Pole Position II Steering Help

Steve Moerke

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I have an Atari Pole Position with Pole II boards that the steering started not working if I turn it to the right. I took out the small steering PCB and cleaned it up really good. The steering worked fine for a few games and then it started working intermittently and sometimes not going either direction. When I switch the games to test mode everything checks out ok but occasional whichever way you turn the wheel the numbers will only go 1 direction. Can anyone tell me what they think is wrong with the steering and how it can be fixed? I am taking a guess that I need to buy a steering PCB? Does anyone have any of these for sale? Any information besides making a fire out of the game would be appreciated. I have already heard how much trouble Pole's can be.
 
That sounds like a bad connection, try reseating the edge connector on the board set.. if it continues test the wiring with a meter from the edge connection to the optic board.
 
It does sound like the optic board, only boards i've seen for sale are already attached to steering wheels on ebay.
 
It's possible you have a bad opto, maybe a broken leg or bad solder. It could be a bad solder joint on the pins on the opto board connector or compressed pins in the harness connector.
But something I wouldn't rule out is the nylon gears that couple the steering wheel to the encoder shaft.
If the flange bearing or the encoder bearing are worn the gears may be skipping teeth and will appear to act like an intermittent encoder. Also check that the screws that hold the gear and encoder wheel are tight... if they are loose it will tighten as you turn the wheel one way and the encoder will work, and loosen when you turn the wheel the opposite way and the encoder will miss, or maybe not work at all.
 
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