Help! My cordless screwdriver making weird grinding noise and won't hold charge

Hey guys, having a weird issue with my DeWalt 20V screwdriver. It started making this grinding/whining noise when I use it, and now the battery won't hold a charge for more than like 5 minutes. It's only about 2 years old. Tried cleaning the contacts, but no luck. Anyone else had this happen?

First thing - are you using genuine DeWalt batteries? I've seen this exact thing happen when people use those cheap knockoff batteries. The voltage regulation is off and it kills the motor. If it's a real DeWalt battery, might be a bad cell. Their customer service is great though - call them, they might replace it even out of warranty. I've been using DeWalt for 15 years and never had issues they didn't fix.

Sounds like two separate issues, honestly. The grinding noise is probably the planetary gearset wearing out - common on heavily used drivers. I've restored dozens of these. You can usually find replacement gear assemblies online for $15-20. As for the battery - Carl's right about knockoffs, but if it's genuine, the cells might be shot. You could rebuild it with new 18650 cells if you're handy with a soldering iron. Otherwise, time for a new battery.

whoa wait - before you start taking things apart, have you checked if there's debris in the chuck? sometimes little metal shavings or sawdust get in there and make awful noises. also, try the battery in another tool if you have one? my boss always says diagnose the simple stuff first lol. but yeah dewalts are pretty solid usually

Thanks everyone! It's definitely a genuine DeWalt battery - bought it as a kit. Felix, good call on the chuck - just checked and there was some crud in there. Cleaned it out and the noise is a bit better but still there. Steve, the gearset thing makes sense - I've used this thing almost daily for work. Might attempt the repair if it's not too complicated. Appreciate the help!