My cordless impact driver is sparking and making grinding noises - is it toast?

Hey folks, my trusty DeWalt 20V impact driver has been acting weird lately. When I pull the trigger, I see small blue sparks inside near the motor housing, and it makes this awful grinding noise like marbles in a blender. Battery seems fine - holds charge in my other tools. Tried cleaning it out with compressed air but no luck. Is this thing dead or is there a fix I can try? Don't really wanna drop $200 on a new one if I can avoid it.

Oof, sounds like the brushes might be shot, Tom. I've got a similar vintage DeWalt in my collection that did the same thing. The sparks usually mean the carbon brushes are worn down and arcing. Grinding noise could be bearings or the armature hitting something. Before you toss it, try replacing the brushes - they're like $15 on Amazon. If that doesn't work, might be the armature which is more $$. I'd check if it's still under warranty first!

Patty's on the right track with the brushes. Had my Milwaukee do this last year after it took a swim in a mud puddle on a job site. Sparks + grinding = bad news usually. If you're handy, you can tear it down and check the commutator for scoring. Sometimes you can clean it up with fine sandpaper. But honestly man, if it's more than 3 years old, might be time to upgrade. Safety first - don't want that thing catching fire in your hand.

LOL another DeWalt biting the dust! Just kidding Tom. Seriously though, I've resurrected a few tools by doing a complete tear-down and clean. The grinding could just be packed dust and debris in the gearbox. Take it apart, clean everything with electrical contact cleaner, grease the gears with proper lithium grease, replace brushes if needed. YouTube has great vids for DeWalt disassembly. If that doesn't work, hit up Tool Discount Club's refurbished section - sometimes they have great deals on reconditioned impacts.