https://www.pinballlife.com/spade-bolt-straight.html

Has anyone done anything to protect the left ramp where the catapult hits it? Both mine have had cracks there...

They are correct as is. No place for nut under pf.

I believe I have these. PM me

Yes and it works great!

https://mantispinball.com/product/taxi-ramp-protector/

Where does it go, what does it look like when installed?

Here's a picture.

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Need a center piece plastic that goes behind drop targets if anyone has one. Thanks!

Anyone ever have an issue where the holes don't kick out immediately. I go in the Santa or Dracula holes sometimes, they register and give me the award, but then don't kick out. 10 seconds later all three ejects will fire and the game will continue as normal.

Probably intermittent switch problem. Replace the switch or adjust it.

Which one? It's happening in two different places, and now is happening in the trough too

Have you checked them in switch test? On mine the Dracula switch is intermittent in switch test so I have another one on order. I'd start there. If they are all dodgy then check your matrix. If they are all in the same column or row then I would consider checking the connectors at the board.

Everything seems to register fine in switch test. I never have a problem with anything registering, it's just that after it registers sometimes it seems to not go on to the next step (kick ball out)

Oh I see, I misunderstood you then. When hit hit the Dracula switch you immediately get credit but the coil doesn’t fire until it goes into ball search?

Yep. Or I go in santa, it awards santa and joyride, but then doesn't kick ball out until ball search.

Taxi in market

Machine - For Sale

Taxi Archived

Partially shopped/refurbished - “TAXI nice player has new topper ,new departure and arrival ramps ,has new spin out ramp , NO broken plastics, Rebuilt flippers, pinscore displays. Cab typical bumps/ bruise see ...”

2020-01-05

Morrisville, PA

freddy

3,000

Archived after: 12 days

Viewed: 826 times

Status: Didn't sell to Pinsider

Hrm, so is the wiring path from ball search different from the wiring path for the kicker during usual gameplay? It sounds like there is a problem with the signal getting to the coil from the MPU. If the coil fires during ball search that means it's got power so....

Maybe check your connectors for those coils at the MPU board? I'm not experienced enough in exactly how a system 11 board does a ball search to know the answer.

Here is the switch matrix for Taxi. The Dracula catapult, and Trough 1 switch are on the same row. Santa (I think it is the top eject hole) is on a different row. The System 11 B design is a bit dumb so there are a couple places to look. Check on the interconnect board (Long narrow PCB at bottom of head) along the bottom where the switch matrix plugs in. Then at the top of board the same connections then jump from 2 connectors (one for rows, one for columns) to the MPU board. Any issues at any of those connections can cause the symptoms you are seeing as can bad diodes at any of the switches, or a bad switch.

The reason I say dumb, is there is no real use to the interconnect board, the switch matrix could connect directly to the MPU if the connectors were different.

To test a microswitch it should make a distinct faint connect and disconnect sound when exercised, they are really reliable and usually the failed ones I find that distinct sound is gone. You can wire jumper across the wires at the switch to simulate the switch closing and eliminate the connectors at the boards in the head. If it is at the interconnect board it is likely to be the lower connector that heads to the playfield since the harness hangs from the pins, the solder connections get fatigue cracks in them. It is easy to remedy by reflowing the solder but the board has to come out.

Switch Matrix (resized).jpg

My spinout kicker was having a similar issue. I found out that my switch was triggering but only momentarily. Then it would kick out a few seconds later. Similar to ball search but only the one spinout kicker would fire. My rollover switch actuator was the wrong one and it would roll over and past the actuator.

Doesnt sound like your issue. But just thought I'd chime in in case it sounds like anyone elses problem.

Before and after. I have to turn the brightness down on the pop rings a bit but otherwise I love how it turned out.
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I cannot get my plunged ball to go around more than twice in the spin out. A previous owner put the strongest spring in. I see my plunger hits the ball up high and to the right. Can someone tell me what spring is correct to start with?

I’m considering a taxi and always like to ask if there are any “unobtanium” parts that I need to make sure are in good order before I make a decision. Can anyone help?

Hardtops, playfields, new ramps, decals... all available. Whatever you want to spend, lol

Thanks! This will be my first system 11 and I’m excited. Always like to check first tho!

Cant beat system 11. They are all fantastic games! I have 4 of them!

It probably has nothing to do with your spring. (check the manual but i do believe it should be the strongest or next to strongest spring.) My taxi spinout problems had to do with wear in the shooter lane that was causing a bounce, and a very cracked spinout ramp that was too shaky.

1. Make sure that the spinout ramp and the wireform that go up to it from the plunger are all tightly screwed into place. Shake and wobble can have a bigger impact that you'd think.

2. Ensure that your plunger is in line with the ball (if it's offset, you may be sending the ball up at an angle instead of straight).

3. If you're still having issues, take a slo-mo video of the plunge going up and you may be able to see what is taking the momentum out of the ball. (this is how i discovered my shooter lane issue).

good luck!

