My No Fear starts the game with a score of 12,730 points for player one, and ball lock available, which is weird (I think). Otherwise this machine is working just about perfectly (maybe the drop target seems a bit sluggish).

Players 2-4 don't get the phantom score.

I have checked every switch using the switch tests, and they were 100%.

Slapping the machine around, or flipping like mad does not add more phantom score.

Thanks in advance for any theories you might have.

So there's a switch in the drop target assembly which I believe is the wrong shape. That is, the switch arm has a lovely bend in it,when it ought to be straight (as per the operations manual). I'm seeing evidence of a budget repair, because the plate that resets the drop target has been replaced with an old key! Ingenious! Also, horrible!

The switch with the bendy arm would be always pressed regardless of the drop target's position, so the machine thinks the target is always down.

When the drop target assembly is disconnected, there's no problem.

[later on]

I straightened the switch arm and cleaned up the gross target, added a bit of wienerschliden, reassembled everything, and it plays like magic now. I had no idea fixing pinball machines was so easy! What's all the fuss about?