Hi,

I spilled a drink in my machine and thoroughly dried it but forgot to check the HDD. Well the PCB got fried and now the HDD's making grinding noises and the BIOS can't find it.

Would I be correct in assuming that the grinding noises and because of the HDD PCB failing and replacing that would resolve this or does this mean that the heads have crashed and PCB swap wouldn't help?

Detailed Specs are:
Seagate Momentus 5400.6 320GB
ST9320325AS
PN: 9HH13E-286
FW: 0002SDM1
PCB : 100536286 RevE

a lot of ppl confuse the calibration sound and grinding noise. post the sound for us to listen. Better yet - take it to a pro data recovery shop for the diagnostics. Most offer em for free ( u can try PCimage from this forum he is a good ole boy =) )

I agree with it.
Most probably the problem will not be only PCB.
Take it to a DR company and you'll get a proper diagnosis.

I'll try and find some pro shops near me - but as a general guideline, does the grinding noise mean the heads have crashed or the platters are scratched?

I'll record the sound and post it later.

Thanks for your responses. Much appreciated.

Yes. If it is a grinding noise that u hear - u got a physical contact between a slider and a platter. Partial recovery, expensive , can be unrecoverable , the more u spin up the drive the worse it gets. But , like i said , sometimes the calibration sound gets confused with grinding sound.