I got bored waiting on parts for a BM3000 and thought I would give this another look.
It would seem that Premiumverum and I encountered the exact same problem with the same turntable, at the same time, half a world away. It was his thread that lead me to a resolution to it all.
It seems the piston inside the coils can lock up over time which was what I and Premiumverum were both experiencing. We also both started out with blown fuses. Strange but true.
Reading his thread I came upon a post by Yachadm (Menahem) who had experienced similar problem and using his guidelines I was able to extract the piston (in 3 pieces) and using some kind of liquid nails adhesive put it back together discardeing the middle magnet carriage section that appeared warped anyway.
The process required a a little filing, a little silicon spray, a tiny bit of heat resistant teflon jelly and a whole lot of patience just to allow everything to set up and dry. About 24-30 hrs total.
Now it starts right up track over and drops in place. lifts glides everything is as it should be.
The "Partridge Families Greatest Hits", never sounded so awful. I seriously need to replace the stylus (cartridge). Set at 1.2 g for MMC4 it is almost inaudible. Set at 1.8 + I can hear it but it sounds terrible.
Oh well, off to Soundsmith I go at some point, but I am relieved it is fixed.
The forums do work !!!