I recommend add oil to the front bushing too with needle or tooth pick.

Those clever guys at "Pyle Home" are pure geniuses. They've dealt with the problem of gear getting obsolete by putting "Contemporary" on the front!

Those "fingers" are called brushes - that's what a "brushed motor" got its name from ;)

Brilliant video. Just repaired my first noisy motor on an old pioneer deck. Would not have dared to open it up without this guidance. Thanks

For anyone here with a cassette player like a walkman and you need oil, id recommend the oil they use on sewing machines since that oil is meant for very small delicate parts, and then put that on the tiny mechanical parts and such. Also i think im going to try this on my walkman and see if it makes a difference or if it makes the motor not work etc, will edit the comment if it works/doesnt etc EDIT: after closely looking at the inside of the motor i can conclude that there would most likely be no benefit of oiling it, only thing to make a walkman quieter would be using a plastic friendly lubricant on the plastic gears

I was surprised the brushes were happy to just move aside as the motor was reassembled, great video 👍

Dude, you never cease to amaze me with your audio device DIY repair know how. Respect. Keep up the great work!

4 year old video.... worled like a charm. As usuall, thanks for your work 🫶

Great info as always. I picked up a JIS screwdriver set based off your video and it's been a lifesaver at my repair shop.

Great video. Such a simple solution to such a common problem that should never have left the factories in that way....and most folk wouldn't have a clue why their deck made such a noise! Well done Kevin for this video; clear and simple instructions on how to fix these stupid manufacturing cost-cutting errors... Many thanks :-)

Had to do this with a Nakamichi BX-125 tape deck I have. It uses three of those exact same brushed DC motors in the transport mechanism. This is such a common problem, I recall coming across forum threads where people were discussing alternative replacements for these motors. Modern brushless motors are infinitely more reliable.

When transferring small bits of oil, use a finish nail or tooth pick and the molecular adhesion will let the drop ride right in to the hole.

Thanks for that. I always assumed they just sound like that. Never crossed my mind to oil it.

I have done it and works great! Be careful not to damage the PCB inside. Thanks for this video.

Thanks for the how to improve cassette deck and Turntable’s motors

Wish I saw this video when I had my 8-track apart. I did see that the backing came off, but didn't want to attempt, because of its age, and I didn't want to search for a replacement. Thanks! now IO know for the future!

Very nice video I always oil the other side so thank for showing me the right way to oil the motor

Finally a video showing how to exactly do it, thank you.

Sintered bronze (oilite) bushings are always annoying. They actually WERE oiled at the factory, and they work because the cast bushing is porous. But when that reservoir runs out, the porous metal acts like sandpaper against the shaft, and will erode it quickly if you don't re-oil it right away. This happens all the time with modern household fans. Older fans used to have a reservoir sponge that you could add oil to, and the bushing would absorb this oil, but newer ones are made to be disposable, because that's where the profit is.

Wow, not only did I learn how to quiet a motor I now know why I have a devil of a time working on electronics! Now to find a set of JIS screwdrivers!

I own this deck after trying to buy a restored quality Nak deck with no luck. All of them still had problems. I installed quality isolation feet, lubed the motors and play tapes through a Schiit Vidar amp and Emotiva loudspeakers. I think it sounds great and it is easy to work on. Belt changes, motor speed adjustments, etc are not obstructed by large circuit boards.

My Sharp Cassette deck is doing this! Thanks for the tip.

Thank you for this video! My second turntable (Stir it up) is finally making less noise. Strange that such a quite expensive record player uses these cheap motors.

Man, that ending though! Nice video!

Thank you for very interesting documentary.Normally when I do repairs on a cassette deck I just replace motor, there quite cheap around £5 U.K

I'll bear this in mind - thanks for another useful video!

for a more permanent lubrication, you should use silicone grease instead, and it won't attack plastics

Thanks for the tip. I have a bottle of ball bearing lubricant that is used for sewing machine, roller skate, and skateboard ball bearings. The bottle uses a syringe needle to apply tiny drops of lubricant to bearings. Definitely comes in handy when I need to lubricate things in right places.

Excellent video...great job!

