Thanks rl49,

I just got a chance to go out and look a little closer at what it's going to take to pull out the y axis motor, and the enclosure actually has a small removable panel right about where the motor would need to come out, which is great, because I had no idea how I was going to pull off that enclosure with a 9' ceiling and with it being as crowded in there as it is. I'm going to pick up a shop vac today and do some more cleaning and probably pull that motor out. The back y axis rail covers were in horrible shape and it looks like they just kept running it like that. Chips are piled up in the back of the base higher than the motor itself, so I'm hoping that maybe the wiring is just damaged underneath it. I'll probably be getting in touch with sportybob like you say if I can't find anything obviously wrong. Do you remember about how much an encoder cost?

Thanks!