Interestingly my TOM which I have owned for over 2 yrs has never had a rubber grommet. The bracket doesn't even have a hole for a grommet but it has worked fine until last week.
Now it is too weak to lift up the trap door. I replaced the cool sleeve and cleaned everything but it is still too weak to lift up the door unless I lift the PF in the vertical position and have the coil test on and then it will work as per normal. It moves freely etc.

I will drill a hole in the bracket and put in a grommet but in the meantime does anyone have any ideas?

I just tested it while in game mode and it works about 19/20. I did get stuck once where the coil that pops the ball up was doing so without the trap door open. After about 7 tries the trap door opened and then the ball popped out.

Maybe there is a switch which needs some adjustment.

I will definitely drill a hole in the bracket and install the grommet to be safe and reduce some vibration anyway but it's strange it worked for at least 2yrs (probably a whole lot more) without it.

Added: Installed a new trap door with new springs and retaining clips. Then played a few games and the trap door now works 100%. You have to love pinball.

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