Nice! Remind me what your 500 pt issue is? Will that relay lock on? If so, check on your schematic (or in your manual) and read what feeds that coil. My guess is a stuck switch.

WP_20151023_01_11_36_Pro.jpgOkay guys. I'm in the club. Just purchased a Grand Prix project. In nice shape cosmetically, great cabinet, ok PF. Really dirty, messy works which means more cleaning than the local expert wanted to do. Teaching myself the art of EM maintenance with this machine. Thanks for the tips! Also using Henk de Jager's "Pinball Machine Maintenance. Here's some pics. WP_20151023_01_11_31_Pro.jpg

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good to see your covered by state farm...

And FYI, the dummy zero's on the score reels are stickers- duh. However, you may not know that you can get replacements from Steve Young at PBR. Just call up and tell them you have this game and you need the dummy score reel zero stickers- I don't recall the part number off hand- they will know it. Be sure to be clear that its a williams, its this game and that your talking about the score reels- if you repeat that information just to be clear, you might preface this with a "I just want to be sure I said the right thing, were talking about the zero stickers for the williams score reels in this game, right?" Else you will be reminded that they heard you right the first time

I love PBR, its actually fun to talk with Steve, once you get to know him and see what he has available you will realize that he has done more for this hobby than almost anyone else- he will talk your ear off if you get going on something he wants to talk about.

and to OP regarding 500 pt continuous scoring. I would bet a lot of money that the bottom switch on the 500 pt relay is gapped closed- look very carefully at that switch, its the hold switch for the circuit. If it sticks closed it will continue scoring. It may be adjusted such that if you power off it opens, but once accuated it never opens again.

I am assuming you have checked both stand up switches that trigger this relay and both are normally open and have no chance of sticking after they are hit. But its almost certainly a switch or that relay. The relay is clearly getting power and is holding closed- which is power coming through the lower switch on that 500 relay. If that never opens, it never stops scoring.

and my bet is 50 cents, that three plays on my Grand Prix and was a lot of money when I was 15!

Yes, the lock-in switch specifically, as rufessor says. Also, note that in certain cases, the armature plate can become magnetized. This will create an issue where it continuously holds though the game has told it to release. This is usually fairly easy to observe. Press in the armature and see what happens. Stuck switch should be fairly obvious, and magnetized armature may also become apparent. Magnetized armatures are relatively uncommon, though - it is much more likely that a stuck switch is your issue.

Yeah, too bad State Farm wont send somebody out to fix it for free!

My wire groups are just dirty and nasty. Gotta get some baking soda quick for inside cabinet - no sign of rat nests though! Vacuum it all out...start from there...

I'm consistently amazed at the amount of people who pick up GP, one of the most complex EMs ever made, as a first EM game.

I've had EMs for a long time and the game intimidates me. I shudder to think what someone who has never worked on an EM before would think when he lifts the hood on this baby.

If you find a magnetized armature the fix is literally to remove it, set it in a hard surface and whack it good and hard a few times with a hammer- done.

Seriously- no joke.

And yeah- this game is on the complicated side of things- mostly due to the fact that there are two or three of everything thats normally in a game, plus the mechanics for the spinner counting and light animations are super awesome!

I love the mechanics on this game, and yes its complex- but for the most part all you need is a schematic and your good to go. The start up routine is not much different, however, score reel is a bad ass set of switch stacks!

They're on inkochnito's site also (dummy reels numbers). Print them off on sticky paper, and you're good to go.

For someone trying to work on an EM for the first time, it's just not that simple.

I do agree- its not for the faint of heart- just trying to point out that everything has a more or less straight forward connection if you can isolate where you need to look. Not suggesting anyone is going to pick one of these up and have the faintest idea of what the hell goes where without having worked on EM games more than a few times. However, once you get your legs, these are a thing of beauty.

I think the reason so many first EM Grand Prix owners exists is its a highly rated title, they made a ton and its available widely and not expensive as compared to some other highly rated EM titles which are harder to fine. Is that a recipe for success in fixing a broken game, not so much. But its fun to try to help and usually people figure it out after they go through the blood bath of the EM learning curve and with this game as your first victim- you become the victim for a bit.