Macbook pro Restarts instead of Shutting Down

See if this will work for you:

Apple Discussions Topic : After installing Snow Leopard, Reboots automatically after Shut Down

Try SMC reset.

Pianoman0018 said:

smc reset is not holding the COMMAND OPTION P R buttons on the startup?
cause i try that and it worked for one time but after a while the problem came back
and it seems that my processor its working always also when i dont have any programmes running

Click to expand...

Nope, that's zapping the PRAM. Here's how to reset the SMC:

Intel-based Macs: Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC)

Check out this thread and see if there's anything that helps the situation:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/430014/

After some Mroogle research I've done, it seems that all similar situations have not been resolved. Even for past models. A visit to an Apple store sounds like a good idea.

Solution

Although this post is 2 years old at least, I have found a solution for the exact same symptoms. Heating, restart instead of shutdown and boot when magsafe is connected. In my case it was due to a faulty airport card. In my case the symptoms involved as well a "no hardware detecterd" error on the airport menu, but I am not sure this will be necessarly the case as the airport card may continue working and being detected even if it causes the restart problem.

Remove or change the airport card, or simply disconnect it from the motherbord. In that case you will loose one speaker though. I recommand trying to disconnect it just to see if it solves the problem.

If it does, then buy a used one on ebay and do installation, approx. 40 bucks.
Installation instruction may be found on the net.

The wire you need to disconnect is the one that goes in the screen, but is not the connector of the screen itself (it is the one that is passed around the cdrom that you need to disconnect).

Good luck!

I know this is old but yes , replace the airport card and will fix the problem. Thank you

I have the same problem on my Macbook Pro 5.1. I found that disabling Airport allowed me to shut down properly instead of holding down power key. Will look closer at Airport card as it does seem that that's the problem.

Hobbes7 said:

I have the same problem on my Macbook Pro 5.1. I found that disabling Airport allowed me to shut down properly instead of holding down power key. Will look closer at Airport card as it does seem that that's the problem.

Click to expand...

I have the same issue and disabling Airport didn't seem to do anything. I don't want to spend the money to replace the card unless I know for certain this is the problem. Again, I have the same issue (powers on when plugged in, reboots when shut down, fan on full blast)...has anyone been able to uncover anything new about this issue? There are literally NO other helpful resources online outside this thread :|

I had this exact same problem with my Macbook Pro. The problem was fixed when I replaced the old and dying battery with a brand new one.

If you have this problem and your battery is old and dying, I would try putting a new battery in.