8 year old Elite showing 2 red lights

My Elite Xbox 360, which I have owned for almost 8 years and used intensively during that period, over the last 2 days has started acting up. Yesterday I played on it for about an hour when the console suddenly shut off and two red lights were displayed. Normally this would mean that the console has overheated and it has switched itself off to prevent any damage from being caused. I tried again today, it happened again, this time after about 20 mins, and then after trying again immediately after restarting the console it switched off after about 10 mins. I have kept this console in a well-ventilated alcove for most of its life and I have never had any problems with it overheating where it is.

This is probably just the console's way of showing me it is on it's last legs and will be dead soon, but just in case, could there be another reason for this?

I am prepared to replace the console with a second-hand unit (I can get one off eBay for under £30) but before I do so I just want to double check there isn't a simple solution to this.

That is how my first xbox 360 died, the amount of time it would run got shorter and shorter. I was able to prolong it's life by propping a fan up next to it.

I don't know if that would work, but I can give it a try. It might be difficult though as I don't have any more free sockets near the console to plug a fan into.

I can't think of a simple solution. If it was me I would open the console and dust out the inside as well as replacing the thermal paste between the chip and the heat sink. If you can find a cheap used one that is always an option, though at the cost of turning your old xbox into electronic waste. I always try to salvage electronics/parts from getting thrown away since electronic waste is a pretty big problem.

Quite likely there is a lot of dust in there as the various rooms it has been kept in over the years have tended to get very dusty. What's the best way of opening the console to avoid damaging it?

Wow 8 years! Mine only lasted a few months back in the day...

I have found several videos on Youtube on how to safely open a console so I should be good to go. I'll see if that makes any difference.

Yep, 8 years is a good life, can't complain with that from a 360.