The bat wobbles relative to the pawl.
Sloppy Gottlieb flipper: worn shaft and shoe joint
Cause: On original Gottlieb shafts the shoe under the bat is a separate part, and the slot where it meets the shaft wears.
Checks
- Look for movement between shaft and shoe.
Fix
- Replace the flipper shaft (A-6888).
Systems
Related tips
- Sloppy zipper flippers: worn base plate slots and bushings
- Gottlieb EM flipper rebuild parts
- Stronger flipper coils for Gottlieb EMs
- Gottlieb large flipper coils by wrapper colour
- Gottlieb flipper coil windings (power/hold)
- Gottlieb yellow-dot A-5141 flipper coils
- Gottlieb high-power "yellow dot" flipper coils
- Gottlieb and post-1962 Williams EM flipper coil strengths (30 V)
Source: Repairing Electro-Mechanical (EM) Coin Operated Games to 1978, Part Two, Clay Harrell (pinrepair.com)