A few things to try (obviously turn off caching / APC / compilation / minimization of JS, CSS, etc.):
Logs and Developer Mode
First, I would enable developer mode via .htaccess SetEnv or just uncomment the flag in index.php . Also make sure logging is enabled through Admin. System-> Configuration-> Developer-> Log Settings. Also check var/logs/ for any existing exception.log or system.log with possible problem information. Also does not interfere with checking the Apache and PHP logs.
Debugging Paypal and Magento
Something is noteworthy, since, obviously, Ebay has / has Magento support, the module is very configured, especially in the configuration, as you can tell. Some key files to go to something like XDebug:
app/code/core/Mage/Paypal/Model/Config.php and ..Paypal/Model/System/Config/* directories and files, as this is what controls some configurable module configuration parameters. etc / system.xml is also an entry point for viewing module configurations.
Return to stock
1) Copy from the new version of the Paypal module from the original Magento 1.7.x archive (make sure that you are using the same version as you!)
copy app/code/core/Mage/Paypal from the source archive
to app/code/local/Mage/Paypal
(NOTE: PaypalUk may also be good for copying to local.)
This should be a quick and easy way to check if there are any files that are damaged / damaged and / or kernel files that have been modified.
2) Cancel all themes / skins on the base/default theme. A quick way to do this is System-> Design-> Add Design Change.
3) Make a backup of core_config_data and delete all instances of path that contain paypal, payment and payflow.
SELECT * FROM core_config_data WHERE path LIKE '%paypal%' OR path LIKE '%payflow%' OR path LIKE '%payment%';
This should return any configuration changes previously made back to the default specified in the xml modules.
The point of most of these steps is to return the payment module to as many shares as possible.
Hope this helps!
Sonassi has a good detailed basics, and also for debugging purple dignity, which is worth reading: