Rapid loud popping sound for 3 to 4 seconds before printing

Hello,
one idea is that you rouined printhead with tap water and second idea is to buy new print head or printer.
Note: If you want to replace ink head, be sure to replace purge unit and ink absorber also.

Thoroughly clean all the ink residue from around the ink cartridges, some ink is sprayed every time you print.

Probably the waste ink tank is full.Look here.

If you have replaced your ink cartridge with a new one and are continuing to experience difficulties with print quality, please try cleaning and wicking the ink cartridge. If this fails to resolve the issue, the maintenance station may have an excess build-up of ink.
The maintenance station is located inside the printer on the right hand side. This is the same area where the cartridges sit when in the "idle" position. To access the maintenance station: Unplug the power supply from the back of your printer, open the front cover and look above the steel rod. You should see a conveyor belt with rubber teeth on it, like a fan-belt. On some models, the cartridge access will be very small, but the belt should still be visible. Take the top part of the belt and move it gently to the right.
***Note*** please do not pull outwards on the belt. The cartridges should come over towards the left side of the printer. The maintenance station will be on the right side, on the bottom of the printer behind the fixed cover. Clean the area with several damp cotton swabs or damp paper towels until the build up of ink is removed.
Once the maintenance station has been cleaned you should "wick" the cartridges. Remove the cartridges from the printer. Get a clean damp paper towel and lay it on a flat surface. Set the ink cartridge right side up, with the ink nozzles touching the towel and hold in this position for about 15 seconds. Then wipe the nozzles across in one direction only (left to right). Repeat this process, each time using a clean spot on the paper towel, until it looks clean. Dab the cartridge on a dry towel to make sure that the ink is flowing.
After you have wicked the cartridges place them back into the printer, securing them into the place. Plug the power supply back into the printer and close the cover. Next, click on "Start," "All Programs," "Lexmark series," "Lexmark Solution Center" and click on "Maintenance." Now, please click on "Install Cartridges." Select the cartridges part numbers and choose if they are "Old" or "New." Cancel the Alignment page. Then, click on "Clean to fix horizontal streaks" in "Lexmark Solution Center." The colors that you should see here are black, yellow, magenta (a reddish purple), and cyan (a dark sky blue). You should notice the diagonal lines above and below the solid horizontal lines. These diagonal lines should be solid from left to right with no gaps.
If there are gaps in the lines or the print diminishes across the page, you should run the "Clean Print Nozzle" page a couple more times to try and clear it up.

If you want to print text & documents with a colour other than black then for MS Word and many other applications:

1. Highlight the whole document by either pressing [Ctrl A] or use the mouse to highlight everything by right clicking 3 times rapidly or pressing the left mouse button down at the start of the document then scrolling to the end of the document while holding the button down and then releasing at the end of the document.
2. Then go to the FORMAT tab and selecting FONT from the drop down list.
3. Then select the colour you with to use from the FONT COLOUR box drop down list. Just be sure to choose a readable colour and not choose automatic or pure black.
4. Once this is done you can print.

Note that images that use black will still print but will look strange without the pure black content but muckhof what appears to be black acually isn't and is a combination of the 3 / 5 or 6 other colours inthe printer so may print normally.

A technique to improve print quality is to try and clean the cartridge nozzles. You may clean the cartridge by following the steps given below: 
1. Go to the "Lexmark solution center." This can be done by clicking on "Start," go to "Programs" and Lexmark printer group. Click on the "Lexmark Solution center." Next click on the "Maintenance" Tab.  2. Select "Clean and Fix Horizontal streaks."  Click on "Print". This will produce a printed page. 
The colors that you should see here are black, yellow, magenta (a reddish purple) and cyan (a dark sky blue). You should notice the diagonal lines above and below the solid horizontal lines. These diagonal lines should be solid from left to right with no gaps. 
If there are gaps in the lines or the print diminishes across the page, you should run the "Clean Print Nozzle" page a couple more times to try and clear it up. If you still have gaps at the top and bottom, you should "wick" the cartridges by following the steps given below: 
1. Please open the "Solution center" again and go to the "Maintenance" Tab.  2. Select "Install color/black cartridge" and remove the cartridge or cartridges from the printer.  3. Get a damp paper towel.  4. Set the ink cartridge right side up on the damp paper towel so that the ink nozzles are against the towel and hold the cartridge in this position for about 15 seconds.  5. Now wipe the print head (on the bottom where the ink comes out) across in one direction only (left to right) until it looks clean.  6. Next dab the cartridge on the towel to make sure that the ink is flowing.  7. Snap the cartridges back into the printer.  8. On your computer, select "Old Cartridge install."  9. Repeat the "Clean Nozzle Page" one more time. If this fails to address the problem the entire procedure may need repeating.

Please remove the cartridges from the printer. Take a dry lint free paper towel and gently wipe the contacts on the back of the cartridge (not the bottom from where ink is present). Wipe the contacts inside the printer (on cartridge carrier). Please try to print the self test page.

A technique to improve print quality is to try and clean the cartridge nozzles. You can clean the cartridge using the following steps given below:
Click on "Start," go to "All Programs," and down to the Lexmark. Click on the "Solution Center." Next, click on the "Maintenance" tab. Select "Clean to fix horizontal strips." This will produce a printed page.
The colors that you should see here are black, yellow, magenta (a reddish purple) and cyan (a dark sky blue). You should notice the diagonal lines above and below the solid horizontal lines. These diagonal lines should be solid from left to right with no gaps.
If there are gaps in the lines or the print diminishes across the page, you should run the "Clean to fix horizontal strips" page a couple more times to try and clear it up. If you still have gaps at the top and bottom, you should "wick" the cartridges by following the steps given below:
1. Please open the "Solution Center" again and go to the "Maintenance" Tab.
2. Select "Install color/black cartridge" and remove the cartridge (or cartridges) from the printer.
3. Get a damp paper towel.
4. Set the ink cartridge right side up on the damp paper towel so that the ink nozzles are against the towel and hold the cartridge in this position for about 15 seconds.
5. Now wipe the print head (on the bottom where the ink comes out) across in one direction only (left to right) until it looks clean.
6. Next dab the cartridge on the towel to make sure that the ink is flowing.
7. Snap the cartridges back into the printer.
8. On your computer, select "Old Cartridge install."
9. Repeat the "Clean to fix horizontal strips" one more time. If this fails to address the problem, the entire procedure may need repeating.
If you have replaced your ink cartridge with a new one and are continuing to experience difficulties with print quality, please try cleaning and wicking the ink cartridge. If this fails to resolve the issue, the maintenance station may have an excess build-up of ink.
The maintenance station is located inside the printer on the right hand side. This is the same area where the cartridges sit when in the "idle" position. To access the maintenance station: Unplug everything from the back of your printer, open the front cover and look above the steel rod. You should see a conveyor belt with rubber teeth on it, like a fanbelt. On some models, the cartridge access will be very small, but the belt should still be visible. Take the top part of the belt and move it gently to the right.
***Note*** please do not pull outwards on the belt. The cartridges should come over towards the left side of the printer. The maintenance station will be on the right side on the bottom of the printer behind the fixed cover. Clean the area with several damp cotton swabs or damp papertowels until the build up of ink is removed.
Once the maintenance station has been cleaned you should "wick" the cartridges. Remove the cartridge from the printer. Get a clean damp paper towel and lay it on a flat surface. Set the ink cartridge right side up, with the ink nozzles touching the towel and hold in this position for about 15 seconds. Then wipe the nozzles across in one direction only (left to right). Repeat this process, each time using a clean spot on the paper towel, until it looks clean. Dab the cartridge on a dry towel to make sure that the ink is flowing.
After you have wicked the cartridges place them back into the printer, securing them into place. Plug the power back into the printer. Close the cover and click on "Old Cartridge Installed" on the "Control Program" screen. Once the printer has reset, run the "Clean Print Nozzles" page twice. This should resolve the issue.


