Not printing cleans then makes noise and stops

Follow these steps to clean the print head from the printer's control panel:
1. Make sure the printer is turned on but not printing, and the red
b error light is off.
If the red light is flashing or on, you may need to replace the ink cartridge.
2. Press the down button to highlight More Options, then press OK.
3. Use the up or down button to highlight Head Cleaning, then press OK.
4. To begin cleaning, press OK.
While cleaning, the printer makes noise and you see a progress bar on the control panel
display. Cleaning takes about 30 seconds.
Caution: Do not turn off the printer or interrupt the cleaning process.
5. When the cleaning is done, run a nozzle check to confirm the print head nozzles are
clean.
Make sure letter-size plain paper is loaded in the printer, then press Stop. The nozzle check pattern prints.
6. If the pattern has gaps or missing dots, press Stop to clean the print head again.
If the nozzle check pattern looks correct, press OK to finish.

Note: Run nozzle check at least three consecutive times. If you do not see any improvement and you have replaced the ink cartridges, your product may require service.

Examine the belt that powers the print head, see if it is excessively sloppy, check the head moves freely along the print head bar, if it snags, there is damage to the bar or the print head holder is worn

TBH, I'd bury it if there is any wear as replacement parts are expensive compared to a new printer

have you done head cleaning ? after few clean, is there any ink on your print out? if still no print out.. make sure the ink cart tab is removed when you installed a new ink.. most of the time, when user removed the yellow tab, they fail to see the residual tape on the ink cart which is blocking the air path which is needed for the ink to flow into your print head..
some cases, check your printer purge unit.. see if the tube is not disconnected as if the tube came off..there won't be any pressure to clean your print head .. it's bit technical to fix it back..

It sounds like the cleaning sled is binding. Likely due to ink sludge build up in the waste station. Look into the printer, on the right side, where the cartridge rest when not in use. If this area looks very inky your printer may need servicing.

I had the same problem. Ended up replacing the black/yellow "printhead" and that corrected the problem.

One of the best solution that we can provide you is head cleaning. One of the effective method of Head cleaning is listed below.
1. Make sure the printer is turned on but not printing.
NOTE: You cannot clean the print head if the any of the cartridges are expended. Replace the appropriate ink cartridge before proceeding.
2. Load letter size paper.
3. Click on START. Click CONTROL PANEL, PRINTERS AND FAXES. RIGHT-CLICK your EPSON STYLUS PRINTER ICON. Select PRINTING PREFERENCES from the drop-down menu. If this icon is not showing, select VIEW INSTALLED PRINTERS. Then RIGHT-CLICK the EPSON STYLUS PRINTER ICON. Select PRINTING PREFERENCES from the drop-down menu.
4. Click on the UTILITY or MAINTENANCE tab, then click on HEAD CLEANING.
5. Follow the instructions on the screen to clean the printhead. Cleaning takes about 30 seconds, during which time the printer makes some noise and the power light flashes. Never turn off the printer while the power light is flashing, unless the printer has not moved or made noise for more than 5 minutes.
6. When the power light stops flashing click PRINT NOZZLE CHECK PATTERN and then click NEXT.
7. If the nozzle check pattern has no gaps in its lines, click FINISH. If the pattern has any gaps, click CLEAN to clean the printhead again.
8. If the situation continues after three cleaning cycles and nozzle checks, replace one of the affected ink cartridge(s).
9. Once the cartridge(s) has been replaced, please follow steps one through seven up to three times.
If the nozzle check still has gaps after you have run at least 3 consecutive cleaning cycles and replaced the affected ink cartridge(s) , your printer will require service.

you may need to clean those print nozzles..check your printer manager settings

Please try the following to resolved the issue:

Run a series of head cleaning
1. Make sure the printer is turned on but not printing. Make sure there are no error lights or messages appearing in the LCD.
NOTE: You cannot clean the print head if the any of the cartridges are expended. Replace the appropriate ink cartridge before proceeding.
2. Load letter size paper.
3. Click on START, CONTROL PANEL, PRINTER & FAXES then right click on CX3200 printer Icon then select printing preferences
4. Click on the UTILITY or MAINTENANCE tab, then click on HEAD CLEANING.
5. Follow the instructions on the screen to clean the printhead. Cleaning takes about 30 seconds, during which time the printer makes some noise and the power light flashes. Never turn off the printer while the power light is flashing, unless the printer has not moved or made noise for more than 5 minutes.
6. When the power light stops flashing click PRINT NOZZLE CHECK PATTERN and then click NEXT.
7. If the nozzle check pattern has no gaps in its lines, click FINISH. If the pattern has any gaps, click CLEAN to clean the printhead again.
8. If the situation continues after three cleaning cycles and nozzle checks, replace one of the affected ink cartridge(s).
9. Once the cartridge(s) has been replaced, please follow steps one through seven up to three times.
If the nozzle check still has gaps after you have run at least 3 consecutive cleaning cycles and replaced the affected ink cartridge(s) with genuine Epson inks, your printer will require service.

try this :

1. Make sure the printer is turned on but not printing.

NOTE: You cannot clean the print head if the any of the cartridges are expended. Replace the appropriate ink cartridge before proceeding.

2. Load letter size paper.

3. Click on START.

For Windows 95/98/ME: Click SETTINGS, PRINTERS, then RIGHT-CLICK on the EPSON STYLUS PRINTER ICON. Select PROPERTIES from the drop-down menu. Proceed to Step 4.

For Windows 2000: Click SETTINGS, PRINTERS, then RIGHT-CLICK on the EPSON STYLUS PRINTER ICON. Select PRINTING PREFERENCES from the drop-down menu. Proceed to Step 4.

For Windows XP: Click CONTROL PANEL, PRINTERS AND FAXES. RIGHT-CLICK your EPSON STYLUS PRINTER ICON. Select PRINTING PREFERENCES from the drop-down menu. If this icon is not showing, select VIEW INSTALLED PRINTERS. Then RIGHT-CLICK the EPSON STYLUS PRINTER ICON. Select PRINTING PREFERENCES from the drop-down menu. Proceed to Step 4.

For Windows Vista: Click CONTROL PANEL,HARDWARE AND SOUND then PRINTERS. Note: these steps may vary depending on how Vista is setup. RIGHT-CLICK on the EPSON STYLUS PRINTER ICON. Select PRINTING PREFERENCES from the drop-down menu. Proceed to Step 4.

4. Click on the UTILITY or MAINTENANCE tab, then click on HEAD CLEANING.

5. Follow the instructions on the screen to clean the printhead. Cleaning takes about 30 seconds, during which time the printer makes some noise and the power light flashes. Never turn off the printer while the power light is flashing, unless the printer has not moved or made noise for more than 5 minutes.

6. When the power light stops flashing click PRINT NOZZLE CHECK PATTERN and then click NEXT.

7. If the nozzle check pattern has no gaps in its lines, click FINISH. If the pattern has any gaps, click CLEAN to clean the printhead again.

8. If the situation continues after three cleaning cycles and nozzle checks, replace one of the affected ink cartridge(s).

9. Once the cartridge(s) has been replaced, please follow steps one through seven up to three times.

Grinding noise is most likely caused by the carriage lock getting stuck and holding the print head at the home position. The noise is caused by the toothed belt that pulls the head back and forth, skipping over the splines on the motor drive wheel. If you have been able to print since the problem occurred, chances are that it has freed itself up and will be fine. Regarding the loss of cyan & magenta output, follow the solution given in my previous posts to complete a manual under-head cleaning cycle. This should get you going. Check this previous post for cleaning info: http://www.fixya.com/support/t137335-problem_print_outs_from_printer