and I haven’t had any trouble with it. How do I tell if it is the fan or the hard drive? If it is the fan, how do I access it? Thanks. Anita

  48. 48
    roy Says:

    Looks like i am not the only unlucky person with a loud cooling fan :(

    I have a Toshiba Satellite R15-S822 tablet PC . For the last few months the cooling fan has started to make a loud annoying noise. I have tried taking off the fan and cleaning it with a brush and on a latter occasion even lubricating it with a silicone grease but with very slight improvement if at all anything . Pls suggest me the part number for the fan.

  49. 49
    Cathy Says:

    Just wanted to make a comment about the lap top freak. I think this is a wonderful service that you are offering I was simply looking for a lap top fan and ran into your site. Very, Very helpful and interesting. Thanks Lap Top Freak

  50. 50
    Emily Says:

    Hi LTF,

    I can’t say it enough, it’s good to know there are other Toshiba loud fan sufferers out there!

    I just had a few questions… I have a Toshiba A45 s150, which I bought in 2004. For the past year, my laptop was overheating and shutting down spontaneously, which was a real headache. My cousin is a computer genius and knew just what to do when I told him what’d been happening…We took the base off and he showed me the area around the heatsink, which looked like 4 layers of dryer lint had been sitting against it for the past 2 years! Ha! After we cleaned that mess, and put it back together (and cleared out my hard drive and put the computer back to factory settings, just for good measure), it was sounding a lot quieter.

    HOWEVER – My laptop STILL makes noise! It starts quiet, deceiving you into thinking your experience will be relatively noiseless, but THEN usually something like burning a CD, watching a youtube video online, or doing something that requires more “work” for the CPU starts this loud, whirring, grinding noise from the base of the computer.

    I’m HOPING it’s just the fan and not the hard drive… but are there any tips for determining this? If it’s the hard drive, should I back up all my stuff ASAP? Also, do you by any chance know the A45 S150 part # for a new fan?

    Thanks so much.
    Emily

  51. 51
    Laptop Freak Says:

    Emily,

    do you by any chance know the A45 S150 part # for a new fan?

    There are two fans in this laptop.
    Big fan (CPU fan) – part number P000392060.
    Small fan (secondary fan) – part number P000392080.

    If it’s the hard drive, should I back up all my stuff ASAP?

    Yes, if this noise is coming from the hard drive, you have to back up all your data ASAP, because the hard drive can fail any moment.
    In order to find out if the noise is coming from the hard drive or from the fan you can try this. Start the laptop without the hard drive installed and listen for the fan noise. If it’s noisy, replace the fan.
    You can run the memory test (Memtest86+) in order to load the CPU and make it run hotter so the fan runs faster. You can run this test from a CD or from a floppy drive. This test doesn’t require the hard drive to be installed into the laptop. If you still hear the same noise even with the hard drive removed, apparently it comes from one of the fans.

  52. 52
    pete Says:

    I have a Toshiba A15-S127 that had a noisy fan. I found an inexpensive replacement and swapped it out. Fan still made the same noise, like something was rubbing against the blades. That’s because there was. The wires that connect fan to the motherboard run across the top (bottom) of the blades. They would loosen and start rubbing against the blades. A little crazy glue fixed the problem.

  53. 53
    foghorn99 Says:

    I have a Toshiba Satellite A10. For the past 2-3 years, the fan has been VERY noisy when it comes on. The exhaust grill (left side, near the rear) had VERY warm air coming out…and overall CPU performance seemed much slower than it used to have…especially running FLASH games.

    Then I found this thread…I then went to ebay, searched for the make/model + the word “fan”, clicked ‘buy it now’ (BIN) and within TWO DAYS (!!) I had the fan at my house. Then…within 5 minutes I had removed the bottom panel near the exhaust grill, took the old fan out, vacuumed the CPU/cooling hatch…especially the overly dusty exhaust grill, and installed the new fan.

    Super easy, folks. My 6 year old could have done this…you can too. Do it now….before your CPU overheats and possibly dies.

