Nakamichi BX 300 help needed

[kahler]

Howdy ya'll,

I just purchased a Nakamichi BX 300 off of craigslist. Upon inspecting the deck at the guy's house, I noticed that it was having trouble rewinding, I figured it was an idler tire issue (I have owned a bx 100 and bx 125, changed the tires on both). So he sold
it to me for way less and I was on my way thinking it would be an easy fix.

Later at home, I popped off the vanity plate and I was surprised to see that this BX 300 has the gear drive idler, not the rubber tire. This concerns me because now I don't know how to fix it!

Does anybody know what the issue is with my tape deck? It played and FF fine when I got it (last night), but now it won't do anything with a tape in.When I hit play, it makes a short, loud rumbling sound and that is it. This deck is in really nice cosmetic shape and I want a 3 head Nak so bad! Unfortunately I do not have a ton of funds to throw at this. If I can't fix it, it might go up in BT.

Thanks for reading,
Kahler

 

[zedex]

Idler motor probably. When you hit play without a tape,does the headblock rise?

 

[kahler]

No it does not rise. The gear idler spins for a second but that is it.

 

[Bob]

gently, carefully remove the motor driving the idler and clean it physically and electrically.

for advice go to naktalk and tapeheads

if things go south, sell the gear mechanism.

 

[AudioWizard]

With the gear drive at least you have a modded one ( which was the factory mod from the idler drive, Nak sold a mod kit at the time) Check as was mentioned previously , see if the mechanism is moving. The mechanism control motor has a high failure rate and also the idler motor is some times iffy.

 

[zedex]

Your cam motor has probably dead spotted. (common, very common) The cam motor has a worm gear which turns a larger white gear. Hit play and give that worm gear a little nudge. It will fire right up and probably play for you. But thats the problem.