MacBook Pro 15" A1260 won't power on

[alecw19]

MacBook Pro 2007 - yesterday was working fine, closed the lid and unplugged from charger. About an hour later tried to use it, it was powered off...when attempting to power on, it starts for about 1-2 seconds then shuts off. (When I say it "starts" that just means I can hear fans spinning and the hard drive, screen is black and within 2 seconds of hitting the power button it "clicks" off).

If you hold down the power button for a few seconds it will stay powered on but the LED on the front flashes, when you release power button it shuts off. I have tried removing the battery and it does the same thing. The battery had a full charge and powering up with just the battery connected does the same thing.

Today I purchased a brand new Magsafe 85w charger - no change in behavior. I have tried everything that Apple says to do, all the resets, removing battery/charger and holding down power button. I have removed and swapped out the RAM.

The odd thing is that when I remove the RAM and hit power, the laptop will stay powered on and the fans will spin, but of course nothing boots and it makes a sound like a car horn continuously. It does not shut off unless I manually power it down.

There has never been any water damage or other physical damage to this machine and it hasn't shown any other signs of trouble in the past. I disassembled the laptop and looked for any obvious signs...nothing. I was able to pull the hard drive to get my data so I know the hard drive is working.


So the question is...do I need a new logic board or is it just the power board? If its not the motherboard, I can do the work, I'm a computer tech but don't deal with MacBooks normally.

I can take it to the Apple store but its not close to my home so I want to try everything possible on my own first - and there's no warranty or Apple Care.

 

[yusukeaoki]

It really does seem like an logic board problem.
Have you tried PRAM, smc reset?

If yes and it didnt work, it must be the logic.
I really suggest going to the Apple store to get it checked out at least.

 

[alecw19]

It really does seem like an logic board problem.
Have you tried PRAM, smc reset?

If yes and it didnt work, it must be the logic.
I really suggest going to the Apple store to get it checked out at least.

PRAM and SMC resets were done and didn't work. I was hoping that someone else has experienced the same exact issue so they would know what needed to be done to fix it.

 

[refosco]

It looks like you're having the GPU issue: basically the nvidia chip is bugged and it heats way too much causing some kind of desoldering from the mainboard. There was a class action about it and Apple had for a couple of years a logic board substitution program. Unluckily for you the program ended last december

Anyway you've many ways to get past the issue and get back your MBP running:

a) find on ebay some shop that makes the chip substitution (not only the reflow or reball): it costs between 150/200€ here in Europe;

b) buy a new logic board: with some luck you can find something below 300€ or sellers that are offering exchange programs for discounts;

c) DIY: put the mainboard in a oven or with a heatgun warm up the nvidia chip area. There are many tutorials on the internet and it works. But the results may differ... somebody had it working just for few days other for years.

Just for fun I got from a friend a MBP a1260 with the same issue, played a bit with the heatgun and brought it back to life. Actually it's my new laptop