OEM Head Unit stuck in tape rewind

hankgrant · 9 June 2015

When I turn on the stereo head unit, it is stuck in rewind tape mode. The tape has rewound, but the head unit continued to rewind. Also, the LEDs on the screen are all on, as in startup test mode. I removed the head unit, took it apart (didn't take much) and was able to remove the tape cassette without damage. Put it back together and reinstalled and the head unit is still in tape rewind mode. Doesn't respond to the eject button.

Any wisdom on how I might reset this device? Car is a 93. Replaced all the amps a few years ago.

Thanks for any help.

TURBO2GO · 9 June 2015

Sorry I have no advice but ....

You use tapes?

hankgrant · 10 June 2015

Not normally,
my son asked me what the heck is this dad? And, like an idiot, I said, it's a tape. In the old days we used to play music with it. It goes in there...
The rest is bad history.

JLCoolman · 10 June 2015

TURBO2GO said:
Sorry I have no advice but ....

You use tapes?

LOL

hankgrant said:
Not normally,
my son asked me what the heck is this dad? And, like an idiot, I said, it's a tape. In the old days we used to play music with it. It goes in there...
The rest is bad history.

That is a sticky predicament. Good luck with a solution.
Also, hope your son appreciates your attempt at educating him on some history.

TURBO2GO · 11 June 2015

I think the mechanism hadn't been used in so long something has stuck. I'd open it up and stick the take in and take out a few times and see what moves and lubricate it

Old Guy · 11 June 2015

A bit of conjecture here. You don't select the tape player manually. As I recall, the head unit switches to tape operation when it senses that a tape has been inserted. There must be a switch in the tape transport mechanism to detect the presence of the tape. I am speculating that the switch is stuck in the on position which is telling the head unit that there is a tape present in the transport mechanism causing it to be permanently stuck in the tape mode. The switch must be close to the front of the cassette mechanism as I also recall that all you did was have to slightly insert the tape to start operation of the tape drive. Fixing the switch or totally disconnecting the tape drive mechanism may be viable solutions.