Help with Marantz 5020

[goldswimmerb]

Hey, so I recently acquired a second Marantz 5020. I've been able to get it to play, record and everything seems to work, except for the auto-stop mechanism. In fast forward and reverse it stops, however, it doesn't reset the metal plate for the buttons, causing the eject button to not work. I've tried lubricating the controls, as well as anything that looks important for the start/stop mechanism. When in play mode it doesn't auto stop at all. I read somewhere that just removing the mechanism/belt helps with the wow and flutter, is that true?

Any ideas? Ive tried adjusting the spring that's mentioned in the manual but that hasn't helped at all.

 

[Steven Tate]

It's almost certainly gummed up grease causing a small part in the control mechanism not to move properly. I had a similar problem in a 5020 - eject button would not move after stopping the tape. It turned out to be a small lever, part number 1510 in the exploded view in the service manual. Its name is "lever, eject" and it swivels to lock and unlock the eject button. In my case, it was not swiveling because of hardened grease. Cleaned it with alcohol, relubed it, and it fixed the problem. I would say it would be a lucky break if yours was the same problem, but I'll bet it is a small part not moving properly. It's just going to take some close inspection.