(Topic ID: 75868)

Taxi Club... Members Only!

By mof

10 years ago


Topic Heartbeat

Topic Stats

  • 3,684 posts
  • 369 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 5 days ago by token84
  • Topic is favorited by 147 Pinsiders

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Linked Games

  • Taxi Williams, 1988

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There are 3,684 posts in this topic. You are on page 61 of 74.
#3001 1 year ago
Quoted from Pinball_Eddie:

Cool deal, you can put me down for 1.
Thanks ahead of time if you do another run.

I’ll just say, when I had this game the goldpins Taxi topper pcb was a life saver. My game did not have a lamp board or topper. As I quickly found out, that lamp board was not obtainable. Gold pins reached out and saved the day!

724235A6-7AF2-4027-B619-CBDF61FC1CB7 (resized).jpeg724235A6-7AF2-4027-B619-CBDF61FC1CB7 (resized).jpegF13863CC-FA55-4410-8B78-A7C9D971CB97 (resized).jpegF13863CC-FA55-4410-8B78-A7C9D971CB97 (resized).jpeg
#3002 1 year ago
Quoted from goldpins:

They'd be around $25 each plus shipping.

I’ll take one!

#3003 1 year ago
Quoted from Jmckune:

I’ll just say, when I had this game the goldpins Taxi topper pcb was a life saver. My game did not have a lamp board or topper. As I quickly found out, that lamp board was not obtainable. Gold pins reached out and saved the day![quoted image][quoted image]

Looks perfect!

#3004 1 year ago
Quoted from goldpins:

They'd be around $25 each plus shipping.

Mine has a couple bulbs just loosely shoved up there. I'd love to improve the situation.

I'll definitely buy one! Thanks.

#3005 1 year ago

Thank you. I'll be putting in the order this weekend for the topper PCB, and will be in contact with those who wanted one once I get them in.

#3006 1 year ago

I'm looking for the bulb type for the ones in the back box that flash whenever a character talks. I searched this thread, skimmed the manual, but still can't figure out which bulbs to buy. The previous owner put some super-obnoxious strobe-looking LEDs in there and I'd like to get back to something less obnoxious. Thanks!

#3007 1 year ago

I'll answer my own question in case it helps anyone else: #89 bulbs (7 of them). Info was found in this thread: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/help-taxi-bulb-shopping-list-breakdown

1 week later
#3008 1 year ago

Join the club a few months ago. But forgot to look and see if there actually was a club. Had my Taxi about four months. Really enjoy it especially since I’m a 10,000 light Christmas Guy so having the only game with Santa is a plus.

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#3009 1 year ago

What is the use of this small post? If any

CIMG3389 (resized).JPGCIMG3389 (resized).JPG
#3010 1 year ago
Quoted from Eddy_BE:

What is the use of this small post? If any
[quoted image]

If an air ball sent it rolling down the side of the rail it would hit that and drop into the shooter lane instead of wedging between the glass and getting stuck……. I think

#3011 1 year ago
Quoted from MoSeS_1592:

Interesting. I never thought about the hangers sagging but makes sense, after 30+ years of constant pressure they're sure to sag and effect ball position relative to the plunger. Good call!

I am having a different issue with the Spinout bowl. When the ball is launched at slightly less than full pull back of the plunger, it works pretty well and get anywhere from 50K to past 100 to the 1K mark. But no further. When the plunger is pulled all the way back, most of the time - after the first full spin in the bowl, the ball hits what I think is the first rivet (slow mo video doesn't show it perfectly) on the metal guide strip and hops up slowing the ball down to where it will only reach 10 or 25K points. Have tried aligning the ramp, metal guides, etc. And can't fix this.

Next thought was to drill out both rivets, and glue or use high bond tape to try to hold in the guide strip. Any thoughts?

#3012 1 year ago
Quoted from DCRand:

I am having a different issue with the Spinout bowl. When the ball is launched at slightly less than full pull back of the plunger, it works pretty well and get anywhere from 50K to past 100 to the 1K mark. But no further. When the plunger is pulled all the way back, most of the time - after the first full spin in the bowl, the ball hits what I think is the first rivet (slow mo video doesn't show it perfectly) on the metal guide strip and hops up slowing the ball down to where it will only reach 10 or 25K points. Have tried aligning the ramp, metal guides, etc. And can't fix this.
Next thought was to drill out both rivets, and glue or use high bond tape to try to hold in the guide strip. Any thoughts?

