Thread: XBOX 360 Red Ring Repair Guide 2

I found this guide on another forums on how to fix the Xbox 360 RRoD, it seems different to the other guides already posted, plus on of them some of the links to the pictures no-longer worked so I thought I would post it here.


XBOX 360 Red Ring Repair Guide

As there are many guides and people don’t know which to use I have decided to give you a method I can confirm works with 95% of RROD 360’s.
I believe this is by far the best method.
Ok let’s start with things you’ll need

1. Tap & Die set that includes M5 x .08 (Metric) or 10/32 (Imperial)
2. Matching M5 x .08 or 10/32 nuts (preferably locking nuts.)
3. thermal paste

Total price for all of the above will be around £10 GBP but you can repair unlimited XBOX 360’s with it. as we will be using the tools to modify the original 360 hardware.

Ok firstly you will need to take the XBOX 360 apart and strip it down to the motherboard. I won’t go into details on how to do that exactly as there are countless youtube videos and tutorials all over the internet.

Now you have the motherboard out you need to remove the X-Clamp from under the GPU the GPU is under the flat silver rectangular heatsink not the tall one


Remove by inserting a screwdriver in the small gap at the end of x-clamp

Once the X-Clamp is removed you can lift the rectangular heatsink from the motherboard. It should look like this

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Clean all the old thermal paste from the heatsink.Use either pure alcohol or I use WD40. Spray on heatsink and wipe with cloth or tissue till all remains of the thermal paste are gone. Then use same again pure alcohol or WD40 on a Q-Tip or some tissue and wipe the top of the GPU on the motherboard (Spray the tissue or q-tip DO NOT spray anything directly onto the chip itself). Both dies should shine like a mirror.

You then need to remove the legs from the heatsink with a spanner/socket and use the Die to thread the legs.

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place leg in socket and ratchet to prevent it from turning. or preferably in a nut in a vice so as not to damage the leg.
Place Die over leg and apply a small amount of pressure and rotate to start the threading process

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Reinsert the newly threaded legs back into your cleaned heatsink so it looks like this

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Place a very small amount of Thermal Paste onto both dies of the GPU and resit the heatsink on top of the GPU. Then tighten the heatsink in place with M5 x .08 nuts or 10/32 be sure to finger tighten first and then tighten with a socket but a small amount on each corner in diagonals. Much like you would tighten a car wheel. Do not tighten 1 side all the way then do the other or your heatsink will not be flat. When it’s finished it should look like this

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Now reinsert the motherboard and replace the silver screws (not the 8 black ones for X-Clamp). Plug the DVD rom back in and the AV lead and Power lead and small front board and turn on.

1 of 3 things will happen

1. green lights will come on and all is well (start to replace black screws looking for 3 in this list)

2. You still have red ring. If this is the case then unplug the fans from motherboard (4 pin block) and turn the 360 on and leave it for approx 5-10 mins till the 3 red lights turns into 2 red lights. This means the XBOX has overheated. This overheat is usually just enough to reflow the solder balls under the GPU that cause the RROD. Allow to cool for 15-20 mins. Replug the fans and retry you should now get the green lights. If not repeat this step

3. You almost immediately get 2 red lights and the fans go into overdrive. This means that some of the central screws are too tight. which is trying to straighten a warped board. This is generally the 8 black ones in the middle. If you get the instant 2 red lights and fans going mad try removing the 4 from CPU (not GPU) if it still gives the 2 red lights remove the 4 from the GPU

Once you get the screws all back in place (small black screws are optional but better in than out to prevent any future warping) and have the green lights your XBOX will be as good as new. Like I say I have repaired countless and this method is by far the best. The reason being there are other methods available and all involve replacing the X-Clamp but they are usually replaced by removing the heatsink legs completely and inserting a screw and 2 washers. The 2 washers are an approximate size of the nut part on the heatsink legs (the nut part of the leg you used to remove it) because this method uses the same legs there is no need to worry about the spacing as we are using the original XBOX 360 hardware..

Optional – do the exact same thing as above to the CPU (this will almost always have no effect at all on the 360 performance but what it does do is remove the X-Clamps altogether which is what causes the RROD in the first place as the X-Clamps design will warp the motherboard. The latest batch of 360’s do not have any X-Clamps. This warping breaks the solder connection under the GPU which is what causes the RROD. This method will make a tighter connection with the heatsink and GPU which is usually good enough to flatten the board around the GPU and stop the RROD. If the board was very warped and a solder ball did in fact break a connection then you will probably have to overheat the motherboard to reflow that solder ball.

If I manage to save 1 person the price of a new XBOX 360 then this guide was worth it lol...have fun and many extra happy months on your XBOX. Thanks to Tortuga who showed me this method.

This method is also good for freezing/jerky gameplay.(your only a few games away from RROD anyway)
It is also good to do this method before you get the RROD as a preventative measure to stop you getting the RROD before it happens.