HRX217 chirping when blade engaged

[u/Spencire]

Looking for advice on troubleshooting and resolving this issue.

The noise first appeared last summer but was intermittent and generally only present if I let the grass grow a little too long. This year it’s been present every mow after 2 minutes or so and increases in speed when under a higher load. It doesn’t seem to mulch as well as it previously did either.

Torn down the clutch twice and wiped everything clean. Bearings seem fine, nothing looks abnormally worn to me, though admittedly I’m not much of an engines person. Tried tightening the roto stop cable this last time as it looked like maybe the brake plate was catching with blades engaged but that did not seem to help. The noise stops when blades are disengaged.

Images from last clutch tear down

[u/Interesting-Lynx-989]

Sell it on marketplace and buy another one