Check out your relays in the cab/under playfield that correspond to bonus. Make sure the contacts are gapped correctly and clean

That’s an odd issue, as I thought the same relay worked both areas (collect bonus saucer and when you drain).

Here is the Q relay from Soccer (the two player version)

Captures01 (resized).JPG

SB2 is a "relay" position with no coil next to and tripped by the Reset Control relay (SB1) on the control bank

I'd check your ball return switch - make sure it's clean and closing.

Gottlieb soccer had a problem with the bonus ball trough make/break switch that would open prematurely when minimal balls are on the trough. Clean and adjust the switch for proper operation.

It looks like whether the Q (Bonus Score Relay) is turned on by the Ball Return Switch or the Red Hole Switch (which turns on the E relay), all the other parts of the circuit are common to both. The only things that appear to be different are the switches themselves that are just in parallel:
Super Soccer ball return switch (resized).JPG

The same seems to be true up where the L relay is fired to score:
Super Soccer L relay (resized).JPG

I was thinking that if the Ball Return Switch was opening early somehow, that once the motor cycled through and the Motor 2B switch opened, the Q relay would relax. But you say the Ball Return Switch is behaving as it should - staying closed for the entire bonus cycle. I can't see why any of the other switches in the circuit would behave differently if the circuit is activated by one switch and not the other.

If the M/B Zero Pos. Bonus Unit switch in the first snippet was changing state early, that would cause the ball to get kicked out early, but I don't know why that would happen only when the Ball Return Switch is closed and not the E relay switch.

Anybody out there have any ideas?

because an E relay switch opens the circuit to the O relay, so if the zero position switch is intermittently connecting the upper circuit path (vibration maybe), the O relay won't do anything.

maybe the best test is to stick a piece of paper between the zero pos. "bonus" unit switch BLK-YEL to SL-BLK blades and see if the bonus counts down correctly in the outhole.

then yank out the paper and the ball should kick over to the shooter if it's supposed to.

iir, it's the "bonus" unit because it's the mechanism in the head kicking balls around rather than a stepper unit.

is the XB relay tripping when the last ball for the last active player is sent to the shooter?

Here's the circuit that kicks the ball out of the outhole to the shooter lane. So the O switch shouldn't close until the bonus unit counts down to zero and the "Zero Pos. Bonus Unit" switch on it is in the position that it's drawn in the schematic in post #9. If it's working correctly when the bonus system is fired by the E relay, then it should be working correctly for the "Ball Return Switch".

So, I'd probably look at the "O" switch or the Motor 4C switch that are in this circuit. If either was gapped too close and closing early, it would cause the ball to eject from the outhole. Again, I think the "O" switch is probably working correctly since it works when the bonus system is fired by the red hole relay. But it wouldn't hurt to check it.

The Motor 4C switch should close late in the score motor cycle. You might check that a formed switch blade isn't broken, or the switch dog isn't in the wrong position. That switch should be pretty easy to see.

Ball return relay (resized).JPG

ending a red hole bonus collect happens when the Q relay unpowers causing the red hole kicker to eject the ball eventually.

the Q relay doesn't really matter for ending outhole bonus collect. You need it to power to collect, but yu don't need it to unpower for the ball return coil to kick the ball to the shooter.

what is likely happening is what you said ... the O relay is powering at the wrong time and ejecting the ball from the outhole before the bonus countdown ends.

maybe the best test is to stick a piece of paper between the zero pos. "bonus" unit switch BLK-YEL to SL-BLK blades and see if the bonus counts down correctly in the outhole.

then yank out the paper and the ball should kick over to the shooter if it's supposed to.

iir, it's the "bonus" unit because it's the mechanism in the head kicking balls around rather than a stepper unit.

is the XB relay tripping when the last ball for the last active player is sent to the shooter?

ok, that's why the ball is being sent to the shooter at game over.

in the circuit below, the green highlight should be ok, so that leaves something along the red highlight paths (depending on 3 or 5 ball setting) and wiper->rivet contact on the player unit.

you know the O relay is powering since the ball kicks to the shooter, so it's down to switch issues.

for the bonus problem, did this make sense:

"maybe the best test is to stick a piece of paper between the zero pos. "bonus" unit switch BLK-YEL to SL-BLK blades and see if the bonus counts down correctly in the outhole".

super soccer XB (resized).jpg