It does everything (placing the head/pinch rollers on the tape, fast-forward, rewind) except for moving the tape while regularly playing.
The only movement happening to the tape when pressing play is a few mm from the head and pinch rollers pushing down. I will carefully check everything, and I am sure I will be able to resolve it, but maybe one of you can tell me what I could look for, i.e., which cable might be loose.
That is very odd as it is the capstan motor that drives the mechanism to engages the head & pinch rollers, therefore what you are saying suggests the capstan motor is rotating. Why then the tape is not moving is a mystery!
I have a capstan motor drive issue I am trying to get to the bottom of, but in my case the head does not engage with the tape as the motor refuses to rotate. When I press PLAY the deck immediately goes to STOP such as in this video from a fellow forum member: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wj9zrQvm1eI
The smaller capstan flywheel seems to fall out down to the metal cover; what exactly does keep it in place normally? I am hesitant to remove it at the other now fully restored DCC730 because I don’t want to repeat the same mistake.