Toshiba Satellite l500 cooling error

Hi,

My L500 fan is no longer working correctly

I am getting this message

Warning:a problem with the cooling system has been detected. please turn off the computer immediately, and return it for service.

The fan runs inconsistently (always for a few seconds on start-up, very sporadically the rest of the time, but it is completely stationary for the most part.

The computer is currently in pieces, and I am ready to replace the fan with a new one, however im not sure that will fix the problem (as the fan still seems to sometimes run).

Thread Name - 'My Toshiba Satellite l500 cooling fan has stopped working'
This closed thread had a post at the bottom by kristain, has anyone else encountered and resolved something along these lines

Please excuse the lack of link/PM (new member restrictions)

Are you going to replace the fan or the entire cooling heatsink and fan? Was the heatsink clogged with dust? Keep in mind, this also may be a motherboard issue