Hello all, just picked up a Williams Aztec in good shape. It had a variety of issues that I've already taken care of via cleaning, spring adjustments, wiring, etc. I've got it almost 100% working mechanically, with this one final issue I'm stuck on (Note, all pics are in the "reset" position of the unit):

Every time the game is turned on, it's in its normal Game Over state (Game over light on, etc). The "2 Can Play" light is always lit. Someone in the past set this up for free play, so the credit wheel never changes. As long as there are credits, all I have to do is hit the start/reset button. The problem is that it always starts a 2-player game. I've tracked this down to the Player Unit/Coin Unit stepper, and I can see what the problem is, but I'm not sure how to fix it.

As seen in the pictures, when the game is reset, the fingers should be on the indicated contacts per the manual. They always reset to the position shown, however, and that's the "2 can play" position. At first I figures it was just gunked up, or weak springs, etc, but it's not. The actual cog/gear has a stop-pin on it that's making contact with the proper stop plate (not shown in pics, but I can try to get one if needed). So when the game resets, the cog spins back to start position and stops like it's supposed to mechanically, BUT it obviously needs to go one more position so the fingers are in the correct spot.

Looking at the player unit bakelite vs. the coin unit it's mounted on, they look misaligned. See pics. It's as if the board should be rotated ever so slightly, and based on the tilt, you can see that straightening it out to be level with the rest of the unit would put the fingers in the proper spot.

That being said, it's all screwed together, and not adjustable unless I feel like drilling new holes in everything, so I have to imagine this is not the problem, but I'm not sure as I have no reference point.

Alternatively, it's possible the cog itself is somehow "off" by one position, but I'm not sure how I'd tell. If I could adjust it one position further, I guess that would allow the stop-pin on it to be further away, and thus let the cog turn one more spot and allow the fingers to align.

Finally, the switch you can see on the Coin Unit side looks like it might be adjusted wrong. Based on pinrepair.com's pic of a '74 Williams unit, I think the post is supposed to be on the other side, and when Player 4 is added, the blade are supposed to be open. Not sure on that though.

Aztec_Coin_unit-alignment_(resized).jpg

Aztec_Player_Unit_(resized).jpg

Aztec_Coin_Unit_(resized).jpg

Ah, excellent, I didn't know that. I saw the screws and assumed they were positionally locked. I'll go give it a try right now.

I've got a new intermittent issue, going to fix the above first, but I noticed that every once in a while, after a ball drains and the bonus is counted, the bonus counter will randomly go up one or two steps before the next ball is played. So it drains, scores bonus properly, then re-adds two bonus steps before kicking out the ball for the next shot. Very odd. Sometimes when it happens, the drain doesn't count the ball as played (it will replay ball 1 again). I'd say it's one out of every 10 or so drains right now. Could be a stuck switch, but I checked/cleaned them all.

Okay, so the bakelite is adjusted, two thumbs up there, games now start properly as 1 player, and I can add additional players after that without issues it seems. I believe the bakelite adjustment also fixed some other items that were not resetting properly (likely tied to the reset position of that stepper). Some rollover targets that would score, but not chime, are now chiming. Also, so far, the bonus problem has not reappeared since fixing the other issue, so it's possible it was related. I did re-check, re-clean and re-gap a few rollover switches though, so either one may have fixed it. I'll have to put a few dozen games on it to be sure, but signs are positive.

What's strange is that the game seems to be functioning fine even though that switch is always normally closed right now. I have a feeling if I play a 4-player game, which I haven't tried since fixing the stepper bakelite, I will likely run into an issue. As it stands now, the switch stays closed at all times, which is what it should be for games of 1-3 players. Betting if I add the 4th player, stuff will go south. I'll try fixing it now as you noted and see what happens

Thanks for all the help by the way! I'll post back with additional results, but it's looking like I'm 98% there now.

Ah, so since this is wired up to be 'free play' and not deduct credits anyway, that's why it hasn't mattered and isn't causing issues. I'll still fix it though... I'd like it to work right if I switch this back to coin acceptance. They wired it oddly for free play, normally it's a simple adjustment, but there's some crazy stuff going on in the coin door area I haven't seen before.

Thanks guys, I fixed it, and adjusted it so it properly opens on 4th player add. Should be good to go. With the exception of the bonus occasionally adding itself before a ball starts, everything seems good. I'll go through all the PF switches tomorrow and re-check the gaps, clean them, etc. Any more issues, I'll pop back on and let you guys know. At some point I'll probably want some help analyzing the crazy wiring/hacking someone did to the coin door area, but that's for another day.

Thanks again