How to cure car cassette adapter "auto-reverse flip-flop"

For the last few months, while listening to my ipod through the car stereo via cassette adapter, I have been driven to near insanity by what I call "auto-reverse flip-flop". This is where the car stereo thinks it's got to the end of the cassette and tries to auto-reverse your adapter and play the other side of it. The fact that a cassette adapter doesn't have an 'end' or even an other side seems to mean nothing to car stereos.

One of the worst things is that it has an element of randomness; there seems no logic to when it will happen. Some days it won't happen at all.. others (usually when there is a podcast I really want to listen to) it will kick in almost immediately. The constant 'kerchink-flip-kerchunk-flop" is unbelievably annoying. After ripping the thing out of the tape deck and smashing it against the dash several times didn't fix it, I tried to find a solution on the internet. I discovered that this was a VERY common occurrence. It even seemed like all adapters, no matter how expensive, would eventually end up doing the auto-reverse flip-flop.

Anyway I did learn of an easy way to solve it. I found this solution in more than one internet forum but there were never any pictures to show you how, so I thought it would be worth an Instructable. It's really easy to do.. all you need is a screwdriver.

Step 1 Dismantle

Find out how your adapter is joined together and undo it. I'm pretty sure most of them are joined with small screws like mine is, but it could be some other way. You might need a small jeweler's screwdriver if the screws are really tiny but I managed with just my swiss-army.

WARNING: When you open it up all of the component will become "loose" inside because the top of the case is no longer holding them down. Try to identify which half of the case is the "lid" and which half has the spindles for the gears etc. Take the lid side off GENTLY otherwise the bits will fly everywhere and you'll be buggered. If that happens you could try and piece it back together from the photos, but there's no guarantee they'd be the same. Mine is a Digitor brand (on a par with Panaphonics and Sorny I think).

Comments

[Fritman]

This did not work for me but it did help in figuring out the problem!...... That mechanism is intended to mimic a ribbon and trick the player into thinking there is one present....... However, the ribbon sensor is not in the same location in my car cassette player; it's looking for it in the other opening..... Look at black jimmy's step # 2 figure...... The item he's removing is to the right of the read head, but my player is looking for it to be on the left of the read head....... I simply rerouted the cable to exit the cassette to the right (with the help of a dremmel to make a small opening), which allowed me to insert the cassette into my player from the other direction..... Presto, it works just fine, with the mechanism not removed!..... Hope this helps others..... Regards

[kmurphy11]

This was 100% successful for me. I admit if I had the volume all the way down, I do hear the tape turning, but with the volume I blast my music, It's not even a thought.
Great clear pictures, perfect step by step, you saved my tape from being thrown in the microwave. Thank you.

[wmeloling]

warmel :it worked great the first time thanks

[dhughes19]

THIS WORKED:D thank youuu for this?!!! now i don't have to buy a new stereo with line in for my car(: saved me a bunch of money:D

[chunkyblamm]

I have the same exact adapter but sadly mine didn't work. I tried putting it back together a few times then went as far as taking the removed piece apart and making the springs tighter thinking the extra tension might help but that doesn't work either. Looks like I'll be using cd's again to avoid the radio.

[brooney1]

Any way to get rid of the noise of the spinners on the casette?

[brooney1]

Yessssss!

[mwicks1]

YES!! it worked. now i dont have to listen to the scratchy sound of the radio anymore.

[numbersguy]

What a great suggestion! It worked just as you said it would. On mine I did not have the piece you show in your picture so I just removed the second gear in. Now I have a different problem. My radio now has a loud hum when I use the adapter. I bought a new adapter today and tried my old and new one but they both caused the radio to hum. It does not hum when I play a normal cassette. Any ideas? Send them to me at [e-mail] thanks

[PSPerson]

when i used to use tape adapters, i would alway press the pause button to stop the motor all together... but it still allowed the audio to pass through! i suppose this varies from radio to radio, but it worked for me!

[0ldman]

Lessthan 4 minutes and 2 of those minutes were looking for the tiny screwdriver. I didn't even use my glasses. Thanks for the AWESOME tip. My daughters hero now ;-)

[vtrotto]

awesome! i've been plagued with this problem since i started driving in 2005. everytime the "auto-reverse flip flop" would kick in I would just buy a new cassette adapter. the latest one just went flip-flop hay wire on me about a week ago. SO GLAD I FOUND THIS PAGE BECAUSE THIS FIX 100% WORKED. many kudos!

[blackjimmy]

hey, glad it worked for you!

[jordan314]

Thanks!! This has been bothering me for 12 years in my old car. Punching the dash and screaming at it never helped. :) My tape adapter is similar but less complicated. I just removed one of the gears that stopped it from only going in one direction. It makes a louder whirring noise now but is easily drowned out by my ipod! Woo!

[jwheeler8]

yeah same here makes a louder whirling noise but cant hear it with my ipod turned up! XP

[kbiggins]

Absolutely Worked!

[rlumpy]

Fantastic. I had already opened mine up and was wondering why it had that do-hickey in there. It sort of comes over and puts the brakes on whole thing, it makes no sense. I was gonna rip that thing out since I had nothing to lose. I decided first to see if there was any help on the net. Bingo, there you were with the exact problem and fix.

Thanks

[sclaus1048]

Sorry. It didn't work for me. My Volvo still spits out the tape adapter. And yes, I followed dupecoop's advice for a re-do, Perhaps's it's the audio device in the car itself that is causing the rejection.

