estd2 scans twice, selects nothing

ok im a pinball guy but a friend pleaded with me to see what i could
do!

its an seeburg estd2, i have followed the guide which describes the
problem, i have tried setting the selections all on with the 1.5v
battery and nothing gets picked up.
when i unplug the RCA connector it will start playing a record when i
reconnect, so i assume its not the "sense" bit, also when i tie/bridge
the read out load/ trip relay on the test strip of the DEC controller
it will pick up each record and play it normally as suggested, it does
not miss any nor does it have any issues loading playing or rejecting
the current selection.
so im assuming that the pulse to the tormat to select is not
happening?

the keypad obviously works because it scans when a valid selection is
entered, or is this flawed thinking?

any hints/tips