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I have just recently purchased a 1987 Trans am and one of the belts in the cassette player has split. I can not find any information online on how to tear down this specific model of this radio. Does anyone have any tips on how to open up this radio to access the belts?
I don't. But it's a common problem. I can't even count the number of times I had the belts replaced in that same radio by local shops throughout the years. But then, I had cassettes playing ALL THE TIME, so it's no wonder I wore it out as often as I did.
@John in RI is a member here who works on radios. He'll probably see this and can probably help you.
( you can unplug the cassette mechanism at the start-or-end of the process )
Remove the 4 - 1/4" screws shown by the red circles.
Remove the 3/16 screw at side-corner shown by the red arrow. ( you might need a Philips-head screwdriver or a "slim" 3/16ths socket.)
Push the cassette mechanism from back-to-front with your thumbs while raising the rear of the cassette mech upward. Once it clears the case, (at the rear of the radio ) pull it back & out of the radio (and unplug it). It should just "slide out" but sometimes it gets stuck and pushing it forward then up is the best way to free it up IMO.
It is a type "D" cassette mechanism and the 2 belts you want to get are SCX9.2 & SCX4.9
( you can unplug the cassette mechanism at the start-or-end of the process )
Remove the 4 - 1/4" screws shown by the red circles.
Remove the 3/16 screw at side-corner shown by the red arrow. ( you might need a Philips-head screwdriver or a "slim" 3/16ths socket.)
Push the cassette mechanism from back-to-front with your thumbs while raising the rear of the cassette mech upward. Once it clears the case, (at the rear of the radio ) pull it back & out of the radio (and unplug it). It should just "slide out" but sometimes it gets stuck and pushing it forward then up is the best way to free it up IMO.
It is a type "D" cassette mechanism and the 2 belts you want to get are SCX9.2 & SCX4.9
Thank you so much! Saved me 200+ dollars. I’ve got a **** ton of belts I’m gonna try and see if they fit and test to see how they play. I was about to just remove everything I could see until I got it right.
That little hidden screw ( where the arrow is pointing ) can be a bitch,... some radios use a Philips-head and that's great, but most radios use a 3/16" hex-head and not every socket is slim enough to fit inside that access "hole" !
While apart,check if the pinch rollers have gone hard-tape will misstrac and get crimped if rollers are hard-the earlier white hub rollers more prone to this than the later black hub rollers.There are other things that go wrong with this mechanism,but see if new belts have it going again
Since repairs for this radio have come up at this moment, I'm wondering if John will be able to address an issue that mine has always had. The tape deck has always played too fast. Most people wouldn't notice, even the repair people haven't been able to tell by ear, but it's always bugged my musical ears. It's not like it matters anymore anyway because the radio is in a box now, so this is just for my own curiosity.
The various shops that have changed the belts have said there's a speed adjuster inside. Is there... really? I've mentioned it each time I took it somewhere (always somewhere different depending on where I lived), and each time it was confirmed to play too fast, so they supposedly tweaked it, but I've never noticed any change. But if it's in there, then it's probably in other cassette radios, and other people might've noticed but thought it was just their imaginations, so this could be relevant to other people someday.
Blaupunkt tape motors start running fast when the brushes get worn down: the motors have an axial contact commutator and the way the brushes are made,as they wear,changes brush contact position and motors speed up beyond what motor speed control can compensate for-a fresh motor fixes this.I have never seen a speed adjustment provision on a Blaupunkt,but Japanese motors often do-little adjustment pot. right on the motor in many cases.My blaupunkt is starting to run fast,will fix that next time radio is out for an overhaul
That little hidden screw ( where the arrow is pointing ) can be a bitch,... some radios use a Philips-head and that's great, but most radios use a 3/16" hex-head and not every socket is slim enough to fit inside that access "hole" !
So apparently they put even smaller bolts in there than 3/16ths unless I'm looking at the wrong one. Even a 5/32nd is too large for this bolt. Maybe you know what I might be referencing. It's possible this radio was tampered with because I didn't have direct contact with the previous(and only!) owner when I bought the car. I'll send a photo of the bolt I think the arrow is pointing to if what I'm describing is completely foreign to you. Thanks again for your help so far!
