Acceleration switches should be the ones on the jump ramp by the magnets.

Did you do a coil test (with the door closed) and see if a ball is kicked out of the subway the way it should be in gameplay? That might tell us if a switch is not recognizing the ball underneath. I mean the game SHOULD kick a ball in there to stage the balls; do you mean when the game start and before you're playing?

Go to ipdb and download the manual, read it cover to cover to understand how your game works.

Agreed, when powered on, it will often shoot a ball into the lock to "stage" it for future game play, so this MAY be kinda normal.

You will likely need to do some switch and coil tests to see what may be happening. Like does it know there may already be a ball staged? That kind of thing.

Jeff

Go to the service menu and verify if the subway trough switches are reading properly or not.

First off, congrats on your score! Getting any pin for $500 is a great deal, let alone a Bally/Williams that turns on and operates. That's amazing.

Second, you are going to have a ton of issues by the looks of it. If the ball isn't shooting out of the scoop then it could be a switch, could be a coil, could be wiring, a bad connector, diode, etc.

Take the balls out. Go into coil test and fire those balls out. If coil test doesn't fire them out, then you have a bad coil. Maybe it's bad soldering, maybe a wire fell off, maybe the coil itself is bad, maybe the mechanics are binding.

If the coil test fires the balls out, that's good. Get all the balls out, go into switch test, go to levels, take a ball and throw it in there. Did you see a switch light up in the test screen? If not, you have a batch switch. You could clean the switch (sand it), you could have a bad wire, you could have a bad connector.

Tons of stuff. I would recommend finding a local pinball club / hobbyist and try to make friends. If you were near me, I'd be willing to drive over and help out. For beer. Do you live in Vermont? I like craft beer.

lol what!? You bought a game and give up after the first challenge?

The coil probably isn't done for. A wire could have fallen off. That's the problem the majority of the time. You need a soldering gun and to solder it back on.

If that's the problem. You need to lift it up. I am willing to bet if you find the coil that's supposed to fire, there is a wire dangling there loose.

If you are giving up, I'll never understand why people are so quick to buy pinball machines only to sell them immediately after.

Also, I can't help but notice it says "totals cleared", which means the batteries died or they fell out.

You need to remove those immediately before they corrode the boards and kill the game.

Yep, if you wanna throw in the towel and sell it as is, you might get 2000-2500 for it. If you fix everything you will gain a ton of knowledge, get to enjoy playing it for a while, then you can sell it for 5-6K. Of course, prices are just my opinion and they are all over the place right now. Just know this, as someone else said, getting a non-working Bally Williams that powers up for $500 is a steal. Congrats!

It is certainly repairable. How interested are you in trying to make repairs to the game? There are plenty of people here who would be more than happy to help guide you and offer troubleshooting and repair advice.

If you really want to throw in the towel and sell it as-is, you could certainly get your money back instantly. $500 is a great deal for a project game these days, and you could certainly get more than that for it.

If u want to keep it, just hire a local tech. For another couple hundred bucks you'll have a working $4000 game for $700. Great score!

But pull those batteries now -

If somebody called me and said "I just got a No Fear at a yard sale and it doesn't work," I'd prepare them to pay a lot more than $200. $200 is what it costs most techs to show up.

This game could well need a ton of work and could well bring a bill from a tech of much, much more than $200. All we can tell from his pics and description is that it boots, the batteries are dead (or worse), the GI works, and there's a solenoid issue. Could be 2 hours of work to "get playing" or 20.

The OP needs to accept that this game is a project and that he's going to have to either learn how it works and learn how to fix it, or be prepared to pay plenty to get it where it needs to be. If neither of those options sound palatable, flipping it for a profit is the way to go.

OP - let's start with the basics. Have you taught yourself how to remove the balls and lift the playfield?

This is the most basic of Steps 1...and we can go from there.

That game was a score! Cabinet looks great and it will be so much fun once you get it up and running!
Don't be overwhelmed, just handle one issue at a time. If you feel like bringing it to Jersey, I'd be happy to go over it with you. I have a no fear we could use for reference and compare connections, etc.

