Where did you get the game from? Steam? Amazon? Disk or software download? What folder do you have it installed in? Have you had any mods previously activated?
My game does similar in Stock, but I've always used the <Home> and <End> keys (next to the number pad) on mine to rotate the heads, if that helps you any...
Save games are rather finicky, and you shouldn't delete files or portions of the Save data from them. When loading a Save, it has to match what you're doing.
btw - "Welcome to SubSim!"