Take notice of the kind of brushes used in each motor. Some have a surface of durable material on the end. They don't like oil on them. It screws up contact between the brushes and the rotor. A needle syringe or bottle works better than drop and hope. Also, some motors, such as older Mabuchi offerings, will have a wider surface between the bearing and where the brushes ride. this was meant to shield the brush area from oil on the older models. These will not just slip together as the wide end (like a washer) will just push the brushes down and bend them away. In some cases we had to take off the pulley (brass or plastic) and pull the whole rotor out, assemble the rear to the rotor and put everything together the hard way. A long shaft motor is easier since the magnets will pull things off center. Takes practice, lots of it. A better way: We have taken to using a device known as a "pin vise" and very tiny drill bits to carefully drill a tiny hole just a hair off the exact center of the rear "bearing" rather than take the plastic "bearing" out. Oil can then be added through that hole. Works great and is far easier. You can get a pin vise and needle drills from a good hobby shop (especially one that specializes in trains) or from eBay or Amazon. Most pin vises come with a couple of bits. Cheap yet valuable! A motor (Dremel) tool could be used but one little error and NO MORE MOTOR! There is WAY more control and precision with the hand tool.

What you really need is an oil especially made for motors. Zoom Spout oil is 3-in-one for motors is another. These oils have special additives that really help lubricate and maintain electric motors. I bought my Zoom Spout oil at Lowes. Works great!

Hey that's a GREAT suggestion I never thought about my turntable motor its quiet but faintly noisy I may try with spare motor like you did. A single drop of oil works especially like I have model railroading as my other hobby . my dads Lionel train was very noisy and not as fast I put some TLC on it before and zoom took off like a rocket. However model trains like I have are older HO scale 2 required oil but the others need plastic compatible oil/ grease Thank you Kevin. PS when you were saying about difficulty of getting oil in the bearing area. Model trains have special bottoles with a needle tip that goes into hard to reach areas. :D

The song played out as if with virtually no wow and flutter, quite impressed. If I was doing a blind test, I'd have said it was a CD.

Thanks for the help my Sony walkman made noise.... Like that u rock Kevin.

Jep. Just be sure not to drop on the belt. They desintegrate very fast (in a few days)

I's my understanding that those motors used oilite(sp) bushings that were vacuum-impregnated with oil at the factory. That oil eventually must dissipate, I guess.

I used to work on vacuum cleaners when I was in high school, and used to repacck motor bearings. Though brands like Kirby,, used to say everything was lubricated, and that nothing required any sort of lubrication, unless a motor was overhauled, or rebuilt, like what I used to do. Though, if I was taking the machine apart, I greased the motor bearings, anyway, no matter what the manufacture said.

Nice! I guess I'm not the only one who's brave / crazy enough to take these little motors apart. I suspected most new motors weren't lubed at the factory.

I’ve always kept both of my Technics SL-1200MK2’s spindle bearings lubricated with the proper SWFO 010 oil. 😁👍🏻

@vwestlife I did exactly that to my Craig turntable I found it had same thing no oil so put a drop in . as you said yes have to be very careful with finger brushes and its quieter til vamp up to 78 rpm but its not loud just normal. Did it first try and it worked Beautifully! Even put some oil on the bearing area for platter and top bearing of motor. I used Castle branded Endura. Its high temp grease but will basically never break down lol its not thick but its enough where its made to withstand 600 °F . I've used this on my 12 v cooler its an old Coleman 36 can type and it made it better then ever I've had it for 11 years now still going strong. Thank you again for suggestion!

VWestlife: Very appreciable video. Thanks! I just repaired a weak sankyo-pioneer engine (PL-335). First I connected it to a 12v adapter immersed in alcohol for 25 minutes and pulled out a lot of dirt, but remained weak. Then I tried to remove the pulley to put it on another good motor and the whole shaft came out. Oops Finally when returning the axis to its place and without knowing how, it was fixed! A drop of 3 in 1 will be a thousand times better than the wd40. You're right!

“These motors are not for servicing” Vwestlife: hold my beer

Yes Sir, fixed both motors on my Yamaha cassette deck with 3 in 1.

Great tips, thanks!

This is what I do with noisy brushless DC (computer) fans. under the sticker on the back there is usually an access point to the bearing or sleeve. I use sewing machine oil, though. I'm sure it's pretty much the same.

"Body And Soul" by Ed Ames. I knew it was him, thanks for the confirmation Shazam!

Love the idea

Interesting type of cassette deck brand,,ion,,. Looks very easy work to remove the motor assembly from the machine for repairs.

"It looks like the ending" was the best point, to finish the video.

I have a low to midrange Technics deck from the mid-80s that occasionally screeches horribly. I tracked the noise to the motor, so I think I'll try this when I get a chance and hope that fixes it.

it sounds great

I don't want to be "that guy" but this is a great video with helpful tips to improving analogue playback.

Works on computers too. Came across an unreliable computer - kept crashing. A drop of oil on the CPU fan sorted it.

This is sick!

