Its called the yellow light of death. The fix is really simple, but the taking the console can be complex. So if you are up to the challenge hear it is.
Things that you will need: Heat gun, non-corrosive liquid flux (Found at stores like Fry's and anyplace that sells PC boards, also sold online at www.amozon.com), 1 tube of Thermal compound, 1 bottle of rubbing alcohol, 2 different sizes jewelers screwdrivers 1 small and 1 medium, Torks 9 screwdriver(Not necessary but helpful to get the 1st outer top panel off), Phillips No. 2, Phillips No. 1, and a tiny Phillips the size you would use for eyeglasses.
NOTE: Only the 80g consoles with the multi-port SD card reader on the front. These models will have the Blue-Ray ribbon cable accessible without having to pull power supply 1st. You will also have to pull the card reader and Wi-Fi/USB board from the front in order to remove the power supply, the only tricky thing on the card reader board is the ribbon cable connected under the PC board that connects to the motherboard it needs to be disconnected before the card reader board is removed. Also on these models for the removal of the motherboard you will have to remove the ribbon cable, PC board, and mounting bracket from the on/off sensor on the front right part of the casing. Once you have the motherboard and heat-sink out turn the unit over and on the HDD cage there are 2 small screws that have to be removed before you can separate the 2 of them. Looking at the back where all the cables hook-up, the plastic backing needs to separated from the motherboard. Turn the motherboard over and you will see on the plastic backing has little clips that you can unsecure by hand so it can be removed.
1. Disconnect all cords, cable, etc.......
2. Pull your HDD.
3. Pull the 2 outer top covers off.
4. After the 2 outer top covers are off, unplug the Blue-Ray player from the motherboard its front side on the left side of the deck. Lift the player slowly there is 1 ribbon cable on the bottom of it. Depending on your what model of machine yours, it will unplug from the motherboard either left side towards the back under the player or directly underneath the component to the left of the player. To disconnect the cable (using your finger nail) put the edge of your nail under the plastic locking clamp and slowly pry up and then slide cable opposite of locking clamp.
5. Remove the Wi-Fi board from off the front of the console in addition to that there is a black wire that runs from the Wi-Fi board to the back of the machine that you will need to unscrew.
6. Remove all screws that are holding the power supply down. There is also a yellow and green wire at the back that you will have to unscrew, next remove the plug from the back of the power supply, finally place the tips of your fingers under both underneath sides of the power supply and pry gently until the component unplugs from the motherboard.
7. Remove all screws around the outer edge of metal cover of motherboard.
Does the lights blink red? If so, you
have the infamous YLOD, aka. Yellow Light of
Death. This is the number 1 cause of
pS3's dying. It is an overheating issue
linked to your CPU and GPU (the
processor chips) You will need to find a local PS3
repair shop who can repair this. Do not
try to attempt repairs seen on the internet yourself. You could make
things much worse and render the unit totally unresponsive.
The repair process takes about 3 hours.
486 questions posted
Usually answered in minutes!
27,926 Questions
9,005 Questions
4,769 Questions
1,255 Questions
1,155 Questions