I have a Buick under dash 8 track player that Im trying to fix. Maybe someone might be able to shed some light on the issue. The issue is that it doesn't change programs. Basically, when you hit the program button, it energizes a solenoid that mechanically engages the contraption that moves the tape head to a different area of the tape. Thus moving it to another track. The problem is when you hit the program button, the light dims and the solenoid doesn't do anything. Everything has been cleaned and lubed. I can manually manipulate the solenoid plunger and the tape changes programs perfectly. So there is no binding. It takes very little effort. My playing with it, I can get the solenoid to push the plunger in, but then it gets stuck and wont immediately release. The player light dims again until the solenoid releases. any ideas? Im thinking bad solenoid. maybe bad ground??
This is a Delco T400 unit. Whats interesting is that I have the 1970 Delco Radio service manual and it says to bench test the unit with 14 volts uzzled:
I'm thinking maybe the solenoid is nfg Jason, and needs replacing. o No: These old Lear 8 track tape players were electro-mechanical, and not exactly 'solid state' like today's multi-disc CD players! :TU:
there is a guy on the oldsmobile site that works on 8track players his name is randy his email is w70442@hotmail.com maybe he can help :idea2:
I just emailed him. Thanks for the lead. Sucks when you cant advance to the next program of Elvis- Aloha from Hawaii
Jason, I've bought belts + brackets from Randy in the past. He's a good guy. He also repairs Olds + probably Buick cases + brackets. You know...the plastic type cases with the thin brackets attached. He repros the special ground wire and rear support bracket for Olds, too.
Tried that. I think the small board that controls the solenoid is no good. The board has a small glass tube on the underside. John- Id be interested in the 8 track guts. Can you post up a picture of what you have?
That small glass tube could be a diode that is in parallel with the solenoid winding. If it's shorted it will make the solenoid lazy and could account for the light dimming when you press the button. You can unsolder it and check it with a multimeter in diode mode by comparing the forward to reverse bias voltage drop. It should have a voltage drop of .500 to .700 volt forward biased and should read open reversed biased ( the meter should not change when you touch the leads to it). Hope this helps.
OK, I was able to get in touch with Randy the 8 track tape guru from the Classic Oldsmobile site. He was gracious enough to give me his number. He spent almost an hour with me on the phone. After doing a few tests over the phone, having a known good tape deck in front of him, and hashing it out, we were able to eliminate the circuit board and diagnose it as bad windings in the solenoid. Randy is a really good guy to spend so much time and effort with me. Anyway....I need a new solenoid. There are two types, a large style and a small. This is the small one. Hopefully John Kemper has the right oneray:
Yup, told you he was a good guy! He's a good source for belts. Glad he helped you figure it out, Jason.
If you can't find the solenoid it wouldn't be that hard to rewind the one you have. I'm putting an AM/FM 8 track in my 69 Firebird. I got it out of a 77 Cadillac, it has a digital receiver with led display. Couldn't pass it up for 20 bucks and it works perfectly!
Can you post a photo of that solenoid? I have all the internals of the player I gutted out last year.
Sure. This is it. The other picture is where the "tape stripper" is located. Its basically a plastic liner for the inside of where that axle rides
These are the 'leftovers' from my 8-track: Here's a more close up look of the solenoid: So it can be bench tested with 12+V? Edit; looking at your other request thread this one might be the bigger one of the two. The plunger looks different as well.