Since repairs for this radio have come up at this moment, I'm wondering if John will be able to address an issue that mine has always had. The tape deck has always played too fast. Most people wouldn't notice, even the repair people haven't been able to tell by ear, but it's always bugged my musical ears. It's not like it matters anymore anyway because the radio is in a box now, so this is just for my own curiosity.
The various shops that have changed the belts have said there's a speed adjuster inside. Is there... really? I've mentioned it each time I took it somewhere (always somewhere different depending on where I lived), and each time it was confirmed to play too fast, so they supposedly tweaked it, but I've never noticed any change. But if it's in there, then it's probably in other cassette radios, and other people might've noticed but thought it was just their imaginations, so this could be relevant to other people someday.
Some Cassette mechanisms DO have an adjustment screw on the motor,.. some do not ! The cassette mech shown in the pics above are from the "early" Blaupunkt mechanisms and those do NOT have an adjustment screw. The 88(?) and later version of the Blaupunkt mechanism DOES have an adjustment screw on the motor. You'll have to remove the mechanism from the mounting bracket to access the back of the motor / adjustment screw.
This image was from the 85 Delco radio service manual for type "D" mechanisms and shows that if tape adjustment is needed,... the proper resistor needs to be soldered in place on the cassette mechanism PCB. Most of the time,.... I find that the early mechanisms tend to play too slow.
So apparently they put even smaller bolts in there than 3/16ths unless I'm looking at the wrong one. Even a 5/32nd is too large for this bolt. Maybe you know what I might be referencing. It's possible this radio was tampered with because I didn't have direct contact with the previous(and only!) owner when I bought the car. I'll send a photo of the bolt I think the arrow is pointing to if what I'm describing is completely foreign to you. Thanks again for your help so far!
No Problem !!!! This is the screw I'm referring too: I'm guessing that you might need to find 'just-the-right' socket to get a good bite on that screw. I remember the 3/16ths Craftsman socket & another non-name brand I tried at first didn't fit,...... I've been using that Snap-On socket shown ever since.
Yea, I was looking at the right one. It is noticeably smaller than a 3/16th should be. There is absolutely 0 bite even on the 5/32" socket I've got and it's clearly not stripped or anything, it's just microscopic. Counted the pixels and compared it to the 1/4" and it seems to be around ~1/10" or ~2.5mm. Amazon seems to have a perfect set of tiny tiny sockets that I'm gonna buy right now. I'll get back when they arrive, and hopefully they aren't pure junk.
IM BACK! And I’ve got the cassette out of the radio! Now a thing I didn’t think about is how should the belt be installed around the certain wheels and the motor? I’ve got a belt that seems to have good tension. Just gotta know how to route it and I should be good. Thanks one last time, John!
Hopefully the thread isn’t dead already but I think I’ve got the belt on right(just a complete guess so tell me if I’m wrong). But now the auto stop and reverse keep tripping even when I can see the tape being spun. Any know fixes?
as I look at this,there are a couple "related topics"showing belt routing and discussion of the other problem-check those threads out Dead opti sensor seems to be one of the common problems,but i have never had that happen with the several Blaupunkts i have in service-did have a bad capacitor cause the described problem,could not find the capacitor in reply 12 diagram(thanks John, I have noted that diagram) but i will look and see what rating it was-very small electrolytic.
Sometimes,... SOMETIMES,... The problem is the reflector disc. They can corrode and fail to reflect light properly to the OPTI sensor. You can pull of the BLACK gear and flip it upside down to check the condition of those reflectors.
Your problem seems to be OPTI sensor related because if you push the tape in it try's to play each side - then ejects the tape. (If the tape gets rejected automatically / immediately than it's a different problem ) If you have a "strobe" flashlight you can check the OPTI sensor. It can fail 2 ways,. not sending or not receiving; testing with a strobe flashlight will not tell you how the OTI is bad - just that it's not working.