That's a tough call. Just for the hell of it try slightly loosening the screws that hold the shooter lane habitrail down and see if you get any improvement.

On mine applying a bit more pressure to the bottom of the shooter rod when releasing seems to get more spins around the spinout.

#3013 1 year ago
Quoted from DCRand:

I am having a different issue with the Spinout bowl. When the ball is launched at slightly less than full pull back of the plunger, it works pretty well and get anywhere from 50K to past 100 to the 1K mark. But no further. When the plunger is pulled all the way back, most of the time - after the first full spin in the bowl, the ball hits what I think is the first rivet (slow mo video doesn't show it perfectly) on the metal guide strip and hops up slowing the ball down to where it will only reach 10 or 25K points. Have tried aligning the ramp, metal guides, etc. And can't fix this.
Next thought was to drill out both rivets, and glue or use high bond tape to try to hold in the guide strip. Any thoughts?

Its out of alignment.

No extreme measures are needed.

Raising and lowering the shooter housing and carefully bending the output wires yields the best results.

I can get 10 to 16 spins on s full plunge.

It took about an hour to get it perfect.

Also i bent the front playfield hangers down a bit to raise the front of the playfield.

The shooter must hit the ball squarely in the center of th ef ball.

Also maybe replace the barrel spring.
It uses the slightly shorter ones for early bally.

The shooter tip should rest about 1/8" behind the playfield or less like a 1/16"

They sagged terribly over time.

Alignment is the key.

You will see that once its perfect it spins like crazy.

#3014 1 year ago

The Dracula catapult sometimes throws the ball into the glass, sometimes doesn’t even go up the ramp or sometimes it goes so fast and flies off the metal ramp. I’m sure it’s been covered before but I didn’t find it. Is there an adjustment for it? Or did it go bad?
Thank you in advance

#3015 1 year ago
Quoted from jdzwir123:

The Dracula catapult sometimes throws the ball into the glass, sometimes doesn’t even go up the ramp or sometimes it goes so fast and flies off the metal ramp. I’m sure it’s been covered before but I didn’t find it. Is there an adjustment for it? Or did it go bad?
Thank you in advance

See if its the right coil.

Check for any slop or wear on any of the parts.

#3016 1 year ago

Thank you.
That’s very true about maybe wrong coil. I will have to check parts for wear as well.

#3017 1 year ago

I’m having an issue when I turn on my taxi. Sometimes when I turn it on l, the start button does not work and only one of the test mode buttons work.

Then if I turn it off and turn it back on sometimes the start button works fine and test mode buttons, other times I have to turn it off a couple times to get the start button to work. It has a rotten dog mpu in it

Any thoughts?

#3018 1 year ago
Quoted from Scroat:

I’m having an issue when I turn on my taxi. Sometimes when I turn it on l, the start button does not work and only one of the test mode buttons work.
Then if I turn it off and turn it back on sometimes the start button works fine and test mode buttons, other times I have to turn it off a couple times to get the start button to work. It has a rotten dog mpu in it
Any thoughts?

Its an annoying problem with system 11 games.

Once in awhile you have to boot them twice or 3 times to get them initialized.

Having an aftermarket Board doesnt help in this case, although it doesnt hurt either.

If its every so often, or after the game has sat powered off for awhile, I would say its normal.

#3019 1 year ago
Quoted from pinballinreno:

Its an annoying problem with system 11 games.
Once in awhile you have to boot them twice or 3 times to get them initialized.
Having an aftermarket Board doesnt help in this case, although it doesnt hurt either.
If its every so often, or after the game has sat powered off for awhile, I would say its normal.

I have never encountered any issues starting up a system 11 that had its boards maintained properly. Only things I’ve ever had is if you hit start button before the sound board boots, you don’t get music ball 1. Sometimes also get a random knocker coil fire even with no test report if it’s been sitting. I currently have 4 of them in my house that get played every couple of weeks and never any problems starting any of them.

