Hello, I am new to collecting cassettes and decided to buy an Akai CS-F21 for the price of $20. When I got home, I took the cover off and found that the belt for the sprocket had perished and became a goo. I ordered a belt set but I have no idea how to put it on. There are service manuals online but they don't help me. I assume that the belt runs from the white wheel in the photo to the motor, which I pointed out with the screwdriver. There is a metal shroud that prevents me from just hooking it over.
I never had an Akai, but in all cassette decks that I restored (Teak, Nakamichi, Yamaha) I had to remove cassette mechanism and to disassemble it even for a "simple" re-belting
Here is lowly Sony TC-WR800 as an example: You have to remove cassette mechanism first: and then disassemble the mechanism to put new belts (makes sense to clean and re-lube while at it):
You'll have to disassemble the motor from the bracket, it's pretty common on nicer tape decks. First grab a cold beer, make sure anybody near knows that when your swearing it's not personal, and make sure you have a bright flashlight, camera and magnet for both your screwdriver and for the little screws that fall on the floor. Take a ton of photos during the screw removal process, everyone says, I'll remember, but that never happens. These always have 5-8 screws you can see and one or two that are nearly invisible, never force anything out. Once out, clean for hours using IPA and Q-Tips, the closer to 100% IPA the better, once you get better at this, foam pads are much better to use, they don't leave strands of cotton. There should be zero black sticky residue anywhere, and it does get all over the place. Looking at your photo, the main drive belt looks fine and the top belt is gone, what does it connect to, it looks too big for a counter but you may not have to pull everything apart if the main belt is ok. Some nicer units will not work if the counter belt is broken, it helps with cueing the tape. This process hazes you into the cassette world, don't worry about screwing it up, we all do, even guys with experience. For me it's frustrated fun, some of these units are very complex with a million screws but when your done it's very rewarding and if you can do it, a non-working unit may be a few dollars compared to a few hundred.
Sorry, I forgot about this thread after I figured it out. For anyone who is doing the same thing, the metal plate to the left of the motor is held by a single screw I think and it comes off. On the motor are two slots where the belts run, it's a little difficult to put them both on at the same but you'll get it
