ender v3 se extruder help

I’m at my wits end. I’ve been down over a week. My v3 se has started creaking when trying to pull filament through so the output is spotty at best. I’ve torn everything apart, cleaned, checked and reassembled twice. The extruder is only 2 months old (as is everything that hasn’t been replaced yet) and appears to be in new condition. The filament is dry, there are no snags. There is no apparent reason for it to not be performing. Please, if you have any suggestions I would love to hear them.