Singer SAMBA 4 Stuck in Reverse? This fairly simple repair should fix it.

My Singer SAMBA 4 was stuck in reverse mode but searching the web I couldn't find any solutions despite this being quite a common problem. So with some trepidation I started the dismantling process and found the cause. There is a spring-loaded shaft with a cam held in place by a grub screw which had loosened/slipped over time allowing the spring to unwind. I had dismantled more than was necessary to fix the problem - I would guess it would take up to an hour the first time you try it. You need good quality flat head screwdrivers because many of the screws have narrow slots and are done up pretty tight. Don't over-stretch the toothed belt when removing/replacing as I would imagine it is pretty old in your machine and will be quite brittle and hard to replace if broken. Although this video is for a Samba 4 I would imagine that it would work for any Singer machine which has a spring-loaded reverse stitch button in this position.
Apologies for the camera work - my first try at this but hopefully it's good enough to allow you to fix the problem

[@eugenevanpuijenbroek6339]

We have a 40-year old Samba 2 with the same problem. In our case however, the grease of the spindle hardened. I followed the same procedure, and with some WD40 I solved the problem. Many thanks for this clear instructions.

[@corrisman9537]

Glad to be of help!

[@pierrechollet8275]

Hello. Thank you for your video. There is apparently no better method than using strength to remove the upper cap. I hesitated to unscrew the 3rd screw to remove the "steering wheel" on the right. You gave me the solution. Best regards. Pierre / c. 500 machines repaired / Paris / France

[@faizafouzia6140]

Thank you for showing but I m not clever enough to follow your well donne explanations but I have learn how to remove the upper cover