Please, always include the model of your printer in the header when posting in this Forum...... "Printer Issue" doesn't really do much.

When diagnosing print quality issues, pictures speak a thousand words.
If you can, please scan or take some pictures of your defective images, upload them to your computer, and post them with your reply.

Use the "Insert Media" icon (2 left from the smiley-face) to locate the file on your computer and upload with your reply.
(btw.... max image width is 550 pixels)

The best print samples you can provide would be the 20% density test pages. To print the 20% density test pages:
1. Power off the printer.
2. Press and hold the UP and DOWN arrow buttons while you power the printer on.
3. The buttons may be released after the LCD indicates "Diagnosing..."
4. After a few seconds, the LCD should indicate "Customer Mode" and "ESS Diag"
5. Press the UP or Down arrow buttons to find "Test Print", press the Enter (center) button.
6. Press the Down arrow button to find and select Cyan20%, or Magenta20%, or Yellow20%, or Black20%; press the Enter button twice to select and print that test page
(note: printers with the newest firmware may have an additional menu item called "ContaminationCHK". Using this item will print all 4 of the 20% density pages for you)
7. After all print tests have been completed, power the printer off, wait ~5 secs, and power on.

I can't scan the printouts, I did follow your instructions to print out samples

Basically the the spots are consistent whether i print a 20% cyan sample, magenta or yellow the spots are about 2 inches from the right and 1/4 to 1/2 inch apart going down the page. The spots are in sequence black, blue, magenta and yellow

any ideas

Tilt the paper down until almost flat, and view the page from the bottom towards the top. Do any of the 4-dot sets line up.... exactly.... with another set of dots up (or down) the page?

If so, use a metric ruler and measure the distance from the 1st dot at the top of the page, to the 1st dot, in the next set down the page. In other words, top dot in the 1st set to the top dot in the next set. (you want to make sure you measure between "dot sets" that are lined up down the page).

If the distance measures almost 148mm (as close as you can get it), the drum unit is bad. It just so happens that 148mm is the circumference of the drum and the dots you see on the page are due to a pinhole defect in the drum surface.