Hello there, I got this Panasonic RX-S38 walkman a few years ago, and I never got around to buying replacement parts. I tackled it today, and I found that the belts are completely hardened. I had to unscrew and unsolder many wires to be able to flip and remove the circuit board. I found a broken piece, one that belongs to a gray gear which determines the direction of the tape, but it still works somehow! I used a rubber band to see the track of the belt, and spinning it manually makes it work. I push the button while spinning the wheel pulleys and it works, if I spin it in another direction a gear doesn't move and gets stuck, but when I press the reverse button it works. I can't judge now however, I'm not sure if that will do anything bad to the walkman later on, or any mechanism won't work. I have absolutely no problem with flipping the tape around, in fact I enjoy it, like flipping a record (I'm a vinyl enthusiast). If that one broken part is only essential to the reverse mechanism, I don't need it, I just want the damn thing to be able to play tapes! I've heard that this model is really rare, and I hope to be able to fix it. Has anyone ever worked on this model or one similar to it? Also if there are any service manuals available online anywhere, I'd really really appreciate it from the bottom of my heart. This is the last hope for this poor walkman, and I'm wondering what belt dimensions it takes so I can order them. Thank you very much!
