VHS tape won't eject and when in says "no cassette"?

We got a Panasonic model PVQ1312W (TV/VCR combo) through freecycle, and the people who gave it to us told us their daughter had put a tape in backwards and now you have to tilt the TV forward to eject the tape. However, it also won't load the tape properly. We can manually manipulate till it seems to be in place, but "No cassette." appears on the screen. Is this a hopeless case?
Liz, December 2004


done
Probably the front loading mechanism is a tooth out of alignment or has a broken tooth.
May be time consuming repair as it's a combo, expect to pay maybe $80-120

Cobweb, December 2004
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