u/InterestLow319

or next week?

Body:
Hey everyone, just wanted to share a successful fix for a common mechanical failure on late-90s Sony Sports Walkmans, specifically the WM-FS495 (though this applies to similar auto-reverse mechanisms of this era).

The Symptom:
I had installed a brand new belt and found it would rewind ok but very noisy. FF was fine, but pressing Play resulted in zero movement from the spindles in either direction with a tape. (even though the motor was spinning smoothly). The left spindle was stuck

The Problem:
Upon opening the unit, it turned out that the molded black plastic return spring pivot pin near the left reel had completely snapped off the chassis. Without the pin holding it in place, the high-tension return spring had shifted and was physically pushing directly against the left reel, acting like a brake pad and locking it down during playback.

The Permanent Fix:
Don't bother trying to superglue the original plastic pin back on—the spring tension will just snap it off again. Instead:

1. Clear away the broken plastic debris.
2. Locate the original factory alignment/mounting hole in the metal chassis right where the pin used to be.
3. Thread a very short, extremely flathead micro-screw directly into that hole. I had a few of these that I had pulled off an old laptop. Those tiny screws with super flat heads come in handy for this kind of stuff. The hole was just the right size for the screw to self thread in to and enough stuck out the spring side so the threads also hold the coiled part of the spring in place.

The metal thread creates a permanent, rock-solid anchor that can easily handle the spring's tension. The hard part is holding the spring in place while threading in the screw so the spring sits fully in the new screw pivot, and the player now works perfectly!

Hope this helps someone else pulling their hair out trying to figure out why their newly-belted WM-FS495 won't spin in Play mode!

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