How To Fix 1 & 3 Red Lights Xbox 360
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Guide Provided By: Gaming Generations
Estimated Time: 15min - 45min
Experience Level: Beginner
Items Needed: T8 torx screwdriver, T10 torx screwdriver, Xbox 360 Opening Tool (Optional but recommended), Thermal paste (optional but recommended), 16 washers, 8 screws, pliers, Small knife (optional), Q Tips (optional), Goof Off (optional) old credit card (optional).
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Red lights are the most common issue with Xbox 360 consoles. The main cause of this has to due with faulty solder used under the GPU chip on the motherboard. To be able to produce this system, lead free solder was a requirement that Microsoft had to abide by. Over time as current runs through lead free solder it slowly corrodes. There are hundreds of solder balls connecting the GPU/CPU chip to the motherboard. Once one of these solder balls disconnects from the motherboard you will most likely experience red lights. We looked at this in our forums a while back HERE. In this guide we are going to attempt to re-flow the solder w/ using basic equipment that you may already have. If you have issues w/ this guide working, please go to the bottom as more in depth measures can be taken.
1) Grab your necessary tools. The picture below does not show everything being used in this guide. You can purchase the 3 red light kit from us HERE.
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2) As you can see this Xbox 360 already has a custom case on it. We will take this case off and re-apply it.
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3) Start by taking off the hard drive if necessary. There is a small button, just push it down and pull up on the sides of the hard drive to remove.
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4) Put your fingers in the tab and pull back w/ a bit of force. The faceplate should snap off. Be careful not to pull to hard as you do not want to break the face plate.
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5) Now on to the most difficult part. There are hidden tabs inside of the case underneath the "Heat Panels". You can easily get at them with your opening tool. Look inside the case where the red marks are located below and you can see the tabs you need to press.
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6) In this picture you can see exactly where the tabs are located and how to effectively use the opening tool. The picture below is from XCM's official guide. Once you're done with this heat panel move on to the hard drive heat panel.
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7) This side is more difficult because you really cannot get to the 2 tabs on the front part of the heat panel. The easiest way I have found is to pull up with force on the front. A quick hard pull and both tabs should snap right up and wallah.
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8) Now finish up taking off the heat panel by pushing in the last 4 tabs. Note that one of the tabs is hidden under a rubber pad, you may need to remove the pad to get to the tab. The picture below is again from XCM's official guide.
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9) You should now have both heat panels off.
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10) Now we are going to work on taking the top case off. There are 4 buckles that need to come unlatched. Using a small sharp object like a knife makes it easy to unlatch the buckles.
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11) All 4 buckles should now be slightly unlatched.
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12) Now it's time to put your opening tool to the test. On one side there are 5 tabs on the back of the Xbox 360 that all need to be pressed at once in order to release this side of the case. Put in the opening tool like below, then push and gently pull up at the same time. The case should come unlocked. Try to make sure the buckles in front do not re-latch again during this process.
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13) Now onto the other side. There are only 2 tabs to push in on this side. Sometimes it is difficult to hit the tabs, usually this is because the top case is pulled up to high on the other side or in front. Push it back down as low as you can w/out putting the tabs and buckles back in place and then try getting at the tabs again. If you cannot get it, you can yank the case off but it will most likely break.
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14) Now that the tabs and buckles are unlatched you should be able to pull off the top of the case.
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15) There are screws you need to take out with your Torx 10 screwdriver. They are indicated below.
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16) Having fun yet?
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17) After all 6 screws are removed, flip the Xbox 360 over. Pull up the case BUT make sure you pull back on the eject button before pulling it up like shown below. You can just completely take off the eject button as you will be replacing it most likely anyways.
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18) This is what the inside of your Xbox 360 will look like. The drive may be different!
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19) Un-snap the ring of light plastic piece.
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20) Take out the 3 black torx screws with your T8 screwdriver.
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21) Pull off the wireless PCB (ring of light).
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22) Cut the little strip holding the drive down.
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23) Pull out the 2 cables connected to the drive and remove the drive.
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24) Pull off the fan shroud.
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25) Unplug the fan.
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26) There are 2 tabs holding the fan in place. Pull up on the metal and the tabs should come loose releasing the fan.
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27) Pull the fan out.
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28) Flip over the xbox 360 and take out the remaining torx screws shown below.
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30) Pull out the motherboard.
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31) Your motherboard should now be releasesed from the chassis. Below the GPU & CPU heatsinks are labeled.
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32) Flip the motherboard over. You can now see the famous "X-Clamps". The X-Clamps hold down the CPU & GPU heatsinks.
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33) Using your pliers, gently pull up on the corners of the X-Clamps. Be careful not to scratch the board when doing this. Below I am taking off the X-Clamp holding down the GPU heatsink.
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34) Remove the X-Clamp.
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35) You will now be able to completely remove the GPU heatsink.
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36) Now take off the X-Clamp holding down the CPU heatsink.
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37) Remove the GPU heatsink.
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38) Twist off the 4 pieces on the CPU heatsink shown below.
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39) You can easily accomplish this by twisting them off with a pliers or something similar. Now twist off the 4 pieces on the CPU heatsink as well!
