JVC BR-8600U won't play tape, fast forward, rewind?

[Dead Christmas]

I just bought a JVC BR-8600U on eBay. It was listed as broken, as it apparently could not play any tapes, but was able to rewind them and fast-forward.

I don't have the unit. I probably won't for a few days until it travels from CA to MN. Does anybody have any ideas what could be wrong with the unit? Maybe I'll just get lucky and it'll turn out they had a bad tape (It's happened before!)

The first thing that comes to mind is the belts...

Edit: Actually, I don't think it'd be the belts causing the issue. The head-drum, capstan and reels are all direct-drive...

[Dead Christmas]

Well, the unit's here, and plays and records tapes great. It just shuts down when it loses tracking for too long.

However, there's a big problem with the audio. If I plug in two RCA cables from a dvd player, and record a dvd title menu (with music), or play a used tape, the audio is whisper-quiet, and can barely be heard. This is so odd because the preview audio is just fine, and very responsive, even during recording. It's only during playback that this issue occurs. I've never ran into an audio problem before. Does anybody know where I could start looking with this?

I've tried both the mic-in and line-in inputs, and both end up very quiet. If I turn on the AGC, it'll bring the audio up to a point where the VU-meters start moving, and I can sort of hear things clearly with the headphone pot turned all the way up...Interesting.

[Dead Christmas]

...In an attempt to locate a possible un-plugged wire, I dismantled the machine and got lost. There's simply too many wires and plugs for me to navigate. Considering I only paid 40$ for the machine, I say screw it.

I seem to keep forgetting why I prefer the simple, barebone machines...I'll have to look around for another BR-6400U. I'll hang onto the unit in case somebody needs parts for it...Too many useless electronics on this machine for me to consider buying another.

End result isn't a big loss. If I couldn't use the recorder to its full-extent then I suppose any other working VCR would be more obligated to be kept around instead of in the trash.