Technics SL-D202 Auto Return issue

[djeclypse]

I purchased an SL-D202 a few years back that looked pristine but had a few issues: the platter would spin whenever it was powered on, and the auto return did not work. Also, speed would fluctuate, but that was due to the pitch control needing a good cleaning.
So I opened it up, cleaned all the old grease with plastic safe contact cleaner, and regreased with white lithium. I've used it ever since as a manual table.
A few weeks ago I picked up an SL-B205 from a flea market with a nice stanton 500 cart for 15$ I was just buying it for the cart, but it powered on fine, but no belt. I bought a belt, and voila it works. Very wonky speed that is definitely not due to the pitch control. So I look underneath, and it is very similar to the D202 as far as the auto return mech. I noticed my 202 was MISSING the large gear that seems to trip the tray stop and auto return.
I transferred the gear to my 202 and it fit perfectly. But the auto return now kept cycling, so no way to play anything. Since it had worked on the 205, I knew the gear was good. So I switched it back, and now the 205 is cycling auto return as well. So now I know it has something to do with my alignment of that gear. I can't figure out what that is, however. Any assistance is greatly appreciated!!

 

[cre009]

I have a D202 I picked up very cheap from a car boot sale. Auto return worked ok on mine but I did have the issue of it starting to spin as soon as powered up.

After searching on some forums most of which suggest lubricating anything that moves and removing any surplus grease I did locate a post on one of the forums that implied some functions including stop were controlled from a mechanism/switch under the platter. Unfortunately cant locate the post now. After removing the platter there is a circuit board in the centre and not much else of interest but as a first go I just used contact cleaner or possibly WD40 on anything that potentially looked mechanical. After I put the platter back on all functions then worked correctly and continue to do so.