Indiana Jones: The Pinball Adventure
| Manufacturer | System | Year | Model | Produced |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Williams | WPC - DSC Sound | 1993 | 50017 | 12,716 |
Indiana Jones: The Pinball Adventure Shop Guide
1 WPC Specific Issues
2 Game-Specific Issues
2.1 Path of Adventure Switch shorts causing extra balls to be served
The front right switch on the path of adventure gets hit underneath by balls hopping around the "Mode Start" hole. This shorts the wires/diode/switch lugs. This switch is on the same row or column as the ball jam opto. This is the last opto a ball passes as it is served to the shooter lane. If you are getting extra balls kicked up to the shooter lane, that front right switch is a good place to start.
2.2 Balls Continuously Served to the Shooter Lane
A failure certain to cause this behavior involves the "Ball Jam Opto", which is the last opto a ball passes as it's served from the trough to the shooter lane. If either the sending or receiving opto in the pair fails to work, the game will sense a jammed ball and continuously serve balls to the shooter lane. Sometimes the opto(s) fail outright. Sometimes the cause is a fractured solder joint or the OEM 270 ohm 1 Watt resistor on the sending side opto board.
Note that this failure isn't limited to Indiana Jones. Any game with this type of ball trough and a "jam opto", can exhibit this behavior.
2.3 Path of Adventure Doesn't Move Left and Right Correctly
The Path of Adventure is on the one hand, a very cool game feature, on the other hand, a bit of a booger to diagnose when not operating correctly. There are several possible problem causes.
Failed Limiting Opto Board
The POA opto board tells the MPU that the POA has reached either it's left or it's right limit. If one/both of these optos fail, the game won't know if/when limit has been reached. Testing these optos is easy, once the POA has been removed. You may be able to use the dedicated POA ("Mini Playfield") test in the test menu.
Flaky Cabinet Flipper Switch Optos
To quickly determine if the opto cabinet switches are the problem or not, put game into mini playfield test mode, and operate the POA with the red button switches on the coin door. If the POA moves fine in test mode, but not in game mode, the problem may be the flipper cabinet opto switches.
This one is a bit tough to understand. While the flippers may work perfectly in game play, if the opto is just a bit flaky, the POA may "stutter" in one direction or the other. It may not move at all. You can swap the left and right flipper opto boards to see if the problem follows. Often, cleaning the optos on the flipper board will solve the problem.
Note: The lower flipper optos control both the flippers and the POA. The upper flipper optos are not used on this game (there are no upper flippers) and are not connected to the Fliptronics board. Instead, the Fliptronics board uses these upper flipper circuits for playfield switches.
2.4 Removing the Path of Adventure
It's sometimes necessary to remove the POA to replace lamps (this would be a GREAT place to use LEDs) or repair switches. Removing the Path of Adventure is much simpler than one might assume.
- Steps to Remove the Path of Adventure
1. Remove the three screws that secure the rear channel that leads to the POA Two are on top, while a thrid one is located underneath in the middle. 
2. Remove the two screws that secure the left "POA Bypass Channel". The front screw is pictured. Then, remove the E-clip and washer which secures the front pivot axis. 
3. Once the bypass channel is removed, the front bracket will be exposed. Remove these two screws. 
4. Loosen the "set screw" that attaches the POA to the motor shaft with a 5/64" hex wrench.
2.5 Ball Does not Land in Mode Hole (Bounces Out)
If the ball tends to bounce out of the mode hole, take a small square of Velcro (looped side preferred, but either works), and place it on the ball snubber. Although it is not perfect, it will increase the amount of times the ball stays in the mode hole versus bouncing out.
2.6 Diode "Tieback" missing causes Driver Board transistor Q20 to fail
Similar to the common problem that Star Trek: The Next Generation owners encounter, Indiana Jones can lose the "diode tieback" connection, causing Q20 to fail, as pictured on the right.
Without this "diode tieback", Q20 on the driver board WILL be damaged and the associated coil is likely to become locked on and melt. The diode tie-back wire is violet/green and connects from the coil power side on solenoid 28, the AE-26-1500 subway release coil, lug to J122 pin 9 on the driver board. If the solder connection at the coil lug is solid, suspect the wire connection at the J122 IDC connector. Repinning this connection with a good quality crimp-on Trifurcon pin is advised.
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