#3020 1 year ago
Quoted from Scroat:

Any thoughts?

Test the five volts at the cpu board. Needs to be ^ 4.87 volts DC.

#3021 1 year ago
Quoted from Jmckune:

I have never encountered any issues starting up a system 11 that had its boards maintained properly. Only things I’ve ever had is if you hit start button before the sound board boots, you don’t get music ball 1. Sometimes also get a random knocker coil fire even with no test report if it’s been sitting. I currently have 4 of them in my house that get played every couple of weeks and never any problems starting any of them.

Operators have complained about it a bit.

Its not tragic, just a minor annoyance.

My boards are certified and as new as one can get.

Still, once in a while i get a failed boot.

No problem, just do it again, all is good.

#3022 1 year ago
Quoted from pinballinreno:

Its out of alignment.
No extreme measures are needed.
Raising and lowering the shooter housing and carefully bending the output wires yields the best results.
I can get 10 to 16 spins on s full plunge.
It took about an hour to get it perfect.
Also i bent the front playfield hangers down a bit to raise the front of the playfield.
The shooter must hit the ball squarely in the center of th ef ball.
Also maybe replace the barrel spring.
It uses the slightly shorter ones for early bally.
The shooter tip should rest about 1/8" behind the playfield or less like a 1/16"
They sagged terribly over time.
Alignment is the key.
You will see that once its perfect it spins like crazy.

Thanks, and have adjusted it quite a bit. When first bought the game, rarely would make 100K. Now, if I don't do a full plunge, can the around past 100 to 10. But with a full plunge (seen with slo mo video), and not all of the time, the ball spins up high enough to hit the rivet on the metal protector, which knocks it down to a 50 K or less. Can't seem to adjust it away.

#3023 1 year ago

Is there any trick/tip to align this so first digit can be seen?

The board behind seems to have no adjustment.

Translight is centered.

Backboard - can't see how to move that as loosened various screws but it stayed where it was.

Although maybe there is an adjustment looking at pic?

Thanks
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1 week later
#3025 1 year ago

Could anyone point me to a good replacement lock for Taxi's backbox and coin door? I had to drill out the backbox and the coin door lock wasn't that great either. Thanks!

#3026 1 year ago
Quoted from Aeolus7:

Could anyone point me to a good replacement lock for Taxi's backbox and coin door? I had to drill out the backbox and the coin door lock wasn't that great either. Thanks!

Any lock from Marco and or pinball life should work.

#3027 1 year ago
Quoted from ChrisPINk25:

Any lock from Marco and or pinball life should work.

Okay thanks, so for the backbox just the Williams/Bally lock below? Taxi has a weird bracket for the lock in the backbox, so wasn't sure if there was anything unique about the length of that lock. Pinball Life doesn't list Taxi as a compatible game and Marco has multiple length cams

https://www.pinballlife.com/williamsbally-backbox-lock-keys-only.html

#3028 1 year ago
Quoted from Aeolus7:

Okay thanks, so for the backbox just the Williams/Bally lock below? Taxi has a weird bracket for the lock in the backbox, so wasn't sure if there was anything unique about the length of that lock. Pinball Life doesn't list Taxi as a compatible game and Marco has multiple length cams
https://www.pinballlife.com/williamsbally-backbox-lock-keys-only.html

Good point length. I’d buy one of each length.

#3029 1 year ago
Quoted from pinballinreno:

Its out of alignment.
No extreme measures are needed.
Raising and lowering the shooter housing and carefully bending the output wires yields the best results.
I can get 10 to 16 spins on s full plunge.
It took about an hour to get it perfect.
Also i bent the front playfield hangers down a bit to raise the front of the playfield.
The shooter must hit the ball squarely in the center of th ef ball.
Also maybe replace the barrel spring.
It uses the slightly shorter ones for early bally.
The shooter tip should rest about 1/8" behind the playfield or less like a 1/16"
They sagged terribly over time.
Alignment is the key.
You will see that once its perfect it spins like crazy.

