check the resistance on the directional contactor coils
the one with the highest resistance is probably causing the slight delay in the actuation.
it also could be a worn armature in the contactor causing the drag and delay.
in either case the contactor will need to be replaced.

and on another note, as long as i've worked on crown lifts they have been fairly consistent in the addition of a suppressor of some sort on the contactor coils, usually they are a small square black plastic block that mounts in between the terminals of the coil. When the wires are disconnected sometimes they can fall out of place and get lost... i would check all the contactors and see... if some have them and some don't then someone did not put them back in place if the contactor was replaced in the past. If none of them are there it might be possible crown has stopped using them. If you have access to a parts manual they should be shown in the breakdown if they are supposed to be present on the circuit/coil.