I've been watching this 8 Track player for some time, decided to finally pick it up and see what 8 tracks are all about. They actually sound surprisingly good; I believe they run at a faster speed than the compact cassette, and they are also a source of some incredible funk from that era haha.
This was a pretty straightforward repair, even if the cause of the error is lost on me and working on stuff from this time is just a joy as it is all metal, with no plastic clips to break or delicate electronic components to go bad.