This rang a bell for me. I had a TSPP that had a one way gate on it instead of a little wire speed bump so to speak. The ball almost never made it to the top.

I had two holes where the little wire was supposed to go, I think I ended up just making one and sticking it in the hole and taking the one way gate off. Worked fine after that.

Do you actually have a one way gate, or do you have the little wire in the play field like in the picture?

Take the gate off, and install the wire speed bump. I believe this is it:

http://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/535-5373-00

My game was a German re-import, maybe the 1 way gate was an international thing but it didn't work at all.

I don't know what shot shot you are talking about, but I do believe the answer is no. The VUK lane on the mini is the only place that wire is used.

I can tell you that the wire that fits in the oval slot at the VUK is the only place that wire exists on the mini.

it worked for me, remove the gate, tap in the wire, should be good.

I'd clean up the VUK first. Take it apart, clean the plunger and replace the coil sleeve.

Is the vuk kicking straight? Is it hitting the metal at the top and falling back down or not even making it that far?