PS2 loud noises when disc drive is seeking.

[luckypeic]

Hello, so after a very long time of not using my old PS2 I decided to play some FFVII DC while waiting for FFVII Rebirth to release on PC plus I repaired old Sony Trinitron recently so it was perfect time to dig up old PS2.

Upon first booting it up without disc inside I noticed it makes loud noise whenever I open the disc tray.

When I tried playing the game everything works and prerendered intro FMV does not stutter at all and works smoothly but during ingame cutscenes and any time disc drives seeks to load data it makes same loud noise.

What could be causing it?

Here are two example videos, sorry about breathing noises, I caught a cold

FLICKER WARNING, CRT flickers and looks really washed out on camera but looks great IRL XD

 

[master801]

Looks and sounds like the laser sled assembly.

Try cleaning and lubricating the entire drive assembly. Meaning the rails and sled.

Use only white lithium grease on metal parts and only silicone grease on plastic parts. If you don't have white lithium grease, you can also use silicone grease in a pinch.

Oh, and be sure to check that your ribbon cable isn't hitting disc at all. Pretty easy to check. Once the cover is off, move the laser around in different places and see if the ribbon cable hits the bottom of a disc. If it does, you'll need a new laser ribbon cable since it'll scratch discs.

 

[luckypeic]

Looks and sounds like the laser sled assembly.

Try cleaning and lubricating the entire drive assembly. Meaning the rails and sled.

Use only white lithium grease on metal parts and only silicone grease on plastic parts. If you don't have white lithium grease, you can also use silicone grease in a pinch.

Oh, and be sure to check that your ribbon cable isn't hitting disc at all. Pretty easy to check. Once the cover is off, move the laser around in different places and see if the ribbon cable hits the bottom of a disc. If it does, you'll need a new laser ribbon cable since it'll scratch discs.

Thanks, I think I confirmed that drive sled or worm gear are the issue, I dug up another PS2 and notice one big difference, on one that does not make noise the laser moves all the way back when I open disc tray and on the one that makes noise the laser gets stuck in the middle.

The rails are metal but they are going through the plastic housing on the laser while sled/worm gear is also metal but also seems to touch plastic guide gear on the laser, wouldnt so in both the sled and rails there is both metal and plastic, wouldnt that cause issue with sillicone or lithium grease degrading those plastic parts?

I forgot to mention in original post that there were actually two issues, it was both making loud noise AND scratching discs due to ribbon but ribbon issue was quick fix using 3D printed parts from here https://github.com/FloppidyDingo/PS2-Disk-Saver and its no longer scratching discs so the only issue left to fix is the loud noises.
Im gonna try lubing it asap, I hope that the fact that both the worm gear parts and rails have mix of metal and plastics wont degrade anything.

 

[master801]

The rails are metal but they are going through the plastic housing on the laser while sled/worm gear is also metal but also seems to touch plastic guide gear on the laser, wouldnt so in both the sled and rails there is both metal and plastic, wouldnt that cause issue with sillicone or lithium grease degrading those plastic parts?

In this case, silicone grease would be preferred, then.

Using lithium grease on plastic parts can (most times) degrade it.


If you have any watch oil, try dripping a little bit inside the sled motor, if lubing the drive assembly doesn't help solve the noise.

 

[luckypeic]

In this case, silicone grease would be preferred, then.

Using lithium grease on plastic parts can (most times) degrade it.


If you have any watch oil, try dripping a little bit inside the sled motor, if lubing the drive assembly doesn't help solve the noise.

I cant open my PS2 again until tomorrow to 100% confirm its mix of plastic and metal for the worm gear but here is an example pic I found online.



The rail is metal and it goes to plastic shell holding the laser (both circled red), so in that case silicone, correct?
But the worm gear I am not sure about, the worm gear attached to the motor itself is metal (circled green) but the part touching it (circled yellow) may either be metal or plastic, I have to check tomorrow, but if both the worm gear and part touching it are metal then white lithium grease is safe but if the part touching the metal gear is plastic then again silicone, right?

Sorry if its stupid question, I love fixing those old consoles but somehow never encountered a disk drive that needs to be lubed so I just want to make sure not to mess up XD

Also, what would be the best way to clean up the old grease since I guess its better to clean it up to avoid chemical reaction with factory grease

 

[master801]

I cant open my PS2 again until tomorrow to 100% confirm its mix of plastic and metal for the worm gear but here is an example pic I found online.

View attachment 479413

The rail is metal and it goes to plastic shell holding the laser (both circled red), so in that case silicone, correct?
But the worm gear I am not sure about, the worm gear attached to the motor itself is metal (circled green) but the part touching it (circled yellow) may either be metal or plastic, I have to check tomorrow, but if both the worm gear and part touching it are metal then white lithium grease is safe but if the part touching the metal gear is plastic then again silicone, right?

Sorry if its stupid question, I love fixing those old consoles but somehow never encountered a disk drive that needs to be lubed so I just want to make sure not to mess up XD

Yes, use silicone grease in this case.

iirc for the laser sled holder thing it can come with in plastic or metal. (In that example picture, it looks like a 79K model?)