I appreciate the response. Let me answer some of what I have done.

"1. Make sure that the spinout ramp and the wireform that go up to it from the plunger are all tightly screwed into place. Shake and wobble can have a bigger impact that you'd think."

Started with a loose broken spinout ramp and was definitely a problem. I have secured it in place then got a brand new one, so it is now very solid. Still had the issue.

"2. Ensure that your plunger is in line with the ball (if it's offset, you may be sending the ball up at an angle instead of straight)."

Definitely still an issue. The plunger hits high and an bit to the right of the ball. I temporarily tried raising the bottom of the playfield to get the plunger lower on the ball. At one point the ball went around the cup ~20 times! It seems really sensitive to the height. I have not been able to make a leftward adjustment yet.

"3. If you're still having issues, take a slo-mo video of the plunge going up and you may be able to see what is taking the momentum out of the ball. (this is how i discovered my shooter lane issue)."

I will have to do that next.

Good luck. It's such a cool feature and i know how frustrating it is to not have it work. Mine was a PITA for a few years (really until i repaired the wood of the shooter lane during a playfield restore). The slow mo video may give you the info you're looking for.

I have been doing a full shop job and I am at the re-assembly stage now. New issue, the top left kicker fires the ball perfectly along that long 5" rubber and straight down the drain. Looking at lots of YouTube videos it seems most Taxis toss the ball to the right a bit and bounces off the back left side of the Marilyn target bank. Do I need to move the entire mechanism underneath the playfield or is there a way to bend the arm instead?

Mine throws it directly to the middle of the right flipper, doesn't hit anything on the way down.

You should be able to bend the arm to adjust the angle, if you can reach it

Viewed from the playing position, I am thinking I should bend the arm to the left a bit to hit the ball to the right.

Correct.

I tell ya, I bought a rough taxi, really liking this hardtop. this will be a nice game for a reasonable restoration cost, at least at first, until I total up all the new stuff u can get.. just got my backglass and decals..

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Just started to dig into my Taxi and noticed It’s running prototype roms. S/N is 160271, it’s a Marilyn game, and the rom revision is “PA-8.” Also is running prototype sound ROMs.

Is there any significance to this? Anyone know anything about the prototype ROMs in Taxi, and would it worthwhile to upgrade them to the newest non prototype revision?

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Just to follow up: I also noticed that the slingshots are “one shot” devices. Ie, I hold in a switch, and they only activate once. The pop bumpers, however, lock on if I hold down the skirt. Is this typical with Taxi? I know that Williams abandoned the special solenoids back with Big Guns, but my game behaves as if it still has them.

There are 2 separate production ROMs, one for Lola and another for Marilyn. If I upgrade, I’d upgrade with the Marilyn roms

It’s real easy these days to change the person on your game. Translights for both, and playfields/overlays for both exist, and it’s easy to just change out the software.

i can do the roms if anybody needs them. I am rompingirl on ebay but better prices direct.

I noticed that same thing on mine too. I assume this is normal. I guess they kept making changes. I also have a Diner, the pops have only a single switch on the pops where Taxi has the spoon switch as well as a separate scoring switch.

My machine is a Marilyn as well, serial number 160343 and it too has the proto ROMs. I would love to know differences there are.

yes pop bumpers are special solenoid circuits on taxi

I was part of the cyclone club..but wanted to be in this 1.

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You can do this for light board

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/new-taxi-topper-dome-lights#post-658431

Just joined the Taxi Club. Loving this game! I seem to be gravitating towards system 11s in my small lineup. I really like being able to play short games.

A few questions for you guys.

1. Some jackass scratched out Santa's eyes on the cabinet sometime in the past 32 years. If someone could post a nice closeup of his face on the left side of the cabinet it would be greatly appreciated as I attempt a touchup job.
2. Does anybody have any yellow paint recommendations for the cabinet? If someone already has a fairly close color match I'd love to know what you used.
3. Plastics all look good except for some wear the taxi under the right ramp, and the long limo is broken. Anyone know where to find these? Marcos is sold out. I may attempt to touch up the paint on the ramp.
4. Any recommendations for the playcard inserts?
5. How long would you estimate a playfield swap or hardtop job would take on a Taxi?

Thanks all! This a definite bang for the buck pin.

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System 11 games are my favorite generation of games. Simple enough to explain rules to people who may otherwise not understand rules of pinball, but deep enough to hold long term interest of those who do. I love a deep ruleset as much as the next person does, but I simply don't have the desire to sit in front of a super deep game like LotR for 45 minutes and slog away at it.

I guess this depends upon your level of skill and how much work you're willing to put into it. I'm planning on hardtopping my Taxi in the next month or so, and I can definitely let you know how the process is going. This will be my first hard top installation.

I used this on my Taxi, for some touch up, and it was a good match, but as the post states it will depend on the fade.