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

Idle temps 80-90C

M

m0no

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 8, 2009
222
0
I have a Macbook Pro 13 2.53 Core 2 Duo and lately it's betting getting extremely hot and even uncomfortable to work on. Idle temps are consistently between 80-90C. The fans don't even come on. I've looked at the fans and cleaned them, but it still doesn't help. Has anybody else experienced this? I guess my next step would be to replace the fan.

Any suggestions?
 
What do you consider to be an idle workflow? The only reason I ask is what your using your Mac for could have a huge impact on the amount of heat it produces.

Have you tried watching the Activity Monitor while your using your MBP to see if any processes/things your doing are coinciding with it producing more heat?

Lastly, are you watching movies or using any kind of Flash content?
 
TheIguana said:
What do you consider to be an idle workflow? The only reason I ask is what your using your Mac for could have a huge impact on the amount of heat it produces.

Have you tried watching the Activity Monitor while your using your MBP to see if any processes/things your doing are coinciding with it producing more heat?

Lastly, are you watching movies or using any kind of Flash content?
Click to expand...

There isn't anything running that takes up CPU. If I do other tasks such as view flash content or work in other applications then the temps will rise and be in low-mid 90s C.

----------
orvn said:
Open up Activity Monitor and sort the processes by CPU usage, find who the culprit is and kill that task, unless it's critical to the system

A nice way to monitor your fan speed and core temp. is SMC Fan Control, which displays it right in the menulet icons.

http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/23049/smcfancontrol
Click to expand...

Yeah, I do that. Nothing is taking up CPU usage. I have SMC Fan Control and fan speed is 0 all the time...so I think my next step is to replace the fan.
 
...are your fans ON? it sounds like your fans may be off...i assume you have something that can monitor fan speed considering you have something monitoring temp....since the temps are so high with barely any CPU usage, you fans may have died.
 
Yeah, I do that. Nothing is taking up CPU usage. I have SMC Fan Control and fan speed is 0 all the time...so I think my next step is to replace the fan.
Click to expand...

Sounds like it, can you hear the fan running at all on your Mac? Another thing you try is seeing if the fan cable has come loose.
 
Disregard previous post, I didn't realize you meant that CPU use was 95+% idle. I thought you meant 95% was in use by something.. how odd.

----------



Aside from the fan itself, it could be the fan's heat sensor or even a faulty heatsink or thermal paste..
(sorry about throwing a multiplicity of possibilities at you)
 
TheIguana said:
Sounds like it, can you hear the fans running at all on your Mac? Another thing you try is seeing if the fan cable has come loose.
Click to expand...

I don't hear anything. The fans used to run all the time and be so loud that is was annoying. I'll try checking the fan cable to make sure it's not loose.

I just remembered that I tried examining the fan several months ago, but the fan screw is stripped..now I remember why I didn't replace it before. So, if the fan is dead and can't be replaced is the only other option to replace the motherboard?
 
Try removing the stripped screw with a rubber band or by gently sawing a line into it and removing it with a flathead screwdriver?

strippedscrew01_rect540.jpg
 
m0no said:
Yeah, I do that. Nothing is taking up CPU usage. I have SMC Fan Control and fan speed is 0 all the time...so I think my next step is to replace the fan.
Click to expand...

Uhm, I would start by deleting SMC Fan Control, then resetting the SMC. Install something like iStatPro that tells you the current fan speed.
 
m0no said:
I don't hear anything. The fans used to run all the time and be so loud that is was annoying. I'll try checking the fan cable to make sure it's not loose.

I just remembered that I tried examining the fan several months ago, but the fan screw is stripped..now I remember why I didn't replace it before. So, if the fan is dead and can't be replaced is the only other option to replace the motherboard?
Click to expand...

If the fan has died the best thing you can do to get your temps down is to devise a way to get the stripped screw out and replace the fan.

Replacing the logic board won't solve the heat problem because you still won't have a mechanism to exhaust the heat.
 
thundersteele said:
Uhm, I would start by deleting SMC Fan Control, then resetting the SMC. Install something like iStatPro that tells you the current fan speed.
Click to expand...

smcFanControl does tell you the current fan speed and it can control them with better accuracy and stability then other fan control programs for Mac OS X.
 
m0no said:
Thanks. I will try that.
Click to expand...

Depending on which of the three fan screws it is, if worst comes to worst you could always dig a trench around the screw and grip it with some mini-pliers as seen in my thread from last night:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1300614/

----------
thundersteele said:
Uhm, I would start by deleting SMC Fan Control, then resetting the SMC. Install something like iStatPro that tells you the current fan speed.
Click to expand...

What's wrong with SMCfancontrol?
I've heard only positive things about it in the past?
 
Thanks for the suggestions. I was able to get the screw out! The rubberband trick didn't work, but I was able to use a small knife and carve a groove until I was able to turn the screw with the knife. Inside the fan was a big dust ball. CPU is surprisingly cool now, ~50c, but I did have it off for a bit while working on the fan and it was on a cool surface. I'll just wait and see if the fan comes on now.
 
Dust and Lint are a problem in all computers that reminds me i need to actually clean the fan on my macbook i have not done it once since i got it i have cleaned the fan in my mini several times.
 
that can work but i still like to get to the fans and take them apart enough to get the dust and lint out and if you have a cat the hair from it that float around
 
orvn said:
I just fire compressed air at it from time to time!
Click to expand...

I do use compress air occasionally, but apparently that didn't help. I couldn't even tell this large dust ball was in the fan until I took it out.
 
So does the fans now work i hate to see what a fan assembly cost for a macbook pro 15 oops my bad just re read the op post he said 13 in macbook pro but still hate to see the price of the fan
 
As long as we're on this subject, if anyone is having horridly high temps, the first thing I do to check to see if the fan is working is open the bottom panel, carefully turn the computer on (don't let the bottom touch any surface, the last thing you want to do is pop a capacitor or any chips off the board) and check to see if the fans are spinning. I realize this is probably a bit late, but maybe it can help someone else.
 
Well, I think it's safe to say the fan is dead. It doesn't come on and the macbook actually shut down due to overheating while viewing flash content. Current cpu temp is ~103C. I guess I'll start looking for a replacement...looks like those are about $60. Although, I am thinking of trying to sell this and put any proceeds towards a macbook air.

Update: I was able to order a fan for cheap, so hopefully this will fix it...instead of using ice packs when doing heavy cpu tasks:D
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back