  54. 54
    Rev Says:

    Hey all.
    I’ve got a Toshiba A10. During cleaning, when disconnecting the 3 pin plug joining the fan wires to the motherboard I accidentally dislodged the connector as well, breaking the solder and completely separating it from the board.
    I needed to use my pc for work but also knew that using it without a fan probably wouldn’t end well.
    I dont have soldering equiptment or skills either so resoldering it wasn’t an option.
    I attempted to connect the existing fan directly to the dc jack which resulted in erratic, short bursts of power to the fan, which I assume was due to the voltage difference (?)
    I then connected a CPU fan from an old desktop system which ran quite well, though very fast and quite noisy. Connecting the fan in this way also meant it was powered whenever the ac adapter was connected, regardless of the laptop’s status. This at least temporarily enabled me to get some work done without cooking my machine though.

    I imagine the cost to replace the mainboard would be jaw dropping so my questions for you are these:

    Is resoldering the 3 pin connector back onto the motherboard a viable option?
    Is there another (stable) way of connecting the original 5v fan?
    If I opted to continue using a 12v fan instead, is it possible to connect it so it starts and stops with the pc and operates at a reasonable speed?

    Your advice is very much appreciated.

  55. 55
    Jasper Says:

    I have a Toshiba Satellite A25-S207. There must be a secondary cooling fan near the hard drive because it is making a bunch of noise. The main cooling fan works fine. (The noise is not coming from the HD). Can you give me the part numbers for both fans (if I am taking it apart why not?). Thanks ‘Laptop Freak’ you are the best!

  56. 56
    cyril Says:

    mann this thread helped me a lot..owe it to you guys major time..yeh..saved me almost 65 bucks…i removed the fans cover…removed the axle off the assemble..cleaned it with adidas body spray…used vaseline and coconut oil on the windings…,,used some body spray on the lil circuit board too..be easy on the lil wires..if it comes off ull have to solder em..so easy on the wires..
    but man its recommended to stick with regular..isoprpanol..and good hi grade oil ..graphite or other micromotor rated,,
    another thing,,be easy on the windings..each one is linked by a fine thred..so dont break em..the first two arnt connected so dont worry abt that(basic motor machine design..simple chasis)

    gtg..bye..tk cr luv u guys a million

  57. 57
    Krusty Baguette Says:

    I’ve cleaned the lint out of my Satellite A15-S127 before (maybe two years ago)and had good results. This morning I heard loud grinding whirring noise, intermittent, and started taking parts off the bottom of my laptop. Eventually after blowing out a small amount of lint I restarted the laptop with the fan cover OFF and that makes it clear that the noise is coming from the fan, not the hdd. But the laptop is still very sluggish to run any program after a fairly normal bootup. If I replace the fan only is it possible or likely that my hdd will function better? Or is it more likely that the hdd is on its way out. If I need to replace the hdd can I use a 7200 RPM drive to boost performance?

    Thanks for a great site. Love the pull apart diagrams.

  58. 58
    Paul M Says:

    Hi, I have a Toshiba a25-s207 and the fan is VERY LOUD! I don’t think the fan is bad because it doesn’t sound bad. It seems to turn on fairly often, though. It’s not grinding or making any rattling noises. It’s just loud! Sounds like a wind machine from a movie set. Are these things just loud even when they’re not bad?

  59. 59
    VidhyaNathan Says:

    Hi
    Mine is toshiba satallite u300-11v. i have it for the past 2 years. i never carried it anywhere. It is making huge grinding noise when starting it for the first time, now a days it is making noise even when starting it from hibernation. I dont know exactly wheather fan or hdd makes noice. however i suspect the sound from the left side of the laptop. Please advice.

    Thanks
    VidhyaNathan.

  60. 60
    Laptop Freak Says:

    VidhyaNathan,
    Run your laptop with the hard drive removed. If the noise is still there, most likely you have a bad fan.
    More detailed answer is here:
    http://www.asklaptopfreak.com/laptop-notebook-help/2010/05/08/toshiba-satellite-u300-makes-grinding-noise-when-starting/

  61. 61
    shane Says:

    hey laptop freak dude i have a toshiba satellite m40x it freezes up and have pulled it apart as per irivista. after putting the case back together each time being 3 times it keeps freezing and at the same time the cooling fan continually runs. so i decided to pull cover off and run laptop when i did this it did not freeze .i know the c/fan works but could it be actually faulty ? i see it running so i dont know. is the hard drive causing it to run because its working hard to open an application ? pls help

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