I've been told it's a belt issue. What belt do I need to get and where can I find it?

I just spent $350 ($400 after shipping included) on this laserdisc player (my very first) and after watching one movie on it the tray stopped opening and closing. At first there was a strange sound coming from the player when I hit the eject button, but then after unplugging the machine and turning it on again the noise stopped but the tray still isn't coming out.

Sounds like just that small bit of use was enough to stress the worn rubber belt and its snapped. I recommend you do a search as there are many threads on this forum about how to replace the belt and what the part number for the new belt is.

Or could be slipping due to age as well.

No matter if its the issue the belt is toast.
Search and you will find out how to replace.
Good luck.

This where the belt is located.....



The belt you need is part number VEB-1184 or an equivalent size. Looks like you can get it on eBay here.....

https://www.ebay.com/itm/PIONEER-VEB118 ... 1800958792

As for ejecting your tray, I don’t how to do that manually but I think someone wrote about it somewhere in this forum (has to do w/ moving gears to lower the transport and then release the tray). In any case, I need to replace the belt on my CLD-D703 soon so I can check later.

I know on mine (D503) which looks almost like the same exact mechanism, there's a cam lock on the bottom side which is driven by that belt motor/ gear assy. If you take the cover off which is easy to do with 4 screws on the side and 3 shinny screws on the top back then the lid comes off and you can push the tray out carefully if you know what to do.

Also a good time to look and see if its dirty/ dusty, etc.

Pics are worth a 1000 words