the spinner question never ends with taxi , my copy played ok for a while and always needed adjustment because it would get bad . but after your remark i checked the lock down bar on it and seen it was warped on both sides , so i flattened it . also found a loose screw and upped the shank size to get it tighter

then the wire chute you can see a wear mark up high past were it attaches to the playfeild, it looks like there could have been a spacer or washer in there for where it attaches to the playfeild. i made my own spacer to lift it up a bit , and then i placed some rubbers on the top of the chute to help lift the lower portion of the chute were it attaches to the playfield so that the ball doesn't hit the play field while entering the chute

last i added some thin magnet shims to the bottom of the playfeild hooks that rests on to the lock down bar . this was to lower the plunger on the ball a little

this all made a big difference in game play for the better
spinner spins just as it should now past 100k
the feel for the shots changed too a little bit, it seems better , I may adjust the front feet down a little later on

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15
#3030 1 year ago

So, so happy I can finally join here. Believe it or not, I created an account here on Pinside on Aug-15 for the sole purpose of finding a Taxi machine (it's the only game I added to my wishlist). On Aug-19 I received a Pinside Marketwatch alert saying one became available in my area. After working out the details with the awesome seller, as of Aug-22 I am now the proud owner! THANK YOU PINSIDE!

Taxi was the machine that showed me pinball can have fun goals and objectives. It was also my outlet from studying back in 1989, and the main reason I would go to my local bowling alley (I like bowling, but pinball is KING).

And shoutout to the seller, @Petes0281. Not only were we in the same quadrant here on Planet Houston, but his line of work likely had us cross paths and had mutual acquaintances. See you at the Houston Expo, Pete!

Lastly, I was very pleased that the Taxi machine could fit in a 2018 Rogue... almost like it was built to move pinball. Yo Taxi!

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1 week later
#3031 1 year ago

Who’s left? Santa?

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#3032 1 year ago

Pop quiz!!

What’s wrong with this picture?

See anything unusual?See anything unusual?

#3033 1 year ago
Quoted from RCW:

Pop quiz!!
What’s wrong with this picture?
[quoted image]

It's blurry ?

#3034 1 year ago
Quoted from RCW:

Pop quiz!!
What’s wrong with this picture?
[quoted image]

No playfield?

#3035 1 year ago
Quoted from RCW:

Pop quiz!!
What’s wrong with this picture?
[quoted image]

plastic coin box?

#3036 1 year ago

The suspense is killing us Rob

#3037 1 year ago
Quoted from Sciddleybop1980:

The suspense is killing us Rob

Not me.

#3038 1 year ago

Diagnosis/coin door button and bracket are laying down in the bottom of the cabinet.

#3039 1 year ago

lol - am installing a hardtop and my new found attention to detail spotted that the Install 2 Balls sticker has the wrong part number on it. That's the Install 1 Ball sticker part no.

https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/16-8978-1

Only noticed it as I'm about to drop off my lockdown receiver for a cleanup and polish by a local metal finisher and I'm asking a print shop to produce the Install 2 Balls and Inspected By stickers for me.

#3040 1 year ago

That plastic coin box is the original that came with the machine when I bought it. Did Taxi ship with metal coin boxes originally? My one still had 1DM in it when I picked up the machine in Berlin about 15 yrs ago!

Quoted from PinballManiac40:

Diagnosis/coin door button and bracket are laying down in the bottom of the cabinet.

Yeah, having fun with this. I've bought a blank coin door, so having to separate the wires for the service menu buttons and coin door.

#3042 1 year ago

My Taxi has been wrapped up in the garage since we moved house at the start of Covid, so to get back into things I started on page 1 of the Taxi Members Club last Thursday and worked my way through it all over the weekend. It's an amazing resource.

Along the way I bookmarked a load of supplier websites, bought parts that I didn't even know existed until recently (hardtop, magnetic reed switch), learned a ton about aligning the shooter rod and fixing sagging playfield hooks to get the ball flying around the spinout, and digested the many views on LEDs (I now know what 2SMD is, and that I should try pink under my orange inserts!). I've got a lot of decisions to make and work to do to get my hardtopped machine looking great. It's going to take ages, but it didn't take long at all to get reacquainted with the buzz of fixing up your machine.

