Mario Kart GP Force Feedback Isssues and Questions

ercvacation

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I picked up two Mario Kart GP machines. Both had the force feedback turned off. The first one I turned on and it worked without issue. The second was turned on but did nothing. Well the other one went out yesterday. It brings up "Call Attendant" error. If I turn off the game plays without issue. I'd like to fix this but does anyone know what I need to replace? Is it most likely just the motor? Any other parts that I should order? Is the link below the motor I need? Does this also shake the steering wheel when you drive over things or is that something different? If there is anything else to order, let me know.

https://na.suzohapp.com/products/driving_controls/50-4043-00
 
I asked my friend that has a couple and he said:

"Relay on the Force Feedback Control PCB (there are two) - and maybe a cap depending. The Motor is pretty resilient, actually the motor reminds me of a wheelchair drive motor for like a hover-round or something.

It fails less if you put force feedback on low/medium"

Places usually turned off the vibration feed back, because children would start a game, and walk away. The game had a driving assistance that would move the player forward automatically, but because the child left, would just grind the fence, and kill the motor. Mario GP 2 fixed this issue.
 
I read somewhere that the original motors had a gear that would wear away and the aftermarket ones fixed the weakness. I'll have to do some digging and see what I come up with. Once I get them working, I'll change the setting to the less powerful setting.

On the one that just went out, it goes through the test when I power on without issue and moves as it should. Once the race starts it goes to the error screen shortly after that. The other one goes directly to the error screen when it goes to the test on power up. I wonder if something shook loose or has a bad connector that is causing this. I'd like to get these fixed soon cause my son loves them and really likes the feedback. He has no interest in any of my pinball machines.
 
Whats the best way to test those? I have no problem doing connectors, wiring and soldering cause I've been doing it on my pins. I've done board work with replacing transistors and pre drive transistor, but that is where my experience ends. Any help would be appreciated. I have my DMM so just need some instruction. I appreciate your help!
 
Just search youtube for how to test relays and caps with a multi-meter. That would be the easiest way to learn. :D

Good luck
 
I would start by pulling th dash (which is a bitch) and checking the gear and drive belt. Everyone I've had to fix (both mine and others) were due to a stripped gear or snapped belt.
 
I didn't have time to pull the dash today but my Mario that was never able to use force feedback showed an error that said to replace potentiometer, per the manual. The game drove fine. Why would it drive fine but still bring up an error when I turned on force feedback?
 
FYI the belts on both machines are still hooked up and turn with the wheel without any slippage. I'll still check the gear when I pull the dash though. I hope to get to this by the end of the weekend.
 
I went through some items in the menu and it came to my attention that my working machine has a value of 0 when machine is centered. +500 to the right and -500 to the left, which seems normal. The other one, when centered is not 0, so it will start somewhere between 100 and 200 and will keep going up till it rolls over and goes into negative #'s. Could this throw off the test? I freaking broke the pot on accident so a new one is coming today. Hopefully if I get it installed and set up right with proper values, it fixes my issue. Thoughts?
 
I got everything working by changing the pot and going through initialization. Game played fine for a few days and then I heard almost like a grinding noise every time I'd turn. The gear lost one of the set screws and was just spinning. I placed an order for some of the steering components just to have on hand. I bought a backup motor in case that was my issue or to have a backup. One question, if I do have to use the motor, do they need to be lubricated before use or just plug and play?
 
My other game started having issues and the error code said to replace the pot. I did that and problem still persisted. The old owner had a ton of wires all hacked together. I spent a couple hours rewiring with new connectors and made it look much cleaner. That machine seems all good now.
 
Resurrecting my old thread. My Mario karts had been trouble free for quite a while. I had people over last weekend and my one machine came up with a steering wheel error mid game. I tried rebooting but the issue came up right at startup. I figured id look into it when I had time. When I booted up today, the linked games did not boot at the same time. The one that had an issue said it was loading for about a minute or two. After that it went to the normal testing screen and it passed all the tests and went to the game. I played a few games without any issue. Any clue what might have happened? Any suggestions to look into anything. I'll see if the issue comes back up.
 
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