On Sat, 14 Nov 2009 12:41:27 -0500, "(PeteCresswell)"
wrote:

Page Count: 9680
Pages Since Last Maintenance = 9680

That's almost nothing for these printers. The HP LJ4000 should go for
at least 100K pages or more. However, the toner cartridge is
officially rated at 6000 pages (or 10,000 pages if you believe the
refillers who tend to overfill the cartridges). Either way, you're
overdue for a cartridge replacement. It's also possible that ONE of
the sources of the smear is the cartridge. I can't tell for sure
because of the non-repetative nature of the test page.

"Never attribute to malice that which can be explained by
misunderstanding, stupidity, or incompetence."

No malice ever even suggested. However, I can't tell if you are able,
willing, qualified, or interested in doing the work yourself. It's
really not that difficult. The document I previously found describes
all of the important steps:
http://www.imagingsupplies.com/fuser-assembly-instructions/HP_4000_FUSER.pdf
Once you have it disassembled, hit with an air hose (outside) to clean
out the loose toner. Make sure there's no rusty water in the
compressor tank (my favorite mistake). With only 10K pages, the
rubber parts might still be ok. Clean with just ordinary household
cleaner (e.g. 409) and dry.

Not reluctant, probably out of my depth.

Yep. Of course, you could treat this as a learning experience.
Perhaps a manual will be helpful?
http://www.feedroller.com/Store/Service%20Manual/LASERJET%204000,%204000N,%204000T,%204000TN%20Serv ice%20Manual.pdf
http://www.hylink.com/web/LaserJet%204000,%204050%20Service%20Manual.pdf

I write software for a living... so I'm not dumb or, at least,
not *too* dumb. Incompetent in the context of printers: for
sure.

I avoid programming at all costs.

But thanks for all the effort you've contributed.

Once I get to end-game, I'll let everybody know how it came out -
not that anybody probably cares... but it seems like the right
thing to do.

Start with "I saved $xxx.xx by rebuilding my own laser printer.


--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558