Fan on and overheating

Hello:

I have a Macbook Pro (mid 2010) that I bought really cheap ($400).

First of all, here are the specs:

Macbook Pro 13"
2.66 GHz
320 HD
8GB RAM

The problem I am having is overheating and the fan always on. iStat shows RPMs up to 6,200 and CPU temp up to 120-140 F. The other temps are up as well. The RPMS sometimes go down to a more normal 2,000, but the longer it is on, the more heated it gets, even if no load is placed on it at all.

Today I opened it up, removed the fan, blew it out, hoping that would take care of it. Well, it helped for a while. Then, the temps crept back up. On my other Mac (same year, almost identical specs), I removed the fan from that one, which has no problems, and switched. This did not remedy the problem either. The temps still crept back up and eventually the fan started to run and run. So, it seems as though the fan isn't the problem. Does anyone have any ideas? The price on the laptop was good and so I bought it. My wife and I already have Macs, so my intention is to sell it. I didn't know it had issues until I brought it home.

Thanks!

Dave

dave062098 said:

The problem I am having is overheating and the fan always on. iStat shows RPMs up to 6,200 and CPU temp up to 120-140 F.

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120-140°F really is not that hot for a laptop...so this would not be overheating.

The variation in fan rpm's is most likely due to changes in demand (depending on what you're doing).

Also...$400 bucks for a mid-2010 MacBook Pro is a pretty darn good price...and being the suspicious person that I am sometimes...I wouldn't think someone would sell it for such a low price...unless they knew something was wrong with it.

So if you're truly having over-heating problems...I might think it could be related to the LOW $400 price (which could mean something is wrong).

- Nick

Yea, 40-60ºc is well.. normal operating temperature.

Does anyone have any ideas? The price on the laptop was good and so I bought it. My wife and I already have Macs, so my intention is to sell it. I didn't know it had issues until I brought it home.

Click to expand...

Sounds like it could be a defective temperature sensor, but then again, it could be something else. However, the temperature sensor is easy enough to change out and won't cost you a fortune to find out. Go to iFixit: The free repair manual for instructions on how to change it out.

Here is a good read with some helpful info

The Official "My MacBook/Air/Pro is overheating, what do I do?" Guide

Cheers

Thanks for the advice. I haven't checked out the links yet, but I will.

I iStat and smcFanControl installed on both Macs I have (both Mid 2010). Yes, $400 is a suspiciously low price for a Mac, and I definitely suspected there would be something wrong. When I initially looked at it, it seemed fine, but that was in a parking lot of Walmart where we met, so what do you expect. LOL. The price was right.

Currently, my "good" Mac is running at about 41 C with the default fan speed. Normal. The other Mac "the bad one" is actually running cooler 31 -33 C, but that is with the cover off or at least propped up. When the cover is closed, within seconds the fan moves up to overdrive at 6,200 RPM, performance suffers, even though the temperatures don't really budge much.

So far, I have removed the cover, cleaned the fan, removed the logic board and replaced the heat sink paste, and blew out the system the best I could. Still, the same as when I bought it.

So, back to the drawing board.

UPDATE:

I checked out the links. It would be nice if it were the thermal sensor, because it would indeed be a cheap fix. I haven't been able to find the sensor anywhere. I see at least one sold on eBay, but don't see it.

This link suggests a logic board replacement:
MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Troubleshooting - iFixit

But, in my case, the system boots and runs quite normally until the bottom cover is over it, so that leads me to not think there is anything wrong with the logic board.

My fear is that the only solution would be to replace the logic board, which would be too much and would just sell it as is.

Or, I could just leave the cover off and everything is fine! LOL