6978 Carriage stuck after printhead operation

[lovingtruth]

Hi folks, I hope to find some help here. I found this forum while researching how to clean my printhead (this discussion https://www.printerknowledge.com/th...rge-the-heads-in-the-cleaning-solution.15643/ was, I hope, helpful, though I haven't been able to test the results as the rest of this post will state why).

I followed the instructions in this video

and the above linked thread. After soaking the printhead in ammonia and alcohol (and lots of ink coming out that flushing it while inside the printer did not remove), I put the springs back on and the timing strip back in, then tried to manually move the cartridge... and it didn't budge. Turning the printer on also showed that it remained stuck instead of moving to the center like it should.

I have searched for possible solutions but have not found any. Could anyone please advise me? I'd really appreciate it, as I want to be able to keep using this printer rather than having to buy another one.