Sometimes extruder problems are truly extruder problems. When there is a clogged nozzle problem, your extruder won’t be able to push more filament through and your extruder gears will often start making a clicking noise, leading you to start your troubleshooting diagnosis with the extruder.

For troubleshooting, see if you can isolate the extruder from the nozzle. For a Bowden tube setup, this is pretty simple. Just pull out the Bowden tube and see if the extruder works. For a direct drive system, it’s a little more difficult, but you can just pull of the nozzle and see if the extruder works then. Then, if the extruder suddenly starts working correctly you will know that the problem is with the hotend. If it still doesn’t work, then you know that the problem is with the extruder.