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2.2 GHz (Turbo Boost up to 3.4 GHz) or 2.5 GHz (Turbo Boost up to 3.7 GHz) quad-core Intel Core i7 processor with 6MB shared L3 cache.

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I replaced the thermal paste, the MacBook died 2hrs later

I changed the thermal paste of my Macbook Pro 15” MID 2014 because I was experiencing high temperatures during rendering and I thought it might help after 5 years of use.

The replacement was completed. I turned on the MacBook again and everything was fine. I’ve been working for a few hours, then the system frozen and it restarted into a boot chime loop. I turned off the MacBook by pressing the power button. Since then, it’s almost dead.

I say “almost” because the only thing working are the fans. Tried connecting the magsafe and I can reset the SMC (I get the blinking LED on the magsafe connector) so I’m sure that the keyboard is working. Also the display is working, because sometimes, if I disconnect and reconnect the battery, I get the ‘out of battery’ notice.

Also, if I connect the magsafe, the MacBook turns on by itself and you can hear the fan starting spinning. Apart from this, nothing happens. The heatsink starts getting hot as well.What happened?!

UPDATE (02/03/2021)

The thermal paste I’ve used is Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut.I think the first time I applied it, there was a little bit too much.

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So I decided to remove the black sticker because I assumed that some of the original thermal paste was still underneath, and I was right. You clearly see the two layers here.

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The Grizzly was a 1g pack, so I had to buy another one, and I’ve got the Arctic MX-4 now. I cleaned everything and I reapplied. This is how it looks now

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UPDATE (02/04/2021)

I have some news. I did a deep cleaning on the CPU.

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The one thing you were mentioning was not “wet”, but some glue residue from the black adhesive I removed. I cleaned everything and I tried also to remove all the TIM deposits between the small chips. Then I reapplied a very small portion of TIM.

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I tried to turn on the MacBook. It’s still not working, but this time (it happened a very few times in these days) it showed me the “out of battery” alert. I tried connecting the Magsafe (Once again, it turns on by itself as soon as I connect the power supply) but nothing happens. Fans running at minimum speed and nothing happening.

Answer this question I have this problem too

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Time to assess your TIM who's did you use and you'll need to pop off the heatsink to inspect how it laid. Take some pictures before you clean it off so we can see what got covered Adding images to an existing question

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Added the images now. Thanks for your time. There's still some glue on the borders, but I don't think this is causing the boot problem since the glue was there since day 1 to hold the black sticker.

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Well I fear you still over did the paste ;-{

The squeezed out can get onto the small SMT devices which are on the carrier. It appears some of the SMT devices are wet with TIM. Carefully pull the logic board out and clean off the chip surfaces again and I would use a chargeable spray can with 85% or better isopropyl alcohol so you can blast the TIM from around the SMD devices out.

Use less TIM, remember it only needs a very thin coat on the black silicon chips. Think how you would coat a screw thread with oil its not the quantity it’s the coverage.

Update (02/03/2021)

Here’s the areas that need cleaning. You don’t want to scrub as you can lift the small SMD devices off very easily! Use this it’s what I would use Refillable Spray Can Rechargeable Air Spray with a snorkel tube to constrate the stream.

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Update (02/04/2021)

Ouch! I’m not sure but I think you knocked off a few SMD devices! Looking at these two images compare the before and the after

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Hopefully is the picture quality!

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But if you check the second image, you can see the original TIM applied from Apple (the dark layer) that was all over the circuits, and the Macbook was working smoothly. So my question is: can “overdoing the paste prevent the macbook from boot?”

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Different TIM's have different electrical effect! Apple was using a non-conductive and non-capacitive product. Many of the 3rd party products are! Some more so than others.

Basically, you need to paint within the lines when you paint by numbers ;-{

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@danj But the one that I'm using now should be non-conductive. Anyway, could you please mark on the image which parts you think are still wet and need some cleaning? I would be very grateful. Also, I never pulled the logic board out because the heatsink is easily reachable. Do you think I should pull out now to also clean on the other side?

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@danj I added an update to my thread. Followed your suggestions but still nothing happens, apart from the 'out of battery' alert :(

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I’ve checked the two pictures you compared but I don’t see much difference. It’s probably the different light when I shot the picture. So, what do you think is happened? Should I replace the logic board?

Anyway, fans are spinning and display sometime shows the “battery” alert. Also keyboard is working because I can reset the SMC (I get the blinking magsafe led)

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I had this exact same thing happen to me. It turned out that my battery failed 2 hours after I installed the thermal paste, either by a coincidence or maybe unplugging it from the board caused it. My MacBook wouldn’t start but once I unplugged the battery from the board and connected the charger, it worked perfectly. I ordered a new battery and my MacBook has been working ever since.

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