your's tech expert
Jeeth

Please remove the cartridges from the printer. Take a dry lint free paper towel and gently wipe the contacts on the back of the cartridge (not the bottom from where ink is present). Wipe the contacts inside the printer (on cartridge carrier). Please try to print the self test page.
Begin by disconnecting the power supply from the wall (not the back of the printer) for at
least "30 seconds." This is essential. Then plug the printer back in and follow these
steps:
1. Press the "Copy" button.
2. Press the "Menu" button.
3. Press the down arrow button once or until the screen displays "Maintenance."
4. Press the check mark button to select the "Maintenance" menu.
5. Press the down arrow button three times until the screen displays "Print Test Page."
6. Press the check mark button to select this. The Self-Test will start printing.
The self-test should at least print out a set of either black or color bars, if not both
(if you have a printer with both color and black installed simultaneously.) Should this
test fail, try it again without cartridges installed. If the self-test still fails to take
paper in and make sounds like the carrier is moving across the paper, this is a hardware
issue, and the printer will require service. If the self-test completes without any
cartridges installed, run the self-test again with the color cartridge installed. (If you
have both black and color cartridges, after this test, run the test again with just the
black cartridge installed.) If you find that either cartridge causes the self-test to fail
A technique to improve print quality is to try and clean the cartridge nozzles. You can clean the cartridge using the following steps given below:
Click on "Start," go to "All Programs," and down to the Lexmark. Click on the "Solution Center." Next, click on the "Maintenance" tab. Select "Clean to fix horizontal strips." This will produce a printed page.
The colors that you should see here are black, yellow, magenta (a reddish purple) and cyan (a dark sky blue). You should notice the diagonal lines above and below the solid horizontal lines. These diagonal lines should be solid from left to right with no gaps.
If there are gaps in the lines or the print diminishes across the page, you should run the "Clean to fix horizontal strips" page a couple more times to try and clear it up. If you still have gaps at the top and bottom, you should "wick" the cartridges by following the steps given below:
1. Please open the "Solution Center" again and go to the "Maintenance" Tab.
2. Select "Install color/black cartridge" and remove the cartridge (or cartridges) from the printer.
3. Get a damp paper towel.
4. Set the ink cartridge right side up on the damp paper towel so that the ink nozzles are against the towel and hold the cartridge in this position for about 15 seconds.
5. Now wipe the print head (on the bottom where the ink comes out) across in one direction only (left to right) until it looks clean.
6. Next dab the cartridge on the towel to make sure that the ink is flowing.
7. Snap the cartridges back into the printer.
8. On your computer, select "Old Cartridge install."
9. Repeat the "Clean to fix horizontal strips" one more time. If this fails to address the problem, the entire procedure may need repeating.
If you have replaced your ink cartridge with a new one and are continuing to experience difficulties with print quality, please try cleaning and wicking the ink cartridge. If this fails to resolve the issue, the maintenance station may have an excess build-up of ink.
The maintenance station is located inside the printer on the right hand side. This is the same area where the cartridges sit when in the "idle" position. To access the maintenance station: Unplug everything from the back of your printer, open the front cover and look above the steel rod. You should see a conveyor belt with rubber teeth on it, like a fanbelt. On some models, the cartridge access will be very small, but the belt should still be visible. Take the top part of the belt and move it gently to the right.
***Note*** please do not pull outwards on the belt. The cartridges should come over towards the left side of the printer. The maintenance station will be on the right side on the bottom of the printer behind the fixed cover. Clean the area with several damp cotton swabs or damp papertowels until the build up of ink is removed.
Once the maintenance station has been cleaned you should "wick" the cartridges. Remove the cartridge from the printer. Get a clean damp paper towel and lay it on a flat surface. Set the ink cartridge right side up, with the ink nozzles touching the towel and hold in this position for about 15 seconds. Then wipe the nozzles across in one direction only (left to right). Repeat this process, each time using a clean spot on the paper towel, until it looks clean. Dab the cartridge on a dry towel to make sure that the ink is flowing.
After you have wicked the cartridges place them back into the printer, securing them into place. Plug the power back into the printer. Close the cover and click on "Old Cartridge Installed" on the "Control Program" screen. Once the printer has reset, run the "Clean Print Nozzles" page twice. This should resolve the issue.

your's tech expert
Jeeth

Please remove the cartridges from the printer. Take a dry lint free paper towel and gently wipe the contacts on the back of the cartridge (not the bottom from where ink is present). Wipe the contacts inside the printer (on cartridge carrier). Please try to print the self test page.

