98 Ford Taurus Se tape deck issue

Well, not being there to try some diagnostics, there can be a number of reason that the tape plays backwards at times. One reason is that the tapes are 4 channel discrete tape requiring a 4 track 4 channel deck- this would mean track 2,4 are recorded in the forward direction. A Stereo (2 channel 4 track deck) play tracks 2,4 in the opposite direction. That is why you turn the tape over on some decks. Other possibilities could be tape path skew, that reverse relay is NOT changing the head that "listens: to the tape and that is just the start of what it could be. When a new person starts to use a deck of such age- it can be correct to assume that the deck is not working in some respect. A Tape deck Technician such as myself would know how to determine if the deck was working correct or not and know and have parts to correct it. I worked in the Factory Service in Chicago for Teac and actually have one coming into my shop in the near future. After 40 years of working on these I am still at it. I am sorry there may not be an easy answer to this.

sounds to me like your tape belt in the other motor has broke ,the drive for the tape deck has a rubber band putting it crudely and these belts are a special rubber ,it should be a easy repair but make sure you get the right size rubber band but they must be made for a tape deck and not one from office draw

It's the tape deck there must be a tape that got caught inside and is wrapped around the capstan or the heads and the radio stays on because the switch is not activated by the deck lowering down far enough you have to take it out and clean it and look for any tape or other obstructions that would stop the mechanism from working including the belt you may need parts and a 20 year old radio there hard to find try the junk yard for a replacement but you can operate yours with the cover off if you can get it out far enough to see inside while it's on and that will help you find the problem but first bring it inside your house so you don't loose parts after cleaning with alcohol and derusting if any and a light lubricant you might be lucky see what happens I also use an adapter for my cell phone music in a 2007 bull and I also did it in an 87 bull with a cd player so I know what your talking about also make sure the adapter wire is not hanging up when pushing it in good luck also brand new replacements might be the best way to get the music you want they have auxiliary input jacks for cell phone mp3 players but try to fix yours first the learning part is priceless for the future radios you will own

if you dont have a plug built into it than two ways 1 if u have a tape player tape adapter plugs into deck and mp3 or fm frequency adapter plugs into mp3 and adjust radio to lowest or highest station thats not used and will play ur music

have your starter tested.

In my experience this is often down to a cog or other maniacal device in the player that has suffered some damage. As it is playing the fault causes a switch, which should not happen, and then leads to a chain reaction to the eject.

Hiya, first try a normal cassette, see if that plays OK. If so the deck is probably fine, if not then the deck is faulty (probably not serious though and just a loose wire on the head).
If the connection between the tape and MP3 is a cable, the fault is quite likely there (if bluetooth then not). I strongly suspect the cable from the previous issues also.

Best of luck

Time for a new car stereo. I recommend something that you can plug a flash drive into that will provide hours of listening pleasure. Repairing the factory tape deck is not going to be economical. Since the stereo has to be removed to diagnose it, much less repair it, just fill the hole with something else. If you absolutely love the factory deck, salvage yards everywhere have them available for less than the cost of a repair.

Just an idea .. In the past I have removed hungry decks from my cars. A lot easier to work on / dismantle than in dash. gently remove the casing and you should find the tape deck a separate component within the whole unit.Hook up via alligater clips to battery to power up and alligater clips to a speaker lead to hear. saves a lot of stress. Usually done for chewwed up and swallowed tape. results are good, surprisingly.

Cheers !

ozzy

Hi As you know cassette decks have been around along time, and as such they are fairly robust. The vast majority of the time, problems like you are describing are the result of a broken drive belt, or bad capstan motor. This is not true for all, but if you have favorite tapes you wish to play, you need the deck fixed, and if the problem is drive belt or motor, the repair normally should not be hugely expensive. Hope this helps, good luck!