Three red lights fix

Repairing the xbox 360 from the 3 red lights is a lot easier then it seems, trust me! I know that anybody can do it all that it takes is some time and patience. The easeist way to do it is the x-clamp fix and is the best to do. Here are the tools needed to fix the 3 red lights. You can find out how to take apart your xbox here

THINGS NEEDED:

Torx Screwdrivers T8&T10
Pliers
Artic Silver Thermal Paste
Thermal Paste cleaner (nail varnish remover) and purifier
Thin flat bladed screwdriver
8 m5 10mm bolts
16 m5 steel washers
16 m5 1mm width nylon washers

Remember you can get the repair kit that has everything you need here

Ok let’s get started

You first are going to have to take apart your xbox which you can do here Once you have stripped your motherboard down to the motherboard you can get started. First thing you are going to do one is take off the x-clamps which are on the bottom of the motherbaord. These can be removed by Using a decent size flat head screwdriver, insert the blade into the slot at the end of one of the clamp legs where the clamp folds over. The flat part of the blade should be parallel to the board with the end of the blade touching the stud the clamp is holding onto. Now torque the screwdriver (Do not pry up) as if you were trying to loosen a screw. This should spread the fold in the clamp open and release it from the stud. It is very important not to pry as you could slip and gouge the board. Repeat the process on two more of the legs on the same X clamp. When three of the legs are free, the clamp should just come loose. Set the clamp off to the side. The heat sync is now free and can be pulled straight up and free from the top side of the board. Remember the orientation of the heat sync to the board. Set it off to the side. Repeat for the second x-clamp.

Cleaning time

Once you have the x-clamps removed you can proceed to the removal the old thermal past which is on the cpu and gpu. These are located underneath the heatsinks you just took off of the motherboard. To remove the thermal paste you are going to dip a q-tip in the thermal paste cleaner (or rubbing alcohol or nail varnish remover) and rub off the old thermal paste. Do this for both the gpu and cpu. Then once you are done cleaning it use some purifier on it to remove any old residue still left on it and it gets it looking shiny. Then you can proceed to cleaning the heatsinks of their old thermal paste, the thermal paste is right underneath the heatsinks.Use the same steps as above to clean the heatsinks.Once you have both looking sparkling clean and you can’t see any thermal paste residue you can move onto the next step.

Heatsink bolts

Next you will have to take out all of the screws which are still in the heatsinks. You can do this by using pliers or vise grips to grip the bolts and loosen them so you can take them off. Take off all four bolts on each heatsink and so that means you should have eight screws once you are all finished taking them out. You will not need these anymore but still just put to the side for right now.

Thermal paste

Once you have the heatsinks and gpu and cpu clean of any old thermal paste, and the old heatsink bolts off you can move onto this step. Get out your new thermal paste you got and put a single dot about the size of a grain of rice on the cpu and gpu that you cleaned. The taller and bronze colored heatsink will have two chips that you will have to put thermal paste on. Once the new thermal paste is applied you will have to spread it on the cpu and gpu evenly. You can do this with your finger or a credit card. Just make sure it is even and not to thick. When completed you can move onto the next step.

Resecure the heatsinks

We will now begin to re‐secure the heat syncs.Take all eight screws provided with your kit and place one steel flat washer on each screw. Now put one plastic washer on each screw on top of the steel washer. Set the screws (head down) so the washers will not fall off, in a location easy to access while working one handed. Stand the board on one end, take one screw and put it in a hole of the heatsink you want to start with, so the head of the screw is at the bottom of the board and the threads are sticking out of the top. Slide one plastic washer onto the threaded side of the screw you just put thru the board. Now slide one metal washer onto the threaded side of the screw. Repeat this procedure to the three remaining screws for the heat sync you are starting with. With all four screws and washers in place, put the heatsink into position on the board and start each screw in the correct hole. Keeping in mind the orientation the heatsink came off from. With all four screws started, gently snug them all the way down, but do not torque them all the way down yet. It should go like this, screw head, metal washer, plastic washer, motherboard, plastic washer, metal washer, heatsink. Repeat the above procedure for the second heatsink. This next step is critical that you follow these steps to a tee.

Reassemble to test

Place the motherboard back into the metal casing and hook up the DVD drive (power and sata cable both). Leave the fun unplugged and plug in the RF module but don’t screw it in. Put in the av cables and power cables.

Testing

First turn on the xbox and may get one of multiple things. It doesn’t matter what you get even if it turns on just fine and normal (green lights) you just have to wait until it gets the two red lights which means it is overheating. Once you get the two red lights you will need to run for exactly 2 minutes after you see the two red lights then power off. Let your console cool for about 15 minutes but make sure it is still warm when you perform this next step. Remove the RF module and unplug the DVD drive, power cable and av cable. Take the motherboard out of the case and give the heatsink screws one last torque to make sure they are nice and snug. Do not break the motherboard though. Be careful to not let the screw driver slip and scrape the motherboard which is not good. Once done let the motherboard cool completely. While you are waiting for it to cool completely you can hook everything back up. Once it is cool turn it on and check for green lights. If it comes on great job and you can now repair any xbox with rrod. Reassemble the xbox without the liitle black screws which hold the case to the heatsink (those are the torx 8 screws). If it still has red lights (which will happen 5%-10% of the time) then read below for more information on this.

Troubleshooting

** * This section is only needed if you don't achieve green lights on your first attempt. Some units (5‐10%) are more stubborn than others and will need a bit more attention. If this is the case with your particular unit, double check your screw torque and let's proceed to overheat the unit a bit longer using the following instructions.

Alternative X‐Clamp Repair Bake: From the testing process above, everything should already be plugged in but not completely re‐assembled. This alternative bake will focus more on the GPU. The idea here is to overheat the GPU for 10‐15 minutes. To accomplish this, we will need to keep the CPU as cool as we can to prevent the thermosistors from kicking in and shutting the system down. Let's start: Take the plugged in fan and sit it on top of the DVD drive and have one of the fans sitting over top the CPU (CPU has the tall copper heatsink). This should keep the CPU cool while we overheat the GPU. In addition, you could also use a hairdryer set on "cool" and blow it at the CPU alongside the fan too. Go ahead and power the unit on at this point and let it run at least 10‐15 minutes. What you want to keep an eye on is the lights. If you see the 3 Red Lights that good. The three red lights will be in sections 1, 3 and 4. If you start seeing two red lights in sections 1 and 3 then the CPU is not being kept cool enough. When this happens, the 360 shuts off power to the CPU and GPU and thus prevents it from getting hot. Assuming everything went fine with the 10‐15 reflow then go ahead and shut the unit off and let it completely cool down. About 15 minutes of cool down should be good. After the cooling down period, test for green lights again. If it still doesn't work at this point, re‐tighten the screws a bit more and repeat. If your unit still does not want to cooperate, all hope is not lost.