Odd Issue I'm Having With a VCR

[WCV82]

I have a late 1990s JVC VCR that occasionally acts up in a strange way. When I play a tape (no matter the speed SP or EP) the video works for 2-3 seconds then black screen then video works then black screen on and on for a loop. The audio is unaffected, just the video has those issues. I've run a dry head cleaner and the head cleaner tape has the same issue I just described. In the past this VCR would have this same malfunction but only on a home recorded VHS where the speed switches from EP to SP or SP to EP, but never on commercially recorded SP tapes.

So is this a video head issue or possibly some jam in the tape path? Should I just pop the top on the VCR and clean everything and hope for the best?