Also, check that the half-loading arm moves freely.
It's a swinging tape guide situated between the take up reel and the capstan/pinch roller that pulls the tape out and across the face of the static audio/control head.
Very often the arm sticks halfway due to lubricant drying out.
The post that the arm swings on, needs to be cleaned and relubricated
Cobweb
January 2005
Get a tape Head Cleaner and sometime to make a better pitcher use a demag tape.