M1530 Weird Humming/Buzzing Noise

Hey all,

About 2 days ago my 2.5 year old Dell XPS M1530 started emitting this strange humming and buzzing noise from the general fan area. I figured it was a one-time thing so I restarted and it stopped.

However a few hours later the same noise came back. A hum is perhaps really the best way to describe it. It's definitely not the sound of the fan rotating at high speed - I know what that sounds like and I don't have any major apps running.

The entire laptop also seems to be vibrating slightly. I'm aware of the electric grounding issue that makes the laptop vibrate slightly when plugged into the charger but I've experienced that before and it's not the same. Even when the charger isn't plugged in the hum + vibration is still there.

Pretty sure it's not the hard drive spinning either. I've just left my computer idle overnight hoping the sound would go away but it's been like this all night. I could've sworn that just as I woke up a few minutes ago I heard some clicking noises as well but I'm not 100% sure.

I'm really scared that this is a disaster waiting to happen. Has anyone ever experienced a similar issue? Is there anything I could try to do to stop the sound?

 

Put your ear to the palmrest. Do you hear ticking?

 

Nope. Just rechecked and I'm pretty sure the strange sound is coming from the general fan area. And I did hear clicking/ticking around that are as well, but then it dissipated.

Maybe there is something stuck in the fan? Though I'm not sure how that would be possible since I rarely open it up and it's been quite a long time since the last time I did. Also shook the laptop a few times (while it was off of course) and it didn't seem that there was anything loose inside it

Humming still continues as I type this