Sapphire Radeon x1900 XT fan grinding

[Scart]

I have a 3-year old card of the above which I am looking to replace with a 4850/70 when I get more time and money and a better processor, but for the time being I am having a really annoying problem:

From time to time the fan in the card will start making a loud grinding noise that seems to come and go, but sometimes it will do it for over an hour, cutting in and out briefly.

This has happened for a long time and sometimes it disappears and returns. I haven't had time to open it up and spray out the fan, but if anyone knows of a reason other than dust that may bew causeing this I would greatly appreciate it.

[sswilson]

A good cleaning might fix it up. You might also want to see if the fan blades are moving up the spindle allowing them to contact the body of the heatsink.

[Scart]

It's impossible for the fan to touch the heatsinks because of the weird design, but I will clean it when I get the chance and see if that makes a difference.