If you have a 4-switch model like the one shown here, and you're not afraid to open it up and look inside, then there's a couple of things you can check out. Referring to step 9 of the teardown, I believe the player 1 jack is on the left side. According to the joystick pinout, pin 3 (middle in the row of 5) corresponds to the left direction. If you trace the pin from the jack, it goes by capacitor C229 before going to a pin on the 6532 IO chip. (In step 10, where you can follow the trace, the jack is on the right side.)
So one thing to check is if C229 is shorted out. Another thing to check is to follow the trace from the jack to the chip and see if it's somehow grounded, perhaps by something having fallen inside. Look inside the jack as well.
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If neither of those is the case, then you probably need to replace the 6532 chip. Of course,the main source for those is from another Atari 2600. Good luck!
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If neither of those is the case, then you probably need to replace the 6532 chip. You can still buy these from Jameco Electronics!
If you have a 4-switch model like the one shown here, and you're not afraid to open it up and look inside, then there's a couple of things you can check out. Referring to step 9 of the teardown, I believe the player 1 jack is on the left side. According to the joystick pinout, pin 3 (middle in the row of 5) corresponds to the left direction. If you trace the pin from the jack, it goes by capacitor C229 before going to a pin on the 6532 IO chip. (In step 10, where you can follow the trace, the jack is on the right side.)
So one thing to check is if C229 is shorted out. Another thing to check is to follow the trace from the jack to the chip and see if it's somehow grounded, perhaps by something having fallen inside. Look inside the jack as well.
If neither of those is the case, then you probably need to replace the 6532 chip. Of course, the main source for those is from another Atari 2600. Good luck!