I just picked up a Yamaha Mt4x 4 track recorder for a steal of a deal, $35 bucks! When I powered it up for the first time, everything worked, kind of.

The play/ffwd/rwd buttons, when pressed sometimes got stuck in a loop; the machine clicked multiple times, like some component in the tape head is engaging then disengaging then engaging again. This can go back and forth for four or five times before finally playing or rewinding, etc.

I lifted up the cassette door and saw the tape head moving up and down, repeatedly, lifting up towards the cassette tape, then dropping down, then lifting up again, before finally settling in and playing. Any ideas how to fix??? What's wrong?

Doesn't it do that after a tape has completed playing, then it jumps and turns off? If I've got that right, it almost sounds like something is "jamming" the motor, putting enough pressure to shut the mechanism off, like the tape is done or is jammed...

It doesn't really do it after it has completed playing as much as it does when you click play. Once you click play (or rewind or fast-forward for that matter) the tape clicks a few times (as if it is slipping), and then eventually engages and plays (or rewinds, ffwds.) When I lift the cassette deck door to inspect, I can see the tape head raising and lowering in corresspondence with the clicking noise that I hear...