[Ed in Tx]

Been a while since I overhauled one of those, but the brake problems are usually caused by worn out slider plate (?) that moves the brake arms etc. that is under the cassette loading assy and is operated by a lever you see to the right by the cam gear and mode motor. Was a pretty common problem. Those mechanisms were common in Magnavox TV-VCR combos that would come in under an extended warranty or just out of warranty, people would pay to fix because of the TV. Replace the old white plastic slider plate with a newer tougher gray plastic upgraded part fixes it.