Loud grinding noise when printing

[laurenth]

Hello, I have a brand new HP Color Laser MFP 178nw. I've just unpacked and installed it. It came with cartridges preinstalled. However, when I want to print, it produces a very  loud noise, as that of clicking plastic gears. 

I tried to print several test pages. Some came out properly, despite the noise. Some caused a paper jam. In two instances, several pages of paper were used.  It seems other people have had the same problem with other or older printers, but mine is brand new. What could be the cause?

Thanks in advance

[Repairatrooper]

Paper tray not lifting properly or paper not loaded correctly, back stop too far forward or backward, causing paper to not be fed properly. Usually on a new printer noise is caused by a bad cartridge. I would open the cartridge door and pull out all the cartridges and reseat them.

[laurenth]

Hello and thanks for your reply.  I have removed all four cartridges, checked whether there was something suspect and put them back in place, but it did not solve the problem. They are supposed to be brand new. The yellow cartridge, on top, is different: it as a soft moss strip glued on the upper side. Is that normal?

What is a "back stop"? Is it the piece of plastic that is placed at the bottom of the paper sheets in the tray?  I have checked that too, it seems correctly placed for my A4 paper.  When I slide the tray under the printer, there's a reassuring snap noise indicating that it is well placed.

There is no error message on the display.

By the way, the same noise is heard when the printer is warming up. While printing, the noise seems to "move" with the paper, but that could be an impression.