Hello!

I picked up a Taxi a couple of weeks ago. Probably paid too much for it ($3K) but it's actually in pretty nice shape. Cabinet is a solid 8/10 and I'd say the playfield is about the same with the standard wear around the pops and other parts. Left ramp has a giant hole in it from the Dracapult that's been fixed with clear packing tape, but it still plays OK. I have a metal protector on the way to cover the hole until I decide to swap out the ramps. Also, the typical bad performance on the Spinout ramp which has been replaced with a not-broken blue one. Still working on that one, and have reached out to Sonic about one of his magnetic reed switches to replace the leaf switch.

The previous owner said it played great, but I've been slowly going through the mechanicals and fixing small stuff to tighten up the game play, and it's gone from playing "just OK" to playing really well.

IMG_3991 (resized).jpg
IMG_3990 (resized).JPG

Once I've got some spare time, I've got a few electrical gremlins to sort out. Occasionally when I turn the machine on, I'll get the GI and it might take 20-30 seconds for the game to "wake up" and actually boot. I suspect I'm going to need to re-cap the power and/or aux power board, unless someone else has other suggestions. The other thing I'm going to need to address is this:

IMG_3980 (resized).jpg
IMG_3983 (resized).jpg

Mmmm, crispy. I have a feeling that is causing my weird behavior with the oulane lights. It's almost like they stay on in continuous attract mode. Also, the bonus indicators on the score glass will randomly lilght up at times, and not always the same ones. When I pull the MPU to work on it, I'm also going to replace the AA battery holder with one of the coin cell boards from No Quarters Arcade. I've got them in all of my other games and am a big fan. Luckily this board has escaped any battery damage and looks good aside from the above shit-stain.

All that said, I'm actually looking for a green "Express Lane 2" sign that's missing above my Drac lane. There's one on ebay for $20, but it doesn't have the metal brackets to attach it to the playfield. Anyone have any leads on one?

Sonic can tell you, as he is the one that makes them. However, the idea is that instead of a physical lever to activate a switch, the switch uses magnetism and when the ball passes over it, that is what activates the switch. So, in essence, a non-contact switch. In theory it should improve performance of the Spinout ramp because you no longer have a physical reed switch imparting friction on the ball, causing it to slow down faster.

Kerry_Richard all of those System 11 games on the left (Whirlwind, Earthshaker, Funhouse) are the ones that I need to complete my Sys 11 fantasy lineup. SO JEALOUS!

I wonder if the board has been swapped out for another from a different game (my guess). You could always solder a header to that bank of pads...it's not too hard.

wizstef Does that board have a Williams sticker on it with '553' somewhere? That's the game number for Taxi. If it doesn't I'd bet that's not the original board.