Question Rattling Corsair SP 140mm on start-up ?

[ItsVirun]

Hey all,

Been trying to fix a singular fan recently that makes a decently loud rattling noise for about a minute or two on start-up then goes away. But in general there might be something off with the balance because compared to the other fan mounted on the top, it pulses these vibrations instead of it being linear.

About a month back I took all my fans out regardless if they had the problem and cleaned all the dust of them and just re-seated them in the case, which I assume clears the possibility that it was a mounting issue? Could be wrong there but after a very small amount of digging I'm realising this could be a lubrication issue but I really don't have a clue, specially if I need to reapply.

I bought these back in July 2020 so it could be a nearing the end of its lifespan too I really don't have a clue.
So if someone could lead me in the right direction and help provide a possible fix that would be greatly appreciated!

To be honest it doesn't bother me that much but I'm trying to sell the whole rig on somewhere like Facebook Marketplace when I get all the parts for my new build, but obviously you want it to be in good enough condition for them to want it and not return it a week later type deal so I think trying to negate this fan noise will be useful in aiding that.
Model: Corsair SP 140mm Fan RBG PRO

 

[Paperdoc]

As fans age the bearings wear out slowly. This creates excess clearance between shaft and sleeve. So when the fan first starts up cold its shaft "rattles around" for a short time. But as it runs and heats up the bearing parts expand and decrease this clearance until it is back to "normal" and the rattling noise stops. It will do this again if the fan is shut off long enough to cool down. At first this happens for seconds to a few minutes at cold start-up. As time goes by the period of noise gets longer, until it is always noisy. Eventually the fan gets so bad it seizes completely and cannot run.

Years ago people would disassemble such a fan and add oil to the bearings to combat this for a time. But for decades now the fan design has changed and you cannot disassemble and then get it back together. You can NOT re-oil bearings. The only real solution is to replace the fan.