How do I dissasemble a 88-94 stock radio head and cassette deck?

[AK49BWL]

The alcohol will be good for wiping down the tape read head and the pinch rollers. You'll want a bottle of 3n1 oil for lubing up the gears and metallic mechanisms. The deck can be fully removed from the chassis that also contains the equalizer, and you'll want to so you can access the bottom of the deck. Detach and move the front face buttons' ribbon cable out of the way, then you can take the pulley retainer off and take out the two main belt pulleys. There you'll have access to pretty much all the drive mechanisms to lube up. Once you put the main belt pulleys back in, make sure you clean off the ends that make contact with the pinch rollers so you don't end up with oil on them, and subsequently, your tapes.


I guess I should mention how to remove the tape drive from the chassis...

Remove the four screws that hold the front face to the chassis - detach the two cables going to the equalizer display board, as the display board is mounted to the front face. Carefully pull the front face straight off. There are two screws on the right side, one in the rear, and one in the front next to the Cro2 button of the deck. Slightly bend the rear of the chassis back and the deck should just pop out.

 

[Fireball5657]

View media item 32675View media item 32674
Alright, got the cassette deck out and cleaned the buttons and the read head with the isopropyl. What do I need to do next; I don't have 3in1 oil with me, nor do I know what that is.

 

[AK49BWL]

It's just a penetrating oil, kinda like WD40 but not evaporative like that is. You can get it pretty much anywhere, Walmart has it even.

I just realized, that's one of the older style cassette decks like used from 88-91... I never could get mine like that style to sound right. There's another model with updated electronics that is far more reliable. Note the differences in the circuit board between yours and this one.

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On yours, the deck's movement activates a multi-switch that changes the audio output and LED direction indicator. Both of mine like this, the switches were corroded and I don't know how to fix that. The one in my pic has one single switch that tells the microcontroller which side is playing, and the microcontroller switches the audio and LED around accordingly.

That is to say, I'm not sure you're ever going to get decent sound out of that deck. I don't think those older electronics are quite up to the par of the later decks (93-94 at least).

What's the part number on the chassis of that deck?


Actually... I'm not seeing the multi-switch either. That's a board design I've never seen before.

 

[Fireball5657]

It's just a penetrating oil, kinda like WD40 but not evaporative like that is. You can get it pretty much anywhere, Walmart has it even.

I just realized, that's one of the older style cassette decks like used from 88-91... I never could get mine like that style to sound right. There's another model with updated electronics that is far more reliable. Note the differences in the circuit board between yours and this one.

You must be registered for see images attach

On yours, the deck's movement activates a multi-switch that changes the audio output and LED direction indicator. Both of mine like this, the switches were corroded and I don't know how to fix that. The one in my pic has one single switch that tells the microcontroller which side is playing, and the microcontroller switches the audio and LED around accordingly.

That is to say, I'm not sure you're ever going to get decent sound out of that deck. I don't think those older electronics are quite up to the par of the later decks (93-94 at least).

What's the part number on the chassis of that deck?

I'd be surprised if it's a earlier deck, there is a sticker on the cassette deck board itself that says it's from April 4, 1994. Either way, model number 16191455. Sound from the cassette deck is just as good as from the radio, the CDM is number 16169561.

Well, it's not much of a sticker, there are just numbers on the board that have the date on them.

 

[AK49BWL]

That part number does seem familiar. And no, it's not one of the early decks, I'm seeing that now - it just looked similar. But it's also not like mine, the circuit layout is one I've never seen lol. My cassette deck is from an early 93 so that's probably why. You can probably just disregard that entire last post, I'm just having a moment

Anyway, as far as cleaning it out, I..........oh. Ohhhh. I have seen a deck similar to that one before, but not in a 400 chassis! That deck is similar to a Buick's all-in-one stereo I pulled from a 95... Anyway, totally unimportant now but that is actually a deck superior to mine lol. And you really don't want to pull the bottom plate off of those because there's a tape mechanism positioning wheel that likes to go haywire when you do, and it's a royal pain in the woohoo to get it back together properly! So uh.... Just use your air blaster and clean the head and rollers and I'd leave it at that if it sounds good during playback.


I actually have posted about the differences between the style I'm used to and the one like yours. https://www.gmt400.com/posts/1099694/

 

[Fireball5657]

That part number does seem familiar. And no, it's not one of the early decks, I'm seeing that now - it just looked similar. But it's also not like mine, the circuit layout is one I've never seen lol. My cassette deck is from an early 93 so that's probably why. You can probably just disregard that entire last post, I'm just having a moment

Anyway, as far as cleaning it out, I..........oh. Ohhhh. I have seen a deck similar to that one before, but not in a 400 chassis! That deck is similar to a Buick's all-in-one stereo I pulled from a 95... Anyway, totally unimportant now but that is actually a deck superior to mine lol. And you really don't want to pull the bottom plate off of those because there's a tape mechanism positioning wheel that likes to go haywire when you do, and it's a royal pain in the woohoo to get it back together properly! So uh.... Just use your air blaster and clean the head and rollers and I'd leave it at that if it sounds good during playback.

Haha alright, sounds good. I took a look at the pictures of the truck that I ripped the stereo from, and it looks to be a later 94, it has the updated parking brake, the square one that was used on late 94's and up rather than the trapezoid shaped on that my February 94 and earlier trucks had, so that could be why it's so unfamiliar. Either way, it's midnight and I'll just finish up tomorrow, I have the head unit to reassemble and the cassette deck to clean out, and I may take a shot at disassembling the CDM to try and see why my FM reception is all over the place.

Thanks for the help tonight! I really love the stock radio, it looks so 80's and sounds better than any aftermarket radio that my truck has had in it.

 

[AK49BWL]

Glad to help, you might notice I kinda nerd out on these things

 

[1ton-o-fun]

My 2 cents worth of help...

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Goes on my home and vehicle door hinges, put a bit on your key before putting the key in your lock... The stuff is great!
Unpaid commercial over.

 

[Steven Petersen]

My 2 cents worth of help...

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Goes on my home and vehicle door hinges, put a bit on your key before putting the key in your lock... The stuff is great!
Unpaid commercial over.

Works well on guns too.