WHAT IS THAT BLACK GUNK WHERE THE PINCH ROLLER SHOULD BE?
That, my friend, is one of the most dreaded of 8-track ailments – what you’re lookin’ at is 8-track tar. Rubber pinch roller breakdown. Petroleum by-product soup. Bad news for your player, so look out! Check the pinch roller carefully before you stick a new tape in your player. If your thumbnail leaves an impression in the rubber that doesn’t spring back, then replace the roller. But maybe I’m getting ahead of myself here. Does everyone know what an 8-track pinch roller is? It’s that little wheel that the tape slides over. You can see it when you look in the top openings of a cartridge, sort of off to side. Anyway, it’s a very good idea to have spare rollers around for emergencies. Actually, since pinch rollers come in such a variety of sizes, you can never have too many spares on hand. Buy tapes you hate just for the parts and don’t throw away broken tapes that still have working parts. If your player has fallen victim to tar, you’ll almost certainly need to take it apart and clean it
