Please help...newbie's (semi)automatic turntable mechanism doesn't function properly!

hey everybody, Thanks for taking the time to help me out..

New and glad to be here...but as the title states I've got a problem, though it should be nothing to you seasoned audiophiles out there, so here goes:

I've got a 63 turn table, with the large gear/electrice motor setup - no belt - and it seems like the mechanism doesn't match the switch settings, right now it's in a state where if I turn the dial to on it spins to no end, but the spindle stack won't drop the disc and the tone arm can be moved only manually...

When you slide the tab over to reject everything goes downhill...the tone arm automatically goes back to its cradle where it moves slightly upward before finally resting and the whole mechanism shuts off with the switch automatically returning to "off."

Then when switching to "on" nothing happens...the motor does spin the rubber ideler which can be heard, but none of the automated functions occur...but when I spin the table manually the spindle drops the disc the tone arm will move but I think it moves into place before the disc hits the playing surface...then the whole table needs to be coaxed into spinning continuously...after this is done the record will play...and we're back to where we started, spinning while on, but reject breaks the cycle...

is this a common problem

thanks for all your input!

Thanks for the debunking info! but...$100? Honestly, I just stared/tinkered into the heart of this thing for about 5 hours - I think that, should you be willing to attempt a walkthrough, I would be happy to roll up my sleeves and have at it!

It would really mean alot, I just cannot afford the $100 at this time...

Thanks!

good point, its a motorola from '63 the model number is: SKR157MB 240watts (don't know whether the wattage matters, it shouldn't right?

hmm, I think that it could be a combination of two things... since after reject is hit, the tone arm lifts up and returns to a position above its cradle where it hovers briefly before setting down upon which time the entire mechanism halts simultaneously - the switch then returning to the "off" position automatically...but shouldn't the "reject" button just prompt another disc to be dropped should there be a queue on the spindle with the tone arm simply retreating for a moment, so as not to be knocked around - and then return to play the next disc?

...then after switching the player back "on" the ilder wheel is moving, but the large gear doesn't begin it's automatic duties like beginning the table's spin(so the table doesn't spin at all) whilst prompting the spindle to drop the disc/tone arm synching... only after the table is spun around a couple times manually do the "automated" functions occur, (disc drop, tone arm tension release, constant spinning of the table) however, I just realized that the tone arm doesn't even rise when I'm manually coaxing it to spin...but it becomes loose and allows me to move into into place on the now spinning record.

it's only after this coaxing is over that I can turn off the mechanism entirely and come back and start it spinning, but that's all it does is spin, if I had another record queued it won't drop and the tone arm doesn't move into position automatically, its just an idle spinning....

aren't these two separate problems? or do they stem from the reject function's un-calibrated state?