I just chatted with Dell support about this since I have the same problem of the grinding noise on my C1760NW Dell printer. I have it plugged into an APC backup battery which acts like surge protector (unless power goes out then battery kicks in). He said the printer needs more power and that surge protectors and battery backups are not good for this printer since they restrict the power which sends less power to the motor and fuser than what it was designed for. So with less power from the APC backup/surge protector, the motor moves very slow and may not fuser the toner to the page correctly and can cause permanent damage over time. So I plugged into the wall directly instead and the grinding noise went away immediately even when printing 10-15 pages right after plugging into wall, but then the noise came back when I printed a bigger job. So for now I'm letting it cool down for a couple hours and crossing my fingers that the damage is not permanent. So... answer is plug it into the wall directly for maximum power and hope that your printer is not permanently damaged. By the well, Dell support chat was awesome.
By the way, the next day (today) while plugged into the wall instead, still had the same noise. Then, the black cartridge said "empty" or "end of life" so I replaced the black cartridge with a new one, and magically the printer is quiet again like new. Yesterday when I posted my first "solution" I did noticed that if I placed my hand on the black cartridge while the grinding noise was happening, it felt like the black cartridge was shaking really bad, but I didn't make the connection that maybe my cheap aftermarket toner needed be replaced. So I replaced it with another cheap aftermarket black catridge, and now no noise. I still will keep it plugged directly into the wall to give it the power it needs like the Dell rep said.
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SOLVED: cartridge bottom gear must mesh with printer gear. the cartridge bottom pushes the printer cover in to expose the gear so the two will mesh. no more gear grinding noise.
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