So... thanks to all of you on this forum. I suspect I'll be seeking your knowledge and wisdom a lot over the coming months as I reassemble everything.

Lastly, has anyone done yellow powder coating on their Taxi? I've seen black finishes, but not seen yellow yet. Would love to see one!

#3043 1 year ago

Lot of helpful information on game repairs at www.pinwiki.com

Quoted from RCW:

Lastly, has anyone done yellow powder coating on their Taxi? I've seen black finishes, but not seen yellow yet. Would love to see one!

I am not a fan of powder coating. Keeping my Taxi with the stainless steel look. Originally the legs shipped with black legs? I bought new stainless steel legs to complete the look.

I miss seeing chrome on new cars. Nothing like having chrome on a 69 Mustang to stare at for hours.

#3044 1 year ago

"Okay .. okay ... Okay"

#3045 1 year ago
Quoted from PinballManiac40:

Lot of helpful information on game repairs at www.pinwiki.com

Yeah, Pinwiki has sent me down all sorts of rabbit holes as well. Great site.

Quoted from PinballManiac40:

Lot of helpful information on game repairs at www.pinwiki.com

I miss seeing chrome on new cars

I'm starting to lean towards chroming the armour. The powder coating guy I spoke to said that yellow isn't the easiest colour to work with and that he recommended black, with an optional gold flake through it. After that conversation I was looking at the side of my cab and thinking that car's bumpers would likely have been a nice shiny chrome when new... let's do that with the game!

#3046 1 year ago
Quoted from VeryCurious:

So, so happy I can finally join here. Believe it or not, I created an account here on Pinside on Aug-15 for the sole purpose of finding a #Taxi machine (it's the only game I added to my wishlist). On Aug-19 I received a Pinside Marketwatch alert saying one became available in my area. After working out the details with the awesome seller, as of Aug-22 I am now the proud owner! THANK YOU PINSIDE!
Taxi was the machine that showed me pinball can have fun goals and objectives. It was also my outlet from studying back in 1989, and the main reason I would go to my local bowling alley (I like bowling, but pinball is KING).
And shoutout to the seller, Petes0281. Not only were we in the same quadrant here on Planet Houston, but his line of work likely had us cross paths and had mutual acquaintances. See you at the Houston Expo, Pete!
Lastly, I was very pleased that the Taxi machine could fit in a 2018 Rogue... almost like it was built to move pinball. Yo Taxi!
[quoted image][quoted image]

Welcome to the Club.

#3047 1 year ago
Quoted from RCW:

Yeah, Pinwiki has sent me down all sorts of rabbit holes as well. Great site.

I'm starting to lean towards chroming the armour. The powder coating guy I spoke to said that yellow isn't the easiest colour to work with and that he recommended black, with an optional gold flake through it. After that conversation I was looking at the side of my cab and thinking that car's bumpers would likely have been a nice shiny chrome when new... let's do that with the game!

Pinwiki is a guide. Impossible to write up every possible combination of parts that can fail, especially on boards.

Chrome leaves finger and hand prints. Hope you like wiping down your game often.

#3048 1 year ago
Quoted from PinballManiac40:

Chrome leaves finger and hand prints. Hope you like wiping down your game often.

I’ll second this. I did my High Speed in all chrome and it looks great when polished, but it was expensive and man it’s real pain to keep clean. If I did it again I would probably just go with the standard stainless.

I powder coated my Taxi black and it’s way easier to maintain.

3 weeks later
#3049 1 year ago

The bumper skirts look purple on my machine and the star posts for the rollover near it also look purple rather than blue shown on most people's machines. Are all of the priginal color for star posts blue or are they a lighter color in some areas from factory and if so, which areas?

#3050 1 year ago

Thanks goldpins for the topper PCB, now I have to make a cable to get it connected.

Can someone please make a picture of the connector plugging into the topper PCB, follow the cable to the board and make a picture where plugs in and post it here so I can replicate it?

There is no documentation, I don't know the colors or pinout, so I need clear pictures of both connectors where they are plugged in. Thanks in advance!!

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