Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

edward-k

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 19, 2004
57
4
A few weeks ago my G5 2.5x2 started acting strange, fans running up to insane levels, heat number on the procesors jumping all over the place ~ then finally it died. I took the system to my local Apple store ~ they kept it overnight to run some tests and came back telling me that a processor failed. When i asked about possible liquid coolant issues they assured me that the test they condcuted (which was software only) did not indicate any coolant issues, but if I wanted them to open the processor/coolant area it would cost me another 180$ in labor. Furthermore, they told me that the cost to replace the processor was $800 , what i found strange was that they said the $800 replaced both processors and coolant system. The system is out of applecare by 7 months.

Sorry for the long description, but I would love to get any feedback or thoughts. I have read numerous posts about the cooling systems failing and exhibiting similar symptoms to mine. It it conceivable that the processor just failed, I have never heard of that (although I suppose anything is possible). Are these parts even still available? I seem to recall that the coolant systems were no longer available and apple was replacing systems with this problem.

Thanks in advance for any insight or advice anyone can offer. Ed
 

geekgirl

macrumors regular
Sep 26, 2007
138
2
Make them pop open that processor cover. Seriously. It takes two minutes. The coolant system can be leaking without any visible indications from outside the cover, but you can see coolant on the absorbant pad at the bottom of the cpu area. You can't tell if the coolant is leaking from a damn software test.... and they should know that! You may also want to look at the back of the case, at the bottom near the power port: check for visible corrosion. If you see any, you have a leak.

As someone who has dealt with this extensively in the last couple of weeks (had 11 fail in a month, nine of those within 5 days!), a machine can look okay AND APPARENTLY RUN okay, but still have a leak. They have to visually inspect that area.

You can't tell I'm angry about this, can you...

And as far as parts being available, I have nine G5s sitting over in our service center, waiting on processors (and the multitude of other things the coolant kills when it leaks. $800 is a low-estimate. You'll also be replacing the power supply and motherboard, if you are unlucky). Two are being replaced after more than 8 hours labor by IT service, and multiple motherboards and processors failing to fix the problem. I just heard a rumor yesterday that they are out of stock of the 2.7GHz processors, with no estimate for availability. Apple is trying to make it right for us, as we are still under AppleCare, but I have five more that have not leaked YET (out of 20!!!!).

My advice to you is, if you really like this machine, and are willing to possibly pay about $1800 to get it fixed, and willing to wait a long time to get your machine back, go ahead. If you can't afford that, cut your losses and buy a mini to get you by until you can get a MacPro.

I'm just puzzled that the techs didn't pop the cover off that CPU case immediately. They had, HAD to know what was causing the problem....
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.