Chosen Solution
My PS3 started making a grinding noise when a disk is inserted. It reads games just fine, and that’s all I use the drive for. I have replaced the spinning disk which stopped the noise, but it started up again. I keep all my systems horizontal. I forgot to say that it doesn’t matter if I am playing a game or it’s at the system menu, however it seems to happen more at the system menu and a disk is just sitting there. Any other ideas?
@ngw1031982 could be multiple issue from things like the gears, the disk drive motor as well as the tracking motor/drive. Use this guide PlayStation 3 Blu-ray Disc Drive Replacement to get to the drive. Then you would have to disassemble it and see if you can locate the error. Ultimately it sounds like your drive is failing and may need to be replaced. Try to play your PS3 vertical and see if that changes the grinding noise.
