These gear boxes were troublesome back in the day,but not as problematic as the earlier VX4500/5000 version.You may need to be sure that the drive belt is correct,eg not too tight or loose.

An obscure but regular troublemaker I found,was the optical speed sensor system.This consists of silvered reflective,strobe markings under the two turntables.The reflective surface degrades with age/dirt,and confuses the computer.

This machine is a sophisticated bit of kit,and essentially an Hitachi chassis.I was never able able to find an equivalent Hitachi replacement part for the gearbox.Someone here might have a NOS or salvaged part?

Check the optical sensors before blaming the gearbox though?

Nick

Thanks NIck.

The problem is that the take-up reel is not getting engaged with the gear, as a result the take-up reel doesn't spin. The tape is getting engaged properly and pulled to the head but nothing after that.

Without a tape in, if I apply a little pressure on the plastic part with red arrow(from tape bay), the take-up reel works as the gear marked in red gets pushed down to engage the take-up reel. I had taken apart the gears, cleaned, applied silicone grease - no joy.

So it's either the gear or there is a sliding metal piece that pushes this plastic lever to engage the gear.

Everything else in the player looks clean so just trying to see if it can be made usable...I do have 2 VCR cassettes that I could play if the player worked 🙂.

Thanks !!