Hello All:

I am pretty new to pinball machines but I now own a 1976 Williams Aztec. Bought the game in pretty good shape - everything worked - but then I started to change some of the bulbs and problems started.

First Problem: When I would start Ball 1 at the start of a game - the Bonus would light up the 10,000 Bonus instead of the 5,000 Bonus. But when the ball is over and it is adding up the score - the proper Bonus would be added. So if the 15,000 Bonus light was on when the ball ended - The score would increase by 10,000.

Second Problem: When I push the button to start a new game - the first ball would come up and the Ball in Play light would immediately shift to Ball 2.

Third Problem: When I push the Start button again to try to get a multi-player game started - The game resets back to a one player game and Problem 2 starts all over again.

I am pretty decent at fixing things but not yet great at figuring out how all these coils and relays work in a pinball machine. Watching a lot of YouTube videos helps but all games look so different to me. And reading some of the past Forums help but again I am not expert at the terminology and I get lost. As best I can tell - I might have a problem with the Ball Count Unit Disc not re-setting properly and then maybe with the Coin Disc or Player Unit Disc or Bonus Unit. Just not sure what to check first. It all looks okay underneath - no loose wires. I am hoping I just hit something when I was changing bulbs that can be reset.

I know for a guy from Massachusetts I sure created a lot of Problems but any help would be appreciated.

Thank you.

Ok. So I seem to have solved Problems 2 and 3. The Ball Index relay was a little out of sorts. Now the only problem I have is that when a new ball resets - the 10,000 Bonus light lights up instead of the 5,000 Bonus light. Anyone have any thoughts? Thanks.

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When the ball is finished - The Bonus steps down to zero and then the 5,000 Bonus light flashes on - then goes off, and the 10,000 Bonus light goes on and stays on until the next ball is put in play. So the Bonus is stepping up twice before the ball starts. (The picture I took is what the field looks like before a ball is put into play.) But the score adds up correctly. So when the 30,000 Bonus light is on at the end of the ball - only 25,000 points get added to the total score. So somehow the 10,000 Bonus light is on at the start of the ball but the scorer is only counting it as a 5,000 Bonus. When it was working properly - the ball would start with the 5,000 Bonus light on. Thinking about it though maybe the ball should start with none of the Bonus lights on.

Apparently the light sequence on the Bonus is off by one. So when the game is stepping down to 0 and no lights should be on - the 5,000 Bonus light is on. And when the Bonus steps up once when the next ball is reset - the lights advance so the 10,000 Bonus light is on. But the scoring recognizes a 5,000 Bonus when the 10,000 Bonus light is on. So somehow the lighting sequence on the Bonus is off by one.

Looking at some other Forum discussions I believe my problem is with the bonus stepper unit on my machine. This is a photo of the back of this unit when it is in the starting position. Apparently I need to adjust the arms so that they align properly with the tabs on the plate. Or I need to adjust the plate to match the arms. But not sure how to do this. Any suggestions?

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OK. So I seem to have it all working. The problem was the bakelite plate on the Bonus Unit was in the wrong position. I must have hit it while replacing some bulbs. As you can see from the new pictures - the "wipers" of the Bonus Unit must line up with the proper tabs so that the proper Bonus light will be lit. This is shown on Page 19 of the Manual. I was able to just rotate the plate a little without using much force so the "grounded wiper" and the "insulated wipers" would touch the plate properly. You can see the difference in the 2 pictures of the Bonus Unit.
I am sure that I will mess this machine up again in my attempts to "fix" it so until then...

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As my final post to this Forum Topic. I now know how this problem comes about. When you are pulling the playfield out of the case to work on it - You need to lift the playfield up about 8 inches as you are pulling it forward. If you do not lift the playfield - The Bonus Unit (which sticks down quite a bit from the underside of the playfield) will hit the front of the case and cause the plate to twist out of its proper position.