Chosen Solution

JVC DD-5 stereo cassette deck

In this cassette deck, there’s a rubber wheel thst spins and touches two larger white plastic wheels that the spool “pegs” go through. Spinning the white wheel makes that peg spin. The wheel dedicated to playback (the right wheel) is split into two thin wheels, and the rubber wheel will jump between the inner and outer wheel depending on whether you are fast-forwarding or playing back the tape.If I trick it into thinking there’s a cassette in there, it’ll happily spin. Sometimes it doesn’t spin the white wheels properly, but most of the time it does.When I insert an actual cassette, it will start spinning, and the second the tape is pulled taught, it auto-stops. If I press play, I can hear the motors spin, and I can see the rubber wheel spinning one of the thin white wheels, but it isn’t enough to move the peg. It’s like the peg isn’t entirely attached to the wheel? It jumps to the inner wheel of the two sections when playing back, and when fast-forwarding it jumps to the outer ring. Playing back, it succeeds in spinning the wheels, but the pegs kinda get stuck. If I loosen the tape, it does spin the peg until, as I mentioned, the tape gets tight. Then it stops, kinda like it’s reacting to the tape not moving.I can move the spools with my finger, and it doesn’t feel unusually tight.

mf_kitten  could be a belt or take-up disk issue. You need to consider taking it apart and take a good look at the mechanism. This manual should help you with that JVC-DD-5.pdfJVC-DD-5-Supplement.pdf

The rubber “idler” is slipping. Also the “stop” mechanism is based upon the tape actually moving. If the mechanism doesn’t detect movement, the unit will shutdown to prevent the tape from stretching. IRRC: This is accomplished by a “feeler” that will trip when the tape tension gets too high. This unit needs an overhaul. It is possible that the motor is getting weak, but I would start with replacing the idler assembly or at least the idler tire. Note: given the age of this, some of the lubricant may not be lubricating so well. Over time this will become more like glue. You may need to re-lubricate the assembly as well. Dan