The Easy Guide To Opening The Xbox 360
Posted on 24/04/2008 under Old Guides
- A Torx screwdriver – sizes 9 & 10 (try ebay or hardware shop)
- Something thin, strong and pointy (for rear case clips)
- A small flathead screwdriver
1 – The Untouched Console
Make sure there is no disc in the drive, and the power is off.
2 – Remove The Facia
Hook your finger inside the USB port door, and ‘pop’ off the facia. It will come off no problem.
3 – Remove The Grills
You now need to remove the top and bottom grills. Pull the front of the grill out away from the console, it should come off with a little effort. The grill is then held in place by the four remaining clips, which can be seen if you look through the little holes on either side of the console. These can be unclipped with a small screwdriver.
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4 – Undo Front Case Clips
This is now your last chance to back out of opening the console before breaking the warranty sticker on the case! The four case clips shown in the image below now need to be unclipped. This can be done with a fingernail or screwdriver.
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5 – Undo back Case Clips
This for me is a bit of a pain – not particularly difficult, but I didn’t know what the hell I was supposed to be doing when I did it the first time! Once you have the case open, you’ll see how the clips work. You will need something flat and strong for this (a flathead screwdriver probably won’t fit). There are tools around specifically for this (check out ebay) but I just use an old pair of tweezers because they are just thin enough.
6 – Remove The Eject Button And DVD Bezel
The button is clipped onto the DVD drive. You should be able to get a small flathead screwdriver round the back, and prise it off.
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7 – Undo Case Screws
Once you have the bottom of the case of, you will see the following
Red – Torx 10 Motherboard screws Green – Torx 10 Case screws Blue – Torx 9 Heat sink screws
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8 – Remove The DVD
Unplug the power and SATA cables from the back of the dvd. They should come out with a bit of a tug.
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9 – Remove Fan And Fan Guard
The piece of metal above the fan needs to be bent up slightly as shown in the picture. With a bit of ‘wiggling’ the cream fan guard will come off, and the fan can be unplugged and removed.
10 – Remove The Ring Of Light
The cream plastic cover is clipped into the circuit board at the top and bottom. You can unclip this and remove.
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11 – Remove The Motherboard
You can now turn the console upside down. Whilst making sure the motherboard does not fall out once free – unscrew the remaining Torx 9 & 10 screws from the bottom of the console.
Have a faulty laser its not reading most discs but one it does any suggestions email me please
Hi i have a faulty front case when i clip it on the power button doesnt work it not conecting is easily fixed
I opened the Xbox to the point where I’m at the metal box inside but one of the case screws is stuck and the part where I put the screwdriver is cracked so I can’t unscrew it. Is there any way I can fix this, thank you.
Gee thanks for the help except you need a T8 not a T9 so after lookin everywhere for a T8 then realizing i need a T9 kinda pissed me off.
I see to have trouble getting the bezel off it slides but in the direction of the casing and I also have a black x box does this change how I take it apart
Great instructions – struggled with the back as you say.
Managed to get the DVD drive and dismantle it in order to get game out – more value currently than the xbox.
Still got two rings – so not sure which part needs attention.
Thanks
Thanks a lot for posting the article. Worked like a charm. First time I had opened up my XBox 360, but not the first time I’ve had the RROD. Last time it was under warranty though. In any case, fixed it using the technique of replacing the heat sink X-clips with screws. So far so good.