Harddrive fan spools to 5k for no reason

[gianthobbit]

Periodically (maybe once a week) I walk into my computer room to hear the fan spooling at full speed. The iStat widget shows it is between 4-5k RPM. Sometimes restarts fix it (have to do multiple) or I reset the PRAM and that seems to fix it every time. It however happens again randomly...

I talked to the local apple repair facility and they will take it in and look at it however I will be without my business computer for 3-4 days, which cant happen. Is there anything I can do to resolve this issue or is it purely defective hardware?

 

[mlts22]

Have you tried resetting the SMC? More info here:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964

This might fix the problem.

 

[Sun Baked]

Reset the SMC above, most times that takes care of it.

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If that doesn't work you can run the Apple Hardware Test.

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1509

Either the drive is overheating, the fan is dusty, or the sensor is starting to go.

 

[gianthobbit]

I have tried that as well. I think I got resetting pRam and the SMC confused, the steps on that link are the exact ones that I used. If I do a normal restart it sometimes stops the fan from spooling back up that fast, sometimes have to do it multiple times. If I reset the SMC the problem always goes away but then comes back later.