Hi Star_Gazer
I am not sure - do I understand what Your problem is ?
One thing is: Does a stepper truely steps up, up, up - and does it also step down, down, down - (and Bonus-points are given (?))
Another thing is - the lights are just for to inform the player (the pin can well live without the lights).
I use a pencil - NOT: a ballpoint -> look at post-26, https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/flaky-bulb-sockets-solder-question#post-2730603 --- well other pinsiders do other things - the whole topic is good.
When "cleaning" is NOT the problem: Make a description " fault is ...". Greetings Rolf