Learning how to repair your XBox will save you some major money. Microsoft will not tell you how to fix these errors. They’ll ask you to send your system back to them for repair. The typical cost for a repair can be as much as $140 plus shipping and handling. Also – they do not always guarantee a fix!

As quoted from Microsoft themselves:

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) said Thursday it expects to spend more than $1 billion to repair widespread hardware problems in its Xbox 360 video game console after a large number of them broke down.

Microsoft said it would extend the warranty on the Xbox 360 to three years after too many of the consoles succumbed to “general hardware failure,” but the company provided few other details about the extent of the problems.

“We don’t think we’ve been getting the job done,” said Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft’s entertainment and devices division, which also makes the Zune digital music player. “In the past few months, we have been having to make Xbox 360 console repairs at a rate too high for our liking.” (end quote)

What Causes The 3 Lights Error?

There are a number of different reasons the 3 red lights error happens and below are the most common causes:

Cause 1: Overheating. This has got to be the most common cause of this error and the good thing is it can be easily resolved. If you think the Xbox 360 has got lots of very high end gaming components within, similar to a top of the range gaming PC.

The difference is that the Xbox 360 has them crammed in a much smaller space so will need lots of ventilation to be able to get rid of the heat it produces.

If you are keeping your Xbox 360 in a display cabinet with the doors shut, then you could and probably will run into this error, make sure that the 360 can breathe on all sides.

Cause 2: The GPU. This is a major talking point and no one is quite sure if this is gospel but a lot of resources blame the GPU and the special coating they put on it with in the Xbox.

Cause 3: Warping of the Motherboard. Another reason you may find yourself searching for an Xbox 360 repair guide is because the heat that the Xbox 360 lets out actually warps the motherboard. This would make the solders come loose and eventually you would end up with the 3 red lights.

It’s ironic that the majority of Xbox 360 owners have done just that, sending the units in for repairs and paying through the nose. I have found that most of the owners are technically savvy and could do the repairs themselves. Just as I found out the other day, when a friend of mine revealed to me that he had been purchasing broken Xbox 360’s, repairing them cheaply and reselling them. Uhmmmm……..I smell a potential little gold mine here.

XBOX 360’s can be tricky little systems. Great for gaming of course, but definitely a pain when it comes to technical problems…

There are several different forms of technical problems with the XBOX 360, the most common is the 3 flashing red lights sometimes called RRoD / Red Ring Of Death / Red Ring of Light amongst various other names. They can happen for a variety of different reasons such as over heating, loose cables etc.

All four sections are flashing red:

The A/V cable cannot be detected. You can try to solve this by making sure the A/V cable is properly connected to the console, disconnecting and reconnecting the A/V cable, use a dry wipe cloth to wipe the end of the A/V cable and if you have another A/V cable try to use it as a substitute.

Sections 1, 3 and 4 are flashing red:

This is the infamous RRoD/ 3 flashing red light / Red Ring of Death or whatever term you want to use for it. You are covered by Microsoft for 3 years after date of purchase for this kind of error, but it does take 4 -6 weeks to ship and return your console. If you want a different solution, check below.

Sections 1 and 3 are flashing red:

This is an overheated system, this is also caused by removing the heat sink from the GPU when reflowing air (A technique used when fixing XBOX 360 errors). Let the XBOX 360 FULLY cool, this could take up to 7 hours, do not under any circumstances place your console in the fridge or freezer in attempt to cool it faster. Extremely cold temperatures are just as bad if not worse and rapid cooling could cause condensation which can short your system.

Section 1 flashing:

This is usually accompanied by an on screen “E” error in the format, E-XX, XX being a 2 digit number. The most common of these errors, which is also very similar to the RRoD is the E74 Error. Unfortunatly, you are only covered for one year from date of purchase for these types of errors. If your not covered, or seek a different solution check below.

E45: -

E64: DVD Drive Error: Possibly DVD timeout, DVD lacking F/W chip, wrong xBox 360 firmware.

E65: DVD Drive Error: Possibly DVD timeout, DVD lacking F/W chip, wrong xBox 360 firmware. Can also be caused by tray not being fully closed.

E66: DVD Drive Error: DVD model, or version does not match that of the version expected by the dashboard. OR the firmware version on the drive is older then the firmware version expected by the dashboard. Make sure the DVD drive is of the same version originally included with the console and that it is using either the original firmware included with the console or newer.

Fix your XBOX 360 within 1 Hour!

The first thing you should know is why the 3 red lights happens in the first place and although there can be a number of different reasons the most obvious and most common is the Xbox overheating plain and simple!

There are a few ways that you can reduce the risk of ever needing an Xbox 360 3 Red Lights Fix and here are some tips that should keep your Xbox 360 running like clockwork:

Make sure that the console gets enough ventilation and if you keep the 360 in a display case then make sure the doors are open and it can get enough air.

Better still you could keep the Xbox out of the display case and this would make sure that it gets the air it needs on all sides.

Another thing that can help reduce the risk of the Xbox 360 3 Red Lights fix is if you keep the power brick that came with the Xbox up off the floor! Although this does sound a bit strange, in essence it will allow the power brick to get more air too and prevent the risk of overheating.

So you are probably wanting to know what has happened to your Xbox 360 if you suffer with the 3 red lights?

Well the reason you will find yourself looking for an Xbox 360 3 Red Lights Fix is because as the console takes more and more heat the chips on the motherboard heat up and the solders become loose on the motherboard.

Once the Xbox 360’s soldering becomes loose when you turn on the console you will be greeted with the 3 red lights of doom.

There is loads more info about the Xbox 360 3 Red Lights Fix at my blog which can be found here

Of course the good news in all of this is that Microsoft have seen the problem and said that they will repair all Xbox 360’s that suffer from this problem!

The only downside is that at the moment that could mean waiting up to 4-6 weeks for your console to be sent back to you.