Insinkerator

Inverted Torx Screw

I replaced our garbage disposal a while back (10 years? 20 years?) and it was great, for a bit, and then it developed a ticking noise. Tried this, tried that, but the noise persisted. Now we are remodeling the kitchen so I have a chance to take a look inside this thing and get to the root of the problem. The model I have (Space Saver P2) has plastic sound insulator surrounding the disposal. It's held together with three screws, but they are at the bottom of a deep well and I cannot make out just what kind of heads they have, not that it makes any difference because none of the screwdrivers from my brand new set will reach to the bottom of the hole, mostly because the side of the handle runs into the side of the case. Fine, pull out the drill and enlarge the hole, it's just plastic. Drill goes in, but it doesn't help. Fine, I have a very long drill bit, not as big in diameter, but maybe we can drill through those screw heads. Aha! We can, easily, and the sound cover comes off. Now I try to remove the rest of the screw, but the drill, being as it is turning clockwise, the same direction as the threads on the screws, has driven them all the way in and they do not want to come out. I manage to unscrew one by using needle-nose Visegrips, but the plastic stand offs holding the other two break off. Whatever, the cover is off and now we can get down to business. 

The screws holding the body of the disposal together are as advertised in the video - inverted Torx. I don't have any tools that will fit those, but I do have a set of small six point sockets and for this job they work just fine. Pull out the screws, remove the top half of the housing and what do I find. Nada. There's a bunch of little teeth sticking out that look like the have been getting whacked, but I can't find anything that could be whacking them. Put the cover back on, turn it on, and it spins and hums like new, no more ticking. I do not understand what happened. I do not understand what could have been making the noise. Maybe when I clean up later I will find the culprit and the cause of all this irritation will be revealed. 

Meanwhile I am debating whether to try and reinstall the sound cover. I would need some very long screws and nuts, or maybe some zip ties. I'm not sure how much good that cover does. Right now I'm tempted to just toss it.