I specifically use the blue label 3-in-1 as that's designed specifically for electric motors

Many older motors such as those in fans and air conditioners were designed to be oiled on a regular basis. At least once a year. Newer fan motors use plastic parts and don't need the oiling. But you want to make sure you use motor oil.

IMPORTANT: Use always ‘Synthetic’Oil

A real group 4/5 synthetic like Amsoil 30wt or white lithium grease works great for analog hi fi gear. Good video. God bless

Great tip! I can't stress enough how important it is that these little contact fingers end up in the right spot when reassembling. They need to slip over the small plastic disc onto the thicker part if the shaft, which actually makes contact with the coils. I just learned this the hard way this evening when doing this hack (also modded the motor to now have external speed control pots like on more expensive turntables - works great ...after almost breaking the motor). At first the motor didnt spin and the motor control IC (the black thing outside the metal casing next to where the wires attach) got awfully hot within seconds. If you do this and your motor doesnt spin, KILL THE POWER INSTANTLY! I'm lucky I didn't burn out mine. So what happened? These contact fingers didn't properly align inside, got tangled and touched each other, which shorts the IC. Being an experienced electronics DIYer I quickly found out what was wrong, but I needed a few tries to put the motor together in the correct way, especially as the contact fingers then were not perfectly straight anymore.. Starting at an angle so I could actually see inside to make sure the shaft went in between and not over the contacts and then going as straight as possible did the trick. Also checking with a multimeter that the contacts weren't shorted again is a good idea before powering up the motor and potentially killing it. Do you have any further tips on this procedure? Other than that, like I said, great tip. Love your videos.

Those bearings are supposed to made of sintered bronze. Tiny bronze balls squished together under high pressure and high temperature, so the result is porous, then they submerge them in a special grease melted under high temperature, then put it in a vacuum chamber. The molten grease creeps into the tiny pores among the bronze balls, and that's the lubrication for the lifetime of the bearing. I assume in cheap motors, they don't use sintered bronze, just ordinary, machined bronze without lubrication.

I took apart the tape motor in my boombox to oil it, and inside it was actually a smaller motor in a separate housing that was wired to the little circuit board. Not like the motors shown in this video

It works for every motor, PC fans especially but not for long.

I use sewing machine oil, one drop a year on my PL-516X keeps it running and running. It does have low power after 30 years so thinking about replacement.

Yea I'll practice on my Spare motors.

So many armchair electronics repairmen in the comments. Let see your videos.

I have an old Pioneer PL 12 turntable that has a hole in which to add oil. Sewing machine oil works best.

Have been doing motors for years.....I use an electrical friendly lube and cleaner such as CRC 2-26 or some similar similar product...Often it is not necessary to remove the back of motor as it can be squirted through any available holes and will work itself around inside (this applies mainly to motors without internal speed control). Don't forget to work lube into the front of the motor too.. Motors in CD and DVD players can be treated like this too......If you have a sick CD or DVD player, first clean the lens..If still no good, clean and lube the motor ( mainly the spindle motor)!

I hope this works on my Sony Dolby S cassette deck, It has 3 heads and sounds fantastic, but there is a lot of wow and flutter and the belts don't seem to be bent or too old, so I hope this helps. I also noticed the motor noise.

By the way, on these LED VUs we can see the dynamics compression of the volume (loudness war) applied. We can see that exactly where the volume sounds louder, the VUs are reduced to only the first 3 LEDs with no pumping. It just freezes there on those parts 😕

Good idea

0:04 Sounds like a Klaxon AKA Ahooga horn

I had a horrible screeching sound during playback so I opened up the unit a Denon drm 7somthing and sqirted wd Silicone into one of the back holes and it fixed the problem in an instant...

Some of those motor like this can have the brushes completely destroyed ... most if not all of those motors have two little tiny holes (one for each brush) ... the brushes are pushed back and a wire or very tiny screwdriver for each side will hold the brushes back until the end cap is in place ... then the wires or screwdriver(s) can be pulled allowing the brushes to go back to normal position.

I did not really expected that lubricating the motor of 88's boombox will make such a big difference, its silent, does not wow/flutter anymore and playbacks way more nicely.

If your lacking a syringe..a large sewing needle. The thread hole keeps a drop of fine oil suspended perfectly until you touch it to the part you want oiled, then it all flows out like a little fountain pen.

I believe the metal fingers on the back are called brushes.. Also you should be carefull not to squash them with the little plastic spacer that's on the rear end of the shaft when assembling the motor.

That first tape stop was a perfect c. Lol.

You see those slots under the brushes? They are what you use to lift the brushes when you reassemble so you dont bend break etc the brushes

Thanks for sharing with us. I wonder hoe did you measure the speed and stuff at the end of the video?

