That's the thing, without a tape in there it still makes the grinding noise. And it's not just that, the tape compartment itself has a noticeably louder motor noise when loading and ejecting tapes when compared to my second XH-A1.

I have to mention this to anyone that might one day have to deal with Canon phone support. I know some of you have had a wonderful experience with them, but I must say that as far as I am concerned, they have some of the absolute worst phone support agents I've ever talked to. I had to talk to no less than 5 people on the phone last night before I was finally told that the camera needs to come back in and that it shouldn't be making the noise I'm hearing. I know they have a lot of products at this place, but come on, give the front line support at least some information. If I have to call them again, I will refuse to speak to them and ask for a supervisor.

Sorry, I just had to get that off my chest. Basically what I was told is that with the drum assembly replaced and the grinding noise being made, it's possible the drum wasn't seated properly. They did however provide a complimentary label for the repair, which was nice. But the epic mess this has turned into has soured my opinion of Canon a bit.

And as for the comment of replacing parts just for the sake of saying something has been repaired/replaced- I really hope that's not the case. If it's operating within spec, just say a couple of dropped frames now and then is normal and leave it be. I work in the computer support field, and I wouldn't dare replace a whole hard drive if a customer was having a virus issue.

Thanks for listening to me vent, now berate me for sullying Canon Support's name lol.