Qidi X-Max 3 extruder issue?

New from Qidi, about 40 hours on it. While calibrating and printing 1 layer tests I started getting very thin extrusion lines. Consistent but thin. Next test the line would be "normal", and the next go back to thin. Same gcode for all of the tests. Thinking I had a partial clog, I pulled the nozzle and did a cold pull and then cleaned with a needle while hot. Needle was clean, seemed fine.

Thinking I had a crack in the extruder or something, I disassembled. I don't know the different parts of the extruder but the wheel that moves on the lever with the spring was loose on its pin, and there seems to be rust. is this wheel supposed to be relatively tight fitting on the pin or is it supposed to be loose like this?

There seems to be rust on the pin and in the extruder housing.

I could not find much on extruder teardowns for this machine, and this is the first time I've taken an extruder apart.