Dewsho,

The travel of the goalie is controlled by an opto. Something is triggering the opto on the left. There is a wire on the back of the goalie that registers goalie hits. If the wire isn't placed in its track along the back properly, it hangs down and can prematurely trigger the opto. Check that.

Regarding the whistle going off, are you sure it is the whistle and not a "boing" (hardly exact, I know). The goalie switch can often get held shut, and the moving of the goalie causes the switch to register.

Regarding the missing spring, I'm not positive that there is a spring that pulls down. I believe the gate is supposed to be normally up. Another possibility is the left orbit switch not registering. I believe that if that switch doesn't register, then the gate isn't pulled down to stop it from continuing the orbit.

Are you able to shoot the left orbit and advance cities?

This is often caused by the wire for the goalie "hit" switch not being properly seated within its guide as it goes down the back of the goalie. This allows the wire to become separated from the post that it rides down. The wire then trips the opto that indicates the end of the side-to-side goalie movement stroke and causes the motor to reverse prematurely. There are little raised dots that define the wire path in the moving post. Make sure your wire is seated in that vertical track.

Look down the back of the goalie as it moves side to side. If the wire separates from the moving post to hang down vertically, then you likely have the problem I described.

In sum, something is likely tripping the opto prematurely to tell the controller that the goalie is at the end of its travel.

I'd generally check out the optos. The optos control when the motor is told to reverse direction.

The goalie plastic is supposed to be rubbery and supple. It dries out and hardens over the years. If you try and straighten it, you may just crack it in half. You might try to warm it up a bit and then put something heavy on it.. but who knows. Best bet is to buy a replacement backing plastic and decal.

Yes. covers the ramp, cutout goes rearward. there should be matching holes in the ramp.

There should be a spring. Also, sometimes the diverter doesn't return to the left if the rod is bound up by contact with the ramps that it passes through. Mis-alignment of the ramp holes will bind the rod. You can typically check to see if it is a binding issue by lightly pushing up or down on the diverter arm and see if it then starts to pull itself back left.

generally like this..

http://mirror2.ipdb.org/images/2811/image-6.jpg

Those are standard post rubbers. take your pick, marco, everywhere (cliffy if you want colors).

Spinner awards travel, but I think only the rollover triggers the one-way gate to open such that the ball isn't stopped over the pop-bumper lanes.

Being pedantic... you said you detached all the screws... the goalposts are threaded and extend under the playfield, nuts need to be removed therefrom to remove the goal posts..... (seems obvious, just making sure).

Can you describe it a different way? I have no idea what you are talking about. There is a plastic attached to the right ramp that has "coin toss" printed on it, but I don't know what you mean by a coin toss button.

Stuck diverter is often due to rubbing against the ramps as the rod passes through them. So, if your coil sleeve doesn't do the trick, take a look at the alignment of the ramps.

More accurately, I think the first shot on goal when "Goal" isn't lit will award a Striker Award. Also, if the opto between the goal trough and the striker hole isn't functioning properly, the ball will trigger the striker hole optos without triggering the goal opto and goals won't be counted, but will register as Striker Awards.

So, depending on exactly how it is happening, it could be proper or a fault.

Pull the glass... hit the switches... for science!

That looks right... it keeps balls from getting stuck between that plastic and the ramp. Many such items that seem to have no purpose are there to prevent balls from getting stuck in place. Stuck balls = broken game and no revenue/service call for an operator.

Yeah, I think your yoke is actually on upside down.. it works just fine I suppose, but it makes it tougher to get access to the set screw.