Recently my HS-U770 started eating tapes. They would play for about 3
seconds and stop. When I ejected the tape, the tape had not been wound
back into the cassette. I decided to try my hand at diy vcr repair.
I've never fixed a vcr, but I've found enough info online to get me
started. I'd like to get some more opinions before going forward.
I opened the box and played a tape. The tape loaded correctly, would
start playing, but the take up spool wasn't moving. Initially the take
up spool would move some, but then stop.
I removed the cassette loader and the mechanical deck and manually
moved the main belt underneath. I noticed that depending on the
direction I moved the belt the idler would either engage a gear on the
supply reel or the take-up reel. I assume this is because this vcr has
the ability to play in reverse. When it engages either of these gears,
it will move the gears intially but then stop even as I'm still moving
the belt. I noticed that the pulley that the belt is attached to has
small teeth underneath it. The idler has a large gear that is driven
by this smaller gear that is part of the pulley. Those two gears don't
line up very well and after a brief time of spinning they are no
longer engaged with each other. If I press down on the larger idler
gear, they are engaged.
In my uneducated opinion, I think the idler needs to be replace. Does
anyone agree with my assessment?
If it does need to be replaced, is this fairly straight forward? I
can't tell exactly how to get the idler off, but I see one screw that
appear to be holding the idler in place. Can anyone give me any
guidance on this process?

Thanks in advance to anyone willing to help!
C