The famous Xbox 360 'Red Ring of Death', E74, no picture, no sound, freezing, crashing, and overheating are all caused by the same problem.
The solder underneath the GPU is of low quality, and is lead free and thus over time as the chip heats up and cools down on a repetitive cycle, the solder becomes fatigued and eventually breaks, severing the connection from GPU to motherboard. The way to fix this is the well known X-clamp removal process. This involves removing the heatsinks, doing away with the X-clamp retention system and replacing with standard bolts through the motherboard which do actually screw straight into the heatsinks, placing much more pressure on the GPU and preventing it from lifting so much. Naturally, in the process, the heatsinks and chips are cleaned and new (better quality) thermal paste is applied.
However, by far and away the best way to fix these problems (and the most important in the repair) is to purposefully heat the GPU to a very high temperature, re-flowing the solder and re-establishing the connection. I often use a heatgun for this purpose. This way is also much more successful in repairing E74 errors, as this can be related to the HANA/ANA chip, which is located towards the back of the motherboard close to the A/V output.
The basic design of the Xbox 360 is flawed, with no where near enough GPU cooling (DVD drive is placed on top of a very, very small GPU heatsink) with very little airflow either into or out of the case. Subsequent to the original 2005 Xbox 360 consoles, Microsoft has tried to combat the problem by putting larger, heatpipe-extended heatsinks in to try and dissipate more heat, however this is largely unsuccessful and the failures persist.
Newer consoles are also more energy efficient and appear to generate less heat, however failures are still common and Microsoft still haven't completely addressed this issue.
This is a quick step-by-step guide that I've just come up with, with all the steps I would usually take to repair an Xbox 360:
Tools/items/equipment needed:
- Faulty Xbox 360 console (RROD, E74, No picture, image freezing, etc)
- Xbox 360 Power Supply/adaptor
- Xbox 360 A/V cable or HDMI cable can also be used for newer models (2007 on)
- Xbox 360 Special Tool (find these on eBay)
- Torx T8 and T10 drill bits or drivers
- X-clamp removal kit (8 bolts plus all washers etc) find these on eBay
- Decent thermal paste (do not use one included in kit!)
- Flat headed screwdriver
- Tissue/toilet paper (optional)
1) Remove faceplate
2) Remove top and bottom plastic grills using Xbox 360 Special Tool to release clips.
3) Use Xbox 360 Special Tool to open rear of case, left first then right.
4) Use stanley knife to carefully cut through warranty sticker
5) Use flat headed screwdriver to prise open tabs
6) carefully remove bottom casing
7) Using Torx T-10 drill bit or driver, remove all screws from bottom metal casing
8) Carefully remove top plastic and metal casing
9) Remove white plastic piece from the front switch panel/lighting board
10) Use Torx T-8 drill bit or driver to remove the 3 small black screws holding switch panel in place.
11) Remove DVD drive and eject button
12) Carefully lift DVD drive and unplug SATA and power cables from motherboard.
13) Remove DVD drive
14) Remove plastic fan cowling
15) Unplug and remove fan using flat headed screw driver to prise top of fan out first.
16) Carefully lift motherboard out of metal case, holding onto the CPU (right hand side) heatsink to lift.
17) Begin removing X-clamps. This part can be tricky if you have not done it before. Carefully use a small flat headed screwdriver underneath each corner of the X-clamp to prise the X-clamps off the board.
18) Using a pair of pliers, remove the studs from the base of both heatsinks
19) Clean both heatsinks and both chips with appropriate cleaning agent, I mostly just use white spirit on some tissue to remove the old dried on thermal paste.
20) Apply a thin layer of decent thermal paste onto the tops of both chips.
21) Set up all of your bolts with the correct number of washers (varies from kit to kit) and place them underneath the motherboard, through the holes.
22) Place the heatsinks on top of the motherboard and the bolts and carefully screw them in finger tight.
23) Using the correct tool, tighten up all of the bolts to a reasonable tightness, starting with one and moving diagonally across to the other side in order to ensure even pressure across the chip.
24) Now, the important part - reflowing the solder. Place the motherboard on a flat surface and re-attach the DVD drive, fans, and switch board. Place the DVD drive on top of the GPU in its normal position, and place the fan so that it is pushing cold air ONLY onto the CPU (right hand side heatsink). You can use tissue paper or a cloth to cover the GPU (left hand side) to ensure it does not receive any cooling. You want the GPU to get as hot as possible, so leave it running like this for at least 30 minutes. Don't worry, this won't do any harm whatsoever.
25) After 30 minutes have passed, turn the console off and very quickly take your tool and tighten all of the bolts another quarter of a turn whilst it is still hot. Be careful not to burn yourself on the heatsink, it will be VERY hot.
26) Let the console cool down. This will take between 10 and 15 minutes to cool all the way through.
27) Now's the time to try your luck. Make sure the DVD drive, fan and front panel are connected, and plug in the power and A/V cord to the back of the motherboard. If you're successful, you'll get a nice ring of green lights. If you've still got the red ring, the 1 red light or any of the other aforementioned errors, you need to re-heat the console again. If you have access to a heatgun, try using this on the backs of the chips. (Do this WITHOUT the heatsinks on, and WITHOUT any cables plugged in for about 45 seconds on full power)
Phew. That was a fun post. :good: