CPC464 tape deck woes

[berneslai]

Hi all,

I've been browsing through all the old CPC464 tape deck threads but I can't find one that seems to fit my specific problem.  I've got a CPC464 where the tapedeck appears to work fine but it's only loading around 20% of the cassette games I have.  I keep getting the same symptom across many cassette games (Out Run, Winter Games, Back to the Future II, III etc.). 

I'm not receiving any tape errors but, shortly after finding block 1, the tape will stop and will go no further.  This almost always occurs during preparation for the loading screen.  I will get the frame in the middle of the screen with a different colour border but the tape will stop dead.  It feels like it is processing correctly but the tape never starts again.  I'm just left with a hung screen and a stopped cassette.

I've tried the REW/FF trick with the game before attempting to load and I've cleaned with IPA/cotton buds.  I haven't inspected the belt yet but would imagine that this isn't the issue given that the games get to a certain point.  I can't say for sure all these games do work but the fact that they all fail at a similar place seems suspicious.

Any ideas?

[Bryce]

Have you propoerly cleaned the head and adjusted the azimuth?

Bryce.