By the way, JVC Hi-Fi VCRs are an outstanding machine as well, I find the heads in them last a very very long time. Also very stable mechanisms with gentle tape handling. If you have not used yours for a while, be sure to put an old tape in it you don't care about and fast forward/rewind first, before attempting to play back or eject as years of idling may cause it to chew tapes due to degrading belts/idlers etc.
She's dead... "Not only is she merely dead, she's really most sincerely dead!" (To quote one of the munchkins in The Wizard of Oz).
Power on: Powers off after a few seconds.
Removed top cover: Tape doesn't
completely load. Won't enter play mode, won't FF or REW. Pinch roller looks fine.
Eject: Since the tape doesn't load correctly upon insertion, it also doesn't unload correctly (return of tape into feed hub of cassette). Result: chewed and wrinkled tape.
Removed bottom cover: There's only one belt here- a toothed belt, looks fine. The load mechanism looks like it's driven by worm gears, spring-loaded lever arms, and limit switches. Video head connected directly to a motor.
Conclusion: Faulty logic circuit, or faulty/blocked/obstructed limit switch(es).
No repair facilities in South Carolina (no surprise there, actually- there ain't fu'k'n
nothing in this state!), JVC responded to email contact with closest repair facility in Atlanta.
Oh, well! Good idea, don't know if getting this thing repaired will be worth the money. One other option is just to get a genuine and legitimate cassette deck.