Replaced the belt on this deck (after spending well over an hour
cleaning out the tar-like goo that the old one had gone to). Completely
cleaned the head, trip-sensor & capstan w/ Q-tips & alcohol. Great, deck
worked fine for about a week, but has now developed an annoying flutter
(speed-variation) problem. Doesn't matter which cartridge I play,
happens w/ them all. So, after looking at the rather-spartan service
manual, I put a voltmeter across the motor to check for variations. The
manual states that there should be 20VDC across it. Running it w/o the
belt, it shows a steady 21.2V (so, no-load). But when I run a tape, I
notice the meter changes a few tenths-of-volt whenever the speed varies
(so w/ load, since I can cause the same under no-load by pressing down
on the pulley). Which makes me wonder if the capstan needs a clean-out
of old grease at its bearing. Would love to, but there's an E-clip
*under* the flywheel the holds the whole assembly in place. Would love
to know -- how-in-hell -- I'd remove that E-clip (the service manual
gives no such information)? Anyhow, if anyone has worked on this or a
similar Sony model (TC-228, 258, etc), could you please provide some
insight?