 

[luckypeic]

Yes, use silicone grease in this case.

iirc for the laser sled holder thing it can come with in plastic or metal. (In that example picture, it looks like a 79K model?)

By laser sled and laser sled holder you are refering to parts I circled green and yellow?

Idk which model exactly is that since that is random image I found on google and just edited it to mark the parts but my ps2 model is SCPH 7004

 

[master801]

By laser sled and laser sled holder you are refering to parts I circled green and yellow?

Idk which model exactly is that since that is random image I found on google and just edited it to mark the parts but my ps2 model is SCPH 7004

Laser sled holder thing meaning the entire yellow piece.

Red circled part would be the sled rail.

Green circled part would be the sled motor.

tbh what I meant by "laser sled" were the two pieces. The red circled part, and the other rail on the opposite side connected directly to the laser module.

Just be warned, 70K models use a similar drive assembly, but it's also completely different.

 

[luckypeic]

Laser sled holder thing meaning the entire yellow piece.

Red circled part would be the sled rail.

Green circled part would be the sled motor.

tbh what I meant by "laser sled" were the two pieces. The red circled part, and the other rail on the opposite side connected directly to the laser module.

Just be warned, 70K models use a similar drive assembly, but it's also completely different.

Thank you, I will open it up tomorrow and check exact materials on my model and the buy correct grease.

Thank you again, I will let you know if it worked

 

[luckypeic]

Laser sled holder thing meaning the entire yellow piece.

Red circled part would be the sled rail.

Green circled part would be the sled motor.

tbh what I meant by "laser sled" were the two pieces. The red circled part, and the other rail on the opposite side connected directly to the laser module.

Just be warned, 70K models use a similar drive assembly, but it's also completely different.

Sorry for late reply but heres an update, in local store I wasnt able to find any silicone grease but I found "Super Lube Multi-Purpose Synthetic Grease with Syncolon" which seems to be PTFE grease and at least according to its compatibility chart it works great with all kinds of plastics.



I took apart my PS2 again, took apart disc drive machanism and cleaned old grease and added new.
Moving laser by finger seems to move much smoother now but in the process of putting it back together it seems I have managed to break the laser ribbon cable or maybe even laser itself with static electricity as now laser moves properly and everything but it cant seem to see the disc so it never starts spinning the disc

Looks like I have to order new ribbon now.
I never had issues repairing old consoles but this PS2 just seems to be cursed lol.

 

[master801]

Sorry for late reply but heres an update, in local store I wasnt able to find any silicone grease but I found "Super Lube Multi-Purpose Synthetic Grease with Syncolon" which seems to be PTFE grease and at least according to its compatibility chart it works great with all kinds of plastics.
View attachment 480130


I took apart my PS2 again, took apart disc drive machanism and cleaned old grease and added new.
Moving laser by finger seems to move much smoother now but in the process of putting it back together it seems I have managed to break the laser ribbon cable or maybe even laser itself with static electricity as now laser moves properly and everything but it cant seem to see the disc so it never starts spinning the disc

Looks like I have to order new ribbon now.
I never had issues repairing old consoles but this PS2 just seems to be cursed lol.

If you seated the spindle motor ribbon cable at an angle, you might've fried the RF chip. That's what happened on my 79K model :\

Try reseating (plug out, plug back in) all the ribbon cables and ensure they're all sitting straight and not crooked. Make sure the pins on the cables are straight, as well, and they aren't lifted off.

 

[luckypeic]

If you seated the spindle motor ribbon cable at an angle, you might've fried the RF chip. That's what happened on my 79K model :\

Try reseating (plug out, plug back in) all the ribbon cables and ensure they're all sitting straight and not crooked. Make sure the pins on the cables are straight, as well, and they aren't lifted off.

Did that multiple times and Im almost sure I didnt connect it crooked, laser moves when I press door sensors and it tried to read (lights up red for second and moves lens up down) but disc never spins up.

The laser while it does light up its much dimmer than before (which is why I think I might fried laser with static) and from all the connecting/disconnecting of the laser ribbon now the white tab on the ribbon fell off so I have to order new one and hope that it was only the ribbon.

Do you by any chance know which chip is RF chip so I can check with multimeter to see if its shorted?

 

[shownomercyomer]

Did that multiple times and Im almost sure I didnt connect it crooked, laser moves when I press door sensors and it tried to read (lights up red for second and moves lens up down) but disc never spins up.

The laser while it does light up its much dimmer than before (which is why I think I might fried laser with static) and from all the connecting/disconnecting of the laser ribbon now the white tab on the ribbon fell off so I have to order new one and hope that it was only the ribbon.

Do you by any chance know which chip is RF chip so I can check with multimeter to see if its shorted?

From my experience... If you have a dim laser ---and you change it with another laser and it's still dim... it could be a bad ribbon or that one of the optical drive components on the motherboard is shorted.