2009 Mac Pro won't turn on, turns off

[rondocap]

So recently my 2009 Mac Pro has been turning off randomly. Now, I was able to get it to stay on for 20 minutes, then it turned off and now wont even start.

The power light wont even turn on - it clicks but nothing happens.

What could be the issue? It's been hot lately, and I do have 4 hard drives and an Nvidia 6870 gpu.

Even with cpu temp in the 30's, it still shutdown and wont turn on.

Is it the psu? What can I do?

 

[FrankHahn]

It may be caused most likely by the failing HDD. The failing GPU may be also a cause.

 

[prvt.donut]

It may be caused most likely by the failing HDD. The failing GPU may be also a cause.

Failed HDD, would still at least post and ask for a drive.

Failed GPU would also have the fans kick in as tried to boot.

Sounds like a failed PSU

 

[rondocap]

What's weird is that it will turn on and work fine for 20 minutes, then shutdown by itself, and for a while will fail to turn on, but after some time will eventually turn on again.


Is it likely the psu? Hard to change?

 

[initialsBB]

Is it likely the psu? Hard to change?

Sounds like it, but you'd have to test it properly before changing it. Have a look at the Apple Service Manual for the 2009 Mac Pro, they have the standard procedure.

That said manual states :

No Power/Dead Unit
Unlikely cause: Optical drive(s), hard drive(s), fans, memory, processors, PCIe cards, speaker, AirPort card, Bluetooth card

It's pretty easy to change the PSU in a Mac Pro, but it will probably be a bit pricey for the spare part.

Found this one in the UK :
applemacparts.co.uk

 

[rondocap]

It's been very weird. I changed the outlet that it was plugged in to, and it's been on now for a few hours. I also have the room cold with the AC on.

I am curious what may be going wrong, is it possible the electrical outlet was the one that was bad?

There was also a storm here the night it stopped working well. Maybe something happened..

 

[rondocap]

So an update - I plainly switched the outlet it was connected to, and I have not had the problem return.

Mac Pro is fine, so I think it was just the outlet. It was plugged in through a power surge strip.

That's weird, has this happened to anyone before?