94 Yamaha electrical issue

[mike55]

1994 75hp outboard. Motor ran great all weekend. Then all of a sudden, went to start it and nothing (Im assuming was not getting any electrical at all b/c not turning over, just dead). I checked all of the following:
kill switch
shift was in neutral
battery connections (all gages, etc were working so battery ok)

We took the motor cover off and turned the fly wheel by hand once or twice, then we wiggled the throttle and some wires just messing around. Then it fired right up. A couple of starts later and the problem came back again. We wiggled and it started again... This went on about 3x times until finally it had enough and no wiggling did anything at all. Simply not working at all now. Anybody have an idea of what I can check for ???? thanks in advance

[boats.net]

Make sure battery cable connections are clean and tight at engine end. May be a broken wire inside the main 10 pin harness that goes between engine and key switch.

[StrikeZone08]

If it had worked after wiggling the throttle lever, you may want to check the neutral safety switch in the throttle. It may just be sticking in need of a little TLC. The connectors on it may be corroded or dirty as well.

[mike55]

If it had worked after wiggling the throttle lever, you may want to check the neutral safety switch in the throttle. It may just be sticking in need of a little TLC. The connectors on it may be corroded or dirty as well.

Thanks for the suggestion. Are you talking about the throttle lever on the driver's console or in the motor itself? (sorry if I make no sense)

[StrikeZone08]

Thanks for the suggestion. Are you talking about the throttle lever on the driver's console or in the motor itself? (sorry if I make no sense)

The drivers console. There is a little switch the lever engages to ensure the throttle is in neutral when you try to start the motor. If it's not enaged/making contact, the engine won't start or even turn over, as there will be no power to the ignition. You can probably find the illustrated diagram for your throttle system online.

[mike55]

I'll try that and post back, thanks for the input.

[mike55]

How do I get to the neutral safety switch please? Do I access it through the top of the control box or do I go through the backside of it (under my center console). I think I've isolated something if this makes any sense -- in the back of the control box from inside the console there are two cables that go into the back of the box. When I wiggle the lower cable the problem corrects (this "lower cable" is actually the upper cable since the remote box had to be mounted upside down in order to fit on the face of the console.)

Anybody got any thoughts?

[rodbolt17]

can you post a picture, we dont know if its a 704,703,701 or 6x3 box.
all come apart differently.
all the neutral safty switch does is break the starter circuit(brown wire) to prevent the starter engaging if its in gear( switch open).
if the switch fails,the linkage is out of adjustment or a wire connection corrodes, switch circuit is open and no key starting.
however you will still have power to the ign, thats why the gauges power up.

[mike55]

I'll get over there and snap some pics yes, thanks. Also how do you post pics on this site do I need to have them hosted somewhere and then post the url?

[99yam40]

drop down to the Additional Options below the Reply to thread section

and then click on Manage Attachments

You can down load from your computer or URL
just keep them to the size listed