I just purchased a nice Top Score and am having a few problems with it. Every other game or so, after the ball drains, you'll hear a fast "clickclickclickclick", the bonus balls aren't counted, and the game moves on to the next player. I realize that some adjustment is needed in the bonus ball mech but where is that clicking coming from and where should I start? Anyways, I'll move on to some other problems i'm having..... I have the machine set to 3 ball. The first ball scores a 1,000 bonus, the 2nd ball is double bonus, and the 3rd ball is ALSO double bonus when it should be triple... Where should I be looking to remedy this problem? I have a schematic but am still learning how to read them and can use some advice.... My other issues are switch related... The switch that activates the gate works, but when that switch has the bonus light lit, it will award points but no bonus ball is added... My other problem is with the inlane switches. When they are lit, they award points and add a bonus ball... But when they are NOT lit, they award no ball OR points... Is this right? Does that switch do nothing when not lit? Working out some bugs on this one but when it's fixed I know i'm going to really love it! I appreciate any advice I can get...

I've spent hundreds in tools for fixing my EM's and I don't have any alligator clip jumper wires yet... Anyone have a link to order them and what I need? I've been very lucky and some adjusting and cleaning is all I have needed until now!

Ordered from the link. Thank you!

Bumping this thread. Thank you for the earlier help! Got those problems sorted out. Having a new issue now... Everything scores fine and works like it should for player one. For player two, I noticed the thousands score reel suddenly refuses to turn. When the top bonus hole is hit, the thousand point relay coil in the backbox locks and stays locked. After this, the bonus counts down but doesn't chime or register points... Also, a relay stack near the front of the machine (Second from front? Not sure which, ATM) hums loudly. This only happens with player two. It stays this way until player one's next turn, at which point, 1000 points are scored for player one (I assume by the thousand switch relay coil releasing). I haven't allowed the coil to stay locked for long, thankfully, but I don't wanna mess with it yet and make it any worse than it already is... so I came here looking for advice and suggestions. I appreciate any in advance!

Just checked it. Seems good...

Nevermind.. You were right... Upon further inspection, it was closed and causing the issue.. All fixed! Thank you very much!!!

Another issue has popped up... I seem to have messed up the thousand point relay so it now turns the thousand digit AND the ten thousand digit... Any ideas there?

Thanks again. Thaaaaat's fixed...

Now, the only problem i'm having with this machine is an unreliable ball count... Balls will often repeat themselves. I've stepped through the ball count unit manually and it seems like there is one position where the coil fires but the arm gets stuck coming back so it seems a mechanical issue. Maybe like something is rubbing... Should I lightly lube somewhere?

I've noticed that when a ball repeats itself, it keeps repeating itself over and over again until you hit a switch, then it goes right to the next ball. I suppose it might not be mechanical after all. I've gotten it to run through a full 5 ball game without missing a ball, then randomly it will repeat the same ball.....

Narrowed it down, I think. Ran through several 5 ball games only activating the 10 point relay with no bonus to collect. No issues at all. Ball count was fine. It's when you cash bonus where the problem lies. Sometimes when the bonus is finished cashing out, it will eject the ball to the shooter lane as usual, the ball rolls over the next player switch, and instead of moving to the next player, it keeps activating the Add Player relay instead. So the machine is... acting like it's the first ball and a switch wasn't hit, basically... Any ideas?

The Add Player Unit relay IS activating the Add Player Unit solenoid... For some reason, instead of switching to the next ball or player, it keeps cycling through as if it was Player 1's first ball and I was trying to add a 2nd player... On my Williams Grand Prix machine, when the players are maxed out at 4, hitting the start button on the door does nothing. On my Top Score, the score motor cycles as if it's adding another player but it's already maxed out at the two allowable... I can keep hitting the start button and it will keep cycling. Don't know if this was normal on Gottliebs.....

But this is what it's doing occasionally when trying to switch to the next ball or next player. It will keep cycling through as if it's trying to add a player... Then when a switch is hit, it moves to the next ball or player every time.... I truly appreciate your help in figuring this out and i'm sorry if I didn't articulate what I was trying to say correctly.

Checked the switches.. All seemed fine... But then I rotated the score motor and now it's just continuously running. I should have just left it alone and not messed with something I have no clue about... Every time I seem to get close to a fix, something else happens and I screw it up even worse... So frustrating.....

D, which is the switch closest to the motor on the top stack of 1, if I read right.. still getting used to schematics...

Actually, the very bottom switch stack on 1 is pulsing 5 times, which is causing the D switch to be the only one to spark...

If I hold the start button on the door during the cycle, it catches the start up sequence and everything cycles through to the point where the ball doesn't shoot out, all while the motor is cycling and the playboard lights are flashing... but it does start up a game okay, but with the motor constantly turning...

The yellow hole relay? Where should I look from there? The actual relay looks good.

Also, the DX, EX, and FX switch pulse during the continuous score motor cycle. Don't know if that will help you help me.

Sorry about that. It's the AX switch that is making the motor run continuously.

FIXED! The runout switch was staying closed on the score motor.. All good now!

Thanks for your help, Howard. I was ready to pull the remaining hair out of my head over this.. But you kept on it and motivated me to keep going.. I appreciate it!