I keep seeing some inflated guesstimates on price. $500 was a steal for a complete game that boots. There is a working and shopped No Fear for sale up here in MI for $3500. I would set that as a realistic goal. Try and find a good tech in your area. Be willing to drop it off at his location if it needs extensive work. I always go above and beyond when I repair a game at home then going to someones house. When I show up it is the mindset of get the game working and out the door. I don't ignore other problems but at my place I have more time to play it and find issues. If it costs you $500 to get it done right, you are way ahead of the game. If you sell it as is I would put the price in the low 2's. Make some good profit but cheap enough to give a do it yourselfer a little room to sink a few bucks in it and also be in a good price on it.

Doesn’t sound too crazy. The game stages a ball in the underground at start so that’s normal. There is a VUK (vertical up-kicker) that should pop the ball up to play. Sounds likely that either the switch that activates the coil is bad/disconnected or the coil is bad/disconnected.

Should be pretty easy to figure out in the test menu. Go to the switch test setting and see if that switch is registered as closed. I don’t remember now if that is a switch or opto, but the manual will help you. If it is closed, you’re likely looking at an issue with the coil. Go to coil test and test the coil then.

Report back your findings and people here that have way more knowledge than me will be willing to help you. People here are very knowledgeable. I would suggest you don’t sell it right away as it is likely an easy fix and No Fear is a lot of fun!

Oh and as others have said, pull the batteries out right away. They are AA and on one of the boards behind the backglass.

Good luck!

Nice score,If you find its more than you feel comfortable with repair wise and you dont want to hire a repair person you could sell it or trade it .Sell it for 2k and buy a machine thats working already or trade for a machine thats working already.Play the new one awhile and learn from that one.

Make sure you have the 24v switch enabled inside the coin door. It kills the 24v when the door is open and none of the coils will energize.

What part of PA are you from? I'm in Phoenixville and could probably work on your game. But as Levi said, $200 just about gets a tech to the door these days. You might figure on more like $400-700 as a WAG, depending on how much is wrong. And that doesn't "shop" your game or add any mods. Or fix the left side fading. Just gets it working.

The big unknown is the dead batteries, which in my experience means there is a 50-50 chance that the MPU is damaged. Possibly in need of complete replacement. But if you're lucky, it will just need a new battery holder soldered in. Send close up pics of the battery holder and components just below it for a better idea.

The coil could be wiring, a coil, a transistor on the board, or any number of other things. It will take some time and money to straighten it out. Not thousands, but hundreds for sure. But, all said, you got a screaming deal and should be happy whether you fix and keep it or sell it as is!

It's just a fuse.

Seriously, it could be that easy. If coil fuse blew then no coil action. Or as others mentioned, very common a coil cable gets loose, easily fixable with a soldering station.

Don't give up this fast, it's a good game and the price was a steal, working or not.

http://www.pinrepair.com/begin/index.htm

Doesn't hurt to have a look at that coil for a broken wire and a potential blown F101 to F105 fuse on the big power driver board before having someone come out to look at it.

Plenty of threads on how to clean the playfield up, add a mod or two such as a ColorDMD and LED it up, and make it look nice.

Others, and myself included, already giving advice to get it going so you can enjoy your very nice treasure that your whole family can enjoy. We just want to see if you can join in on our addiction and even buy another, possibly 2 or more.

Now get started. Lift that playfield and start your inspection. We are here to help.

This is a great opportunity to learn how pinball machines work and how to fix them. As stated above, you have very little invested in it already so you can try the repairs with little worry of screwing something up so bad you can't get your money out of it. Even if you do screw the machine up more than it is right now, you will be able to get your $500+ out of the machine pretty easily. I would take the chance, lift the playfield and dive in. If you are able to fix the machine, you will feel great every time you push the start button. Good luck.

Looks like the No Fear is on FB for 3k.

New to Pinball and already flipping!

lol, a 3k project No Fear. Good luck!