2004 F200 - will not engage

[asundberg1]

HeI have a 2004 Yamaha F200, really well maintained with less than 400 hours. I cant seem to get it started from the key. When i turn the key I can hear the fuel pump engage, but when turning the key nothing...

There is plenty of power to the motor - cleaned and checked all leads and grounds from battery, batteries still good, all fuses checked and good, getting full power to the battery....any ideas on what the problem could be? I appreciate anyone's ideas - thanks!

[ausnoelm]

Probably do the really easy first, try "jiggling" the control lever to make sure it's in neutral.

[fairdeal]

Here's how things should go -

when you turn the key to "start" you are connecting power to the brown wire
- you know you have power in the keyswitch, because it is being sent at key on to run the pump

the power in the brown wire must then pass through the neutral switch inside the shift/throttle lever
- as noel suggests, that switch may be "open"

with the neutral switch properly closed, the power travels through the brown wire to the engine, where it energizes the coil of the electromagnetic starting switch
- since you do not report hearing this switch "click" - either the power has not made it there, or the coil is bad

[TownsendsFJR1300]

with the neutral switch properly closed, the power travels through the brown wire to the engine, where it energizes the coil of the electromagnetic starting switch
- since you do not report hearing this switch "click" - either the power has not made it there, or the coil is bad

This ^^^... You should hear a click at the starter relay. The contacts INSIDE the relay do wear out.

Mine was failing with less hours than yours. The coil worked fine (which makes the click), but the contact points inside that pass current, not so much.

You can jump the starter relay to test, or test with multi-meter, see if 12+ volts IS passing thru the relay to the starter.


Pic of my