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40) PLEASE NOTE: Steps 40-60 are completely optional! Only do these steps if you are applying new thermal paste. Grab an old credit card.
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41) Take off the thermal paste using your card.
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42) You can easily finish taking off the thermal paste using a Q-tip and goof off or something similar.
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43) Below is a good example of how the heatsink should look after the old thermal paste is completely removed.
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44) Now it's time to do the same thing to the GPU heatsink.
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45) Using Q-tip and goof off.
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46) Heatsink is clean.
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47) Now it's time to clean the old thermal paste off of the GPU & CPU chips.
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48) The old thermal paste has dried away, let's clean it up.
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49) Using your Q-tip and Goof Off, wipe all of the thermal paste away.
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50) The GPU should now be clean.
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51) Onto the CPU.
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52) Q-tip and Goof Off.
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53) The CPU should now be clean.
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54) Both chips are now clean and ready for new thermal paste.
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55) Re-applying thermal paste is very easy to do.
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56)
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57) Put a small amount on the chip and rub it on with your finger. DO NOT cake it on. A light layer is perfect.
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58) The thermal paste you applied should look like below.
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59) Put a thin layer on the GPU heatsink.
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60) Put a thin layer on the CPU heatsink.
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61) Grab your 8 screws. Put 1 washer on each.
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62) Eight washers on eight screws.
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63) We will be working with the GPU first. Put the 4 washers on the top of the motherboard (one on each screw hole) like shown below.
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64) Put the GPU heatsink back on.
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65) Using 4 of your screws, screw down the heatsink.
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66) Hand tighten the screws. Do not over tighten them!
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67) Now moving onto the CPU. Put the 4 washers down on the motherboard like shown below.
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68) Put the heatsink back on.
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69) Put the 4 screws back in to hold down the heatsink.
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70) Tighten down the screws. Do not over tighten!
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71) All screws should now be in place like shown below.
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73) Plug back in your wireless pcb board.
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74) Plug in your powercord and AV cable.
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75) Turn the system on.
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76) You will get a green light initially.
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77) You may get red lights again, or the light may stay green and blink. At any rate, do not turn the 360 off! We are overheating the Xbox 360 on purpose.
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78) While we are waiting for the Xbox 360 to overheat, you can start throwing away some stuff. Out of the parts below, keep 3 of the black screws, throw the rest away.
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79) Throw away the faulty X-Clamps.
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80) During the overheat process, the GPU & CPU heatsinks will get very hot. The process takes anywhere from 5 - 30 minutes.
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81) When your Xbox 360 is finished overheating it will show 2 red lights like shown below. This indicates it is done overheating.
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82) Unplug the powercord.
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83) Let your Xbox 360 sit for about 10 minutes.
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84) Turn your Xbox 360 back on and you hopefully will get green lights! If not go to the bottom for more in depth things you can try.
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85) If you got green lights, you are ready to put your Xbox 360 back together. Pull off the wireless PCB board.
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86) Put the motherboard back on.
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87) Put only 4 torx screws back in to hold the motherboard in place. Look below for the locations.
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88) Plug the wireless PCB back in.
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89) Grab your 3 black screws you saved and screw back in the wireless PCB board.
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90) Snap back on the piece shown below.
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91) Put the fan back in.
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92) Plug the fan in.
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93) Put the fan shroud back in.
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94) Plug back in the 2 drive cables.
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95) You are almost done! Now let's put the case back on.
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96) Put the top case on and put on the eject button. Note this picture was taken from XCM's guide. The color of the eject button does not relate to this guide. Now flip over your Xbox 360.
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97) This step is entirely optional, you do not have to put the screws back in if you do not want.
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98) Put the bottom cover back on. Make sure the tabs are all snapped together correctly and that the front buckles are latched back together properly.
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99) Put the hard drive heat panel back on.
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100) Put the opposite side heat panel back on.
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101) Snap on the front faceplate.
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102) Snap your hard drive back in (if you have one).
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103) You should now have a working Xbox 360!
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MORE IN DEPTH STEPS IF ABOVE TUTORIAL DID NOT WORK
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1) When you get red lights, normally the problem lies within the GPU. What you can do is plug the fan in and manually hold it over the CPU heatsink to keep it cooler. This way when you overheat the system you are maximizing the overheat on the GPU chip.
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2) If the above step does not work, it's time to get out your heat gun. If you do not know what a heat gun is, Google it. Put your heat gun on high and hit the section on the board shown in the below picture (bottom of the GPU) for about 45 seconds. Stay at least 1 inch away from the board and keep moving the heat gun around in a circular motion. Never leave it in the same place for a long period of time as it may damage the board.
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3) If you are still having issues, we can try to relieve some of the board flex. This can be accomplished by drilling out the chassis where the screws sit. If you do not want to drill, you can use a puncher (or a philips screwdriver w/ a larger head) and pound down the holes a bit with a hammer. Your goal is to make the board sit flush in the chassis.[size=13]
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As you can see in the picture below, the screw heads sit perfectly in the drilled chassis. Again this reduces board flex as the screw heads are able to sit flat in the chassis w/out making the motherboard flex.
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