I've been having an issue with my cassette deck for a while now but it's gotten a little worse lately, so I figured I'd ask the experts to see what is going on.

I've got the stock cassette deck/radio in my 1996 Volvo 850 and do not intend to replace it--I'm not a fan of aftermarket radios, especially because I feel they take away from the original appearance of the car. The radio itself works fine, but the cassette deck randomly loses its left or right channel. It will work fine but all of a sudden one channel will just stop working altogether. Ejecting the cassette and reinserting it solves the problem, but this gets to be annoying after doing it a few times each day.

I've worked on non-automobile electronics, including stereo equipment, but have no experience with car stereos. My first guess is that there is a wire loose somewhere, but where could this wire possibly be, if the problem is a wire at all?

For the record, my cassettes are about average in terms of wear, but I find the more worn tapes do this more often.

 

My guess is that the head is dirty. Have you cleaned the deck lately? It may take some agressive cleaning with a q-tip and cleaning solution.

 

if you cant get it figured out, im about to put my factory cd/cassette player, factory amp, and wiring harness up on ebay (went aftermarket). its from a 95 t5r, so it should be the same wiring / fitment. it all works fine, but ive *never* used the cassette player side of it, and a display bulb is out, so theres a couple of buttons that cant be seen in the dark. shoot me an email, or i'll link the stuff up here in a couple of days when it gets posted.

 

get a cassete head cleaner. its very likely its dirty