hate to do duplicates - I asked this in General Discussion area. But in case someone sees it here first - how do you get these plastic rings off?
Pulling them they don't budge and seem like they will break.
This is the right place for the post. The plastic rings stay on. Wait for the belt kit for full breakdown instructions with pictures. In the meantime, get an exacto knife with a new blade. You want to cut the old idler belts off, rather than try and roll them off. There are two. The switches can be bypassed to determine if there are issues there. But that comes after the new belt kit, which solves most issues. I would not assume there is a clutch issue. If there is, you can buy a CT-F8282 for cheap, same clutch. Or send it to MTF, if that is still an option. I have the part numbers somewhere if you need new switches, a few bucks from mouser. This is my favorite cassette deck ever. I think it was Pioneer's best. Certainly the easiest to work on of the TOTL Pioneer decks.
A few things to keep in mind. The instructions mention these, but they should be stressed:
1. keep track of the orientation of the bushings, washers, and static discharge spring when removing the 2 flywheels. The ones that typically get lost are the white nylon washers that are visible from the front of the transport.
2. Reinstalling the flywheels for the first time is a little confusing. Make a mental note of their orientation. i.e. which one goes on top, and which one goes left vs. right.
3. A spring holds each of the idler assemblies. Mark which slot the spring was in with a sharpie. It looks like it will be easy to see for reassembly, but it isn't.
4. When removing the c-clips with a jewlers screwdriver, hold your hand over it. It will want to escape and never be found again.
Other than that, it's pretty easy, especially with wjoe's instructions. Just have enough time set aside to take your time and keep track of everything.
