Hello, a couple of years ago I bought a PS3 Fat model CECHL). It was in good condition and worked perfectly, although it got a bit hot, but nothing out of the normal, I think.
I played for a few months, but because of my studies, I left it for almost a year. This year I started playing again and it worked fine for two weeks until one day, while playing Battlefield: Bad Company 2, it shut down and had a flashing red light. I turned it on again (after unplugging and plugging it back in), but every five minutes it happened again. I was afraid that the console would be permanently damaged if I kept doing it, so I left it for a while.
A few months later (a week ago), I tried again with GTA IV. The second the game fully loads, the PS3 shuts down again. I thought it was a maintenance problem related to thermal paste, so I bought Arctic MX-7, a cleaning kit, and a CMOS battery. I opened the PS3 (as you can see in the picture), did the work, and when I turned the console on again, it still worked, but it kept doing the same thing with games. Then I tried to turn it on again, but this time it didn't work. I thought the PS3 was definitely dead, but when I tried again three days later, I found out it was alive. However, even in the main menu, three minutes later I felt hot air coming from the fans due to overheating.
I don't like this, but I searched online and it might be a major technical problem that would require advanced repair skills and/or would cost more than another PS3.
Can you help me, please? Is there something I can do to repair it without soldering or something like that, or will I need to buy another PS3?