Technics RS-D160w Issues

[jimirecord]

Hello all,

This is my first post, so be gentle! I just got into vintage Hi-Fi and found a Technics RS-D160w at my local consignment store for 10 bucks. They're going for between 50-100 on ebay right now, so I thought it was a good deal.

I've used tapes most of my life and fixed a few belts, but this guy has me somewhat puzzled. Both decks play, but the play side is very muffled and sounds a bit wobbly with speed. Deck B plays perfectly, but both decks do not rewind, they only fast forward.

I'm guessing the head might need cleaned on Deck A, and new belts might fix the wobbly playback speed, but I'm not quite sure what to do with the inability to rewind. I can "live" with this functionality, as I can just flip/ffwd to rewind, but I would love to get this deck fully functional. I have not opened it up yet.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance!

 

[revox-b77]

Yes clean everything and replace the belts. I expect it needs idler tires and that will take care of the rw problem. See if HiFi Engine has your service manual. Free Dl but you need to register first. Good luck with the repairs.

 

[jimirecord]

Update: pulled it apart, and all belts appear to be in good shape. Rewind works at the start of a full rewind, but slows to a crawl/stops once about halfway through. Could it still be the idler tires? If so, I imagine that would not be too easy to replace... I know this unit was only 10 bucks, but I'd like to use this as a learning experience even if I mess it up. Are the idler tires universal? It's hard to find much about this specific model aside from the many available on ebay for 10x the price of what I payed for this.