Carriage guide shaft maintenance.

First thing is to get the carriage to move into the ink cartridge replacement position Usually pressing the paper feed button will make the carriage move. Once the carriage moves from it's "parked" position just unplug the printer. Before you can oil the carriage guide shaft you first need to clean the carriage guide shaft. You can use a lint free cloth or paper towel to clean as much dirt off the glide shaft as you can. Using cotton swabs (Q-Tips) will help if you have them. They will be especially useful where the carriage guide shaft runs through the carriage. Lots of paper dust, lint and gunk can collect on the carriage guide shaft. So it may take you a few minutes to completely clean the carriage guide shaft. Once you have the carriage guide shaft cleaned you can apply a very thin bead of a light oil like 3 in One, Break Free or Tri-Flow or a precision oiler filled with a light oil and apply the oil both sides of the carriage guide shaft (left and right sides of the carriage and bushings) .And try to make sure that none of the oil drips onto the rollers or drips inside the printer. Then slide the carriage side to side a few times to work the oil in. Then wipe off any of the excess oil. Once you have completed the oiling process it is always a good idea to run an alignment test to ensure you alignment is correct.