Filter sounds like the rudder is chirping.

Sounds like a piece of rock on the blades, whisper filter.

Are they easy to clean? Or am I faced with a failure. It does stop, I had thought it sucked in something, but not sure. I am asking before I try to clean it.

You can and should take it apart to clean it. Be very careful when removing the impeller. You don't want to bend the metal shaft. You should use Vaseline (PLAIN) as a lubricant for the impeller and all the rubber pieces....helps them last longer. If your impeller is "rattling" then it has worn out and needs to be replaced, or your impeller shaft is bent.

SN.. quite often you'll get debris in the impeller housing unit. That will create a racket. And sometimes you'll note on the shaft of the impeller, strings of floss or some other impediment. Just pull the hob.. empty it over your sink, flush it out and you might be good to go. While out, examine the "tips" of the impeller and like Dox suggests, be very careful when extracting the impeller from the motor/housing as the shaft is quite flimsy. The tips at each end of the impeller shouldn't show much sign of wear.

Thank You, was wandering what I am up against. Will take down this weekend and clean.

probably got a snail crunched in it.
the motor itself is water resistant so you can pull it off and hose out the impeller well in the sink to get the gunk out