Xbox 360 freezing is a very common problem. In fact, close to 1 million people are dealing with Xbox 360 freezing. In an official Microsoft announcement in July 2007, Microsoft admitted that 5% of all consoles sold are failing and the rest have a chance of failure.
If you would like some help with Xbox 360 freezing, and would like to repair your Xbox 360 once and for all, this article is for you.
The cause of Xbox 360 freezing
Your green lights will turn into 3 red lights that begin flashing when your GPU (graphics processing unit) comes loose. The GPU (which is on the motherboard) comes loose as the motherboard heats up. As the motherboard heats up it begins to vibrate. These vibrations loosen the soldering holding the GPU in place, and every time it comes loose you get your Xbox 360 freezing up.
This article will help you with Xbox 360 overheating and freezing, but before you do anything, know this: the towel fix you may have read about is bogus. It will damage your Xbox 360 and make the problem worse. 94% of red light error Xbox 360s do not need new parts, just a little tweak to fix them.
If you use the “towel” fix, you risk permanent damage and you may no longer be able to repair your Xbox 360 freezing on your own (you will need to send it in for repairs). You have been warned.
How To Fix Xbox 360 Freezing Up
Before we being, I suggest you see a professional Xbox 360 repair guide with videos and picture. A professional Xbox 360 freezing repair guide will show you everything step by step, which can really help you through this process.
Here is how to fix Xbox 360 freezing:
1. Take your case apart. Using a fine tip poker, poke the grayed out holes (they are the latches holding it together) and at the back poke the tiny rectangle holes. Take the faceplate off and move the latch up on the DVD drive up as you remove it. Unscrew the metal case that is just under the plastic case.
2. Take the DVD drive out and unplug the cables.
3. Take the fan off and the motherboard out.
4. Flip the motherboard over, and, using the poker, pry off the X-clamp under the heat sink by popping up the corners. The heat sink is the big silver box with slits in it.
5. Unscrew the heat sink to reveal the CPU and GPU.
6. Clean the GPU and CPU (critical step to stopping Xbox 360 freezing)
7. Apply arctic silver thermal compound (you can find a $1 tube of this at any computer store) generously over the GPU.
8. Let it set for 15 minutes.
9. Put 2 nylon washers on each of the screws from the heat sink. Put the screws back in the motherboard. Now, with the screws pushing up through the motherboard, add 2 more nylon washers to the screws.
10. Put the heat sink on top of the screws, pushing them down a little, then screw them up. Make sure they are tight. This is will really help with Xbox 360 freezing.
11. Put everything back together. Turn it on.
There, you should now have fixed your Xbox 360 freezing.
If you need help with pictures or videos, again, I suggest you check out an Xbox 360 freezing repair guide.
Xbox 360 freezing repair guides are fairly cheap, around $25, and they save you over $100 from sending it into Microsoft. Plus, Xbox 360 freezing repair can take up to 6 weeks if you send it in.
Whatever you do, don’t do nothing. Xbox 360 freezing will not go away on it’s own. Once you get Xbox 360 freezing, you will keep getting the 3 flashing red lights until you fix your system.
Best of luck fixing your Xbox 360 freezing problem!