[GirlzFixStuff]

THIS TOTALLY FREAKIN' WORKED!!! Not ONLY did it work (it hasn't auto-rewound) but the sound quality is fantastic now. I used to have to turn my music or audiobook volume higher so I could hear or the clanketyclank noises but now it's virtually silent. You're a hero this week!

[GirlzFixStuff]

So far so good! I'm at work, but was able to get hold of a small screwdriver and took out that crazy piece. I'll try the adapter in my car tonight. I've got a good feeling that you just saved me $22.00!! THANK YOU!!

[blackjimmy]

you're most welcome! let's hope it works!

[alisonmckellar]

Thank you so much... I had seen this solution mentioned in other forums, but always thought, "ehh... I don't feel like getting into a really involved process that's likely to break the whole thing."
To get the face of the cassette off, I did actually have to break the plastic a little, but it didn't cause a problem and snapped back together fine. This problem has been driving me crazy in my 2001 Subaru Forester... but now it works fine. Thank you!

[unclebill]

i'll be darned.
i love an easy fix!
thank you!

[dfred93]

have my kids man!. i randomly bought one of those cassets cause radio sucks now adays. i pop it in and just flipping from side to side.. it sounded so clear tho lol.. but then i came found this instructable and now my 1993 jaguar has been renewed much love man!

[LiveAndLearn]

Perfecto (so far). I had a cassette adapter a while back to use with my mp3 player (mainly audiobooks). At some point, the cassettte deck in my '02 Camry stopped working, and reading on the web made me consider that perhaps the adapter eventually killed my tape deck (though I never noticed forward/reverse sounds). So, I found this Instructable and tried it, using a Coby CA-747, which looks EXACTLY like the one in the photos, inside and out, except for the brand name). Followed directions - easy. Works just fine on first try. I'll see if my tape deck lasts more than a couple of years. Thanks for the Instructable!

[lordnasher2010]

i did what you said to do but it does not have any sound now. it plays the tape w/o flipping. turn the radio and the cd player up to maximum. or does this trick not even work for cd players

[1ofakind]

This work! Thanks for the instructions.  Did it the first time, didn't work, so I tried it again and now I can listen to my music through MP3 player in a 1991 Buick Park Avenue. 

[ndibner]

works excellent! thank you so much!

 

[jmpikann]

I recently have discovered this issue and took my adapter back for a refund, but now will try another.  I think the reason some poeple have issues with the repair above might be due to the following:  As you all know, auto reverse decks alternate which capstan is the drive capstan(which pulls the tape through the cassette, and which is the feed capstan (supplies the tape).  Some decks sense a non-moving drive capstan as end-of-tape, others sense a non-moving supply capstan instead.  Still others have been known to sense both, especially those that sense a broken tape or calcualte time remainign on the tape as a function the RPMS of one capstan vs the other.  Cassette adapters that do not "fake out" both capstans, or even spin them at expected speeds where the deck requires it may not work.

[psychick1331]

Thank you so much!  I got a very cheap cassette adapter because there was no way I was dropping $80 for a radio adapter, but soon after that irritating flipping began.  I followed your steps and lo and behold, no more flipping!  Several of my friends have asked me to do this trick as well, leading them to the mistaken impression that I'm mechanically handy- added bonus!

[dupecoop]

Thanks. This worked! You have to be very careful reassembling the cassette. The first time I put it back together, it didn't work properly. I took it apart and back together again and now it's working great.

[boljangles]

Hey Thanks! I was worried that maybe something was wrong with my car's cassette player because I bought two different casette adapters and tried them on two different cars, they both worked in my wifes car but gave me the "auto-reverse flip-flop". It took me less than 5 minutes and i removed that stupid part and it works great! I shoulda looked at this earlier...a year of listening to crappy radio

[Angus MacGyver]

Thanks a million. I bought one of those since I have lots of music on my Crackberry. Unfortunately the car stereo is a Bose (which did nothing but filp over). Now I can play the stuff in my phone. The only downside is that the quality isn't as good as patching into my home stereo but it's better than nothing.

[Thag13]

I tried this idea on my malfunctioning adaptor and it worked right away. Thanks for giving me back my mp3 player in my old car. I can listen to my books on...well Sansa I guess....

[blackjimmy]

Hey no worries! Glad it worked for you.

[legitmik]

I too subjected my cassette adaptor to some dashboard impact maintenance and the 'swearing loudly in traffic' test, both to no avail. I did reckon someone had worked this out and google sent me here. This is my second one as the first is in a hedge somewhere between Belfast and Derry... Cheers.

[twocvbloke]

I got myself a cassette adaptor, and the thingy removed is basically an imitation tape tension thing, and my adaptor needs it, but is lacking one, my bed radio just keeps spitting the adaptor out cos it's "playing" too fast... :( This is why I bought a couple of real cassettes the other day, so I can actually have real music on tape, rather than have it play off a device through a shoddy adaptor that doesn't actually work in my radio... :P

[bubbles310581]

i did all that and it still does it!!! what now?

[blackjimmy]

Hi. Sorry that it didn't work for you! Did it make any difference at all?

[charles1763]

I registered for this site just so that I could thank you for this wonderful tutorial. It worked like a charm and saved me a ton of trouble. I submitted the site to stumbleupon so that hopefully it will get more hits! There are tons of forums on the internet where people describe this problem, and the only solutions offered are to get a new deck, tape adapter or just switch to radio transmitter. Thanks again!