IMDN Pro owner for a few months. Struggled with autolaunch issues. Read this whole thread and tried most of the fixes. For me the fix was adjusting (not bending) the guide at the end of the launch lane. I think this issue is responsible for most incidents of inconsistency, more than anything involving the admittedly janky autoplunge mech such as prong contact points. I think that the guide repeatedly getting hammered by the ball loosens the attachment of the guide to the PF, resulting in degraded and increasingly random performance. Once the attachment is not 100% you are left with a battle between the provided attachment and the intrinsic bend of the guide that plays out with some randomness on every launch. I think a larger screw with a washer might help to keep it more solidly in place once you have it dialed in. I think it would be useful to have some kind of horizontal adjustment mechanism to do fine tuning on the exact position of the end of the guide, I'm brainstorming that now. I am also thinking of dremeling the plastic above the existing screw to provide access to that screw without having to remove plastic and ramp wireform.

So no new revelation, but my 2 cents as a NOOB after hours of analysis and trial-and-error.

BTW love this forum, I've learned so much, just reading has given me confidence to work on the machine. Thanks to all.

The larger coil is being delivered in the next few days. But I'm on about 100 consecutive successful autolaunches since the guide adjustment a few nights ago so I think the new coil will be sidelined until/if the problem resurfaces. For anyone else considering the guide adjustment, I had to adjust more than I would have thought. The ball just barely clears the upper right flipper now. I don't think I could adjust any more in that direction without starting to graze the flipper. Also FWIW my autolaunch power is set at the default max. Trooper MB is so much more satisfying when the balls queue as intended. Even leaves enough time for a solid beer swig. That alone makes a solution worth pursuing.

That's right. The screw goes into a tab on the guide that provides room to adjust. Getting to that screw is mildly annoying, requiring removal of plastic and ramp wireform. I have about 100 games since the adjustment and had only one failed loop entrance that I think was due to bad luck coincidence with a hard nudge that left the to-be-launched ball out of position, because it wasn't even close and sort of dribbled out of shooter lane..

If you haven't already, it's worth searching the IMDN owners channel for these questions, I think answers to all have been covered there.