Begin by disconnecting the power supply from the wall (not the back of the printer) for at
least "30 seconds." This is essential. Then plug the printer back in and follow these
steps:
1. Press the "Copy" button.
2. Press the "Menu" button.
3. Press the down arrow button once or until the screen displays "Maintenance."
4. Press the check mark button to select the "Maintenance" menu.
5. Press the down arrow button three times until the screen displays "Print Test Page."
6. Press the check mark button to select this. The Self-Test will start printing.
The self-test should at least print out a set of either black or color bars, if not both
(if you have a printer with both color and black installed simultaneously.) Should this
test fail, try it again without cartridges installed. If the self-test still fails to take
paper in and make sounds like the carrier is moving across the paper, this is a hardware
issue, and the printer will require service. If the self-test completes without any
cartridges installed, run the self-test again with the color cartridge installed. (If you
have both black and color cartridges, after this test, run the test again with just the
black cartridge installed.) If you find that either cartridge causes the self-test to fail,

A technique to improve print quality is to try and clean the cartridge nozzles. You can clean the cartridge using the following steps given below:
Click on "Start," go to "All Programs," and down to the Lexmark. Click on the "Solution Center." Next, click on the "Maintenance" tab. Select "Clean to fix horizontal strips." This will produce a printed page.
The colors that you should see here are black, yellow, magenta (a reddish purple) and cyan (a dark sky blue). You should notice the diagonal lines above and below the solid horizontal lines. These diagonal lines should be solid from left to right with no gaps.
If there are gaps in the lines or the print diminishes across the page, you should run the "Clean to fix horizontal strips" page a couple more times to try and clear it up. If you still have gaps at the top and bottom, you should "wick" the cartridges by following the steps given below:
1. Please open the "Solution Center" again and go to the "Maintenance" Tab.
2. Select "Install color/black cartridge" and remove the cartridge (or cartridges) from the printer.
3. Get a damp paper towel.
4. Set the ink cartridge right side up on the damp paper towel so that the ink nozzles are against the towel and hold the cartridge in this position for about 15 seconds.
5. Now wipe the print head (on the bottom where the ink comes out) across in one direction only (left to right) until it looks clean.
6. Next dab the cartridge on the towel to make sure that the ink is flowing.
7. Snap the cartridges back into the printer.
8. On your computer, select "Old Cartridge install."
9. Repeat the "Clean to fix horizontal strips" one more time. If this fails to address the problem, the entire procedure may need repeating.
If you have replaced your ink cartridge with a new one and are continuing to experience difficulties with print quality, please try cleaning and wicking the ink cartridge. If this fails to resolve the issue, the maintenance station may have an excess build-up of ink.
The maintenance station is located inside the printer on the right hand side. This is the same area where the cartridges sit when in the "idle" position. To access the maintenance station: Unplug everything from the back of your printer, open the front cover and look above the steel rod. You should see a conveyor belt with rubber teeth on it, like a fanbelt. On some models, the cartridge access will be very small, but the belt should still be visible. Take the top part of the belt and move it gently to the right.
***Note*** please do not pull outwards on the belt. The cartridges should come over towards the left side of the printer. The maintenance station will be on the right side on the bottom of the printer behind the fixed cover. Clean the area with several damp cotton swabs or damp papertowels until the build up of ink is removed.
Once the maintenance station has been cleaned you should "wick" the cartridges. Remove the cartridge from the printer. Get a clean damp paper towel and lay it on a flat surface. Set the ink cartridge right side up, with the ink nozzles touching the towel and hold in this position for about 15 seconds. Then wipe the nozzles across in one direction only (left to right). Repeat this process, each time using a clean spot on the paper towel, until it looks clean. Dab the cartridge on a dry towel to make sure that the ink is flowing.
After you have wicked the cartridges place them back into the printer, securing them into place. Plug the power back into the printer. Close the cover and click on "Old Cartridge Installed" on the "Control Program" screen. Once the printer has reset, run the "Clean Print Nozzles" page twice. This should resolve the issue.

your's tech expert
Jeeth

Your balck ink printhead is clogged with buit up ink. Manually clean it with cotton buds and proper cleaning solution, right doen where cartridge sits and the contact area the ink part of cartrigde contacts. Try printing now. Did you reset ink levels too?