Printer won't behave

[Marge]

My Deskjet D4360 printer is being very naughty and won't behave.  First it started making a clackering noise and then would print OK.  Copious spritzes of WD40 have stopped the clackering but now it won't print and I keep getting messages saying cartridges are not in properly or there is a paper jam, when neither are true.

Any ideas? Or is it time to get a printer? 

[neal]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSK1D3bZhRs

How old is the printer? Can you re-install the drivers?

[Marge]

Printer is only 2 years old or so.  Now it takes a sheet of paper in and it only goes so far and won't print.  I am currently trying your tip of reinstalling the drivers ... here's hoping 

[Marge]

... and our survey said 'wat wer!'  Reinstalling the drivers has made no difference.

[Steve Lampkins]

Did you read about putting WD40? Doesn't sound like the best practise to me...

[Dom]

Nor me. I've not heard of using WD40 for printers...

Perhaps try cleaning it with a damp cloth. The rollers and general mechanical bits where paper gets fed through can get a bit clogged with dirt and whatnot, so I guess cleaning them might help a little with your "paper jam" message. But I don't really have much experience with printers so I'm clutching at straws a bit.

[robwhizz]

WD40 is not good for printers. It's a degreaser. It might help for a little while, but it'll soon start to jam up.
The parts need quality synthetic white grease to keep them lubricated and stop fine particles from getting in and causing wear.

WD40 will have stripped off the grease and allowed abrasive particles to get into places you don't want it to go. That's why it'll work nicely for a short time then will start producing a lot of friction.

It sounds like something went wrong though before you started tinkering. The WD won't have helped and will cause long term damage, but won't change the fact that something was wrong before anyway.

Do the cartridges have little electrical contacts? Have you used the WD40 on them? WD40 is not good for electrical contacts and even some overspray might be causing problems with the cartridges.
Have you taken them all out and checked for dust or anything on the contacts, given them a wipe over gently with a dry cloth and popped them back in?

You may also have a problem with the paper pick up. That would explain the clunking and paper jam message. Is the clunking similar to what you usually have but just more of it, or is a totally different sound?
I don't know what you printer is like, but there should be some rubber wheels or belt or something that picks up the paper and feeds it in. That can get dusty and dry etc. See if you can see it and get a moist cloth on it to give it a clean. It's possible the WD40 has also gotten onto the pickup parts and is causing the paper jams. The whole paper feed is based on friction, WD40 is trying to reduce friction...

If you know anyone with white grease, then clean as much of the WD40 off as you can and pop some grease on the rail and other exposed moving parts that need it. Obviously careful not to put it on anything that comes into contact with the paper.

[edit] Considering the cost of printers though, it's probably not worth investing too much effort into fixing it. Don't know what the duty cycle of your printer is and how much printing you do, but it may have just had it's day. Printers are cheap these days, but just don't fall into the trap of getting a really cheap printer with stupidly expensive cartridges.
You may find a laser printer cheaper to run also depending on how much you print. Food for thought.

[Marge]

I hang my head in shame as I think I have made the printer worse with my WD40ing 

Thanks for all the advice everyone and I think I shall cut my loses and buy a new printer.