1990 cassette repair attempt

[sarookha]

With encouragement from the ROJ "How-To Guides", I pulled the factory original cassette deck in my '90 with a goal of replacing the eject and drive belts.  Except the '90 cassette deck bears no resemblance at all to that pictured in the "How-To Guides"...  Maybe the one in the guide is from an '88-89?  In my '90, cassettes are inserted flat, and go straight in.  The pictured deck has you drop a cassette into an angled chute from above, which then closes holding the cassette vertically.  The internals are just as starkly different; the guide provides no information whatsoever that is pertinent to my cassette deck.  I'd encourage the web master to make a notation on the How-to guide that this procedure does not apply to '90 Reatta cassette decks.

 

I did manage to mangle the resident cassette out of the chute, in small chunks, hoping that without a cassette, perhaps the whole radio/cassette/CD system would allow me to use the radio instead of forcing the system into cassette only mode.  Sadly, no.  The cassette tray is still stuck in play position, and the audio system will not allow me to select radio since it thinks the cassette deck is being used.

 

Any thoughts?

Edited May 16, 2023 by sarookha

[Ronnie]

I admire your willingness to dive into the cassette deck. Wish I could offer some help but I know nothing about them.

[sarookha]

I dove deep enough to think maybe I had ruined the whole unit!  Never did find a release or catch or other way to return the cassette tray to the eject position.  I tried turning the unbelted wheel with my finger, no results.  Probably need to turn whatever little wheel that one was driving, but couldn't see it or reach it even with the circuit boards moved out of the way.  I'm afraid that if I get it any farther apart, something will go "Sprong!" and it will never go back together again.  Managed to get it all put back together, just one screw left over 🤪

[sarookha]

Update, used my first part from my parts car, the cassette module.  After checking that it didn't have a cassette stuck in it, too, I pulled the unit from the dashes of both cars, removed the cassette modules from the dash stereo units, and swapped them.  I even discovered where the missing screw belonged.  Even more surprising, I hadn't lost it between last week's foray and this weekend.  Now I happily have the radio back, so i can use my hands-free phone Bluetooth FM adapter.  Whew, what an ordeal.