I am curious about the kind of oil to use. Since they seem like brushes, won't the oil insulate the contacts? Or should we use oil like the de-oxit lubricant for contacts/sliders that are conductive?

Plot twist: This is just another way to say we're having fried turntables and cassette decks for dinner.

This was a really useful video thanks. BTW.... ( 11:25 )... Is there a dentist somewhere that is missing a tool? LOL

Ive got that same Ion tape2pc deck. I got mine from Goodwill. I believe I got it for $10.

In my opinion SYNTHETIC 0W30 or 5W30 engine oil is superior lubricant , to 3in oil . (The 0W , indicating same viscosity as water at room temperature)

I'm gonna try this with my walkman!!!!

Another awesome video. What JIS screwdriver set do you recommend to have on hand?

HI I enjoy your channel.i have a question i have a Yamaha tape deck KX W392 vintage 1994? i have had it for 4 years? recently on playback or record in auto reverse the sound will be fast or slow.any ideas on what might cause this? thanks in advance!

My Sony TC WR-635S has some motor issues like slow irregular FF, stopping randomly during continuous play. Took it apart to oil the (quite noisy) motors buy I noticed that the cap doesn't come off because there is a solder joint between the cap and something beneath it. Motors are MMI-6H2LWK. I tore on the cap quite heavily and it's got dents (still working phew). Cleaned capstans, pinch rollers. Issue still persists.

Nice work... can you tell us where we can get a test tape from? What price would you expect to pay for one?

Prior to looking, do you know if the Kenwood P-91 turntable would have this motor?

I always assumed those bearings were made from oil sintered brass.

I just got a Technics SL-Q200 and it doesn't have the buzzing sound but it makes this really weird, faint clicking sound when the platter is on. It's not coming from the speakers, and you don't even have to have the power on to hear it. It sounds as if something is rubbing against something. I looked online but couldn't find any solution. I've heard the most common method is to lubricate the spindle, which I plan on doing. But I don't know if it will work. And it's very nice except for that, and runs at a constant speed. I'm afraid if I lubricate it, that may change.

Tip for everyone: if you’re going to use 3-in-1 oil, use the oil in the blue bottle. The regular 3-in-1 in the black and red bottle has additives such as naphtha, and the oil will gum up. The blue bottle 3-in-1 will not gum up and is much better.

Although not visible, there usually is some oil in the bronze bushings, as they give them a soak in the factory, but they *should* have a felt pad for adding oil to, but cheapening and all, because every microfraction of a penny counts... :P But as an aside, the tape mechanism in that Pyle thing looks to be the same (or at least, "of the same type") as my Neostar everything in one thing, not used though as it sounds awful on my unit... :S

Hello, when one of those adjustment potentiometers goes bad, is is possible to have it fixed, or is it better to replce the motor? thanks.

Thank you for the great video, I think this is just what I need to do! My question is how did you get the motor out in order to do this? I don't want to manhandle mine too much & break everything. The motor on my Memorex 9199M (tape deck/turntable/CD player combo) is "attached" to the bottom of the platter. Any advice for a repair novice like myself would be greatly appreciated @vwestlife .

I don’t wanna be “that guy”, but who the hell gave this a thumbs down? Or any of these, like I seriously don’t understand that. Just don’t finish the video and don’t subscribe. Is that the only way you can get noticed anymore cause your negativity gets you blocked when you say terrible things in the comments? I totally get free speech, I totally understand and love a good discussion, but stuff like this, it’s really very helpful to a lot of us, and why be all negative? There were great tips from others in the comments because of this that i didn’t think of like using a toothpick, and the lithium grease... i love the community cause of the help we all give each other. It’s not healthy to be negative, in the words of a great poet of my time ... don’t worry, be happy.

Great tip! I recently replaced the belts on my at the time unplayable Sony CFM-155 and oiled the motor as you show here. The motor sounds great and I don't notice anything amiss with it. The playback speed however is noticeably slower. I used a generic cassette belt assortment and matched them up to the original belts. Could this possibly be the result of opening/cleaning the motor? I tried using smaller and larger belts but to no avail. Should I adjust the motor speed or is there something I've possibly done wrong? Thanks!

I have a case fan in my computer which sounds like that (only louder, and only for a few minutes after startup). It's relatively new, and I tried oiling it to no avail. I think it is rattling against the case.

I have an old Sony PS-T1 turntable. It plays 45 RPM very accurately. It plays 33 at around 40 RPMs. I found the plastic screw on the bottom of the turntable. I tried to turn it but it won't give. I also put a drop of oil just beneath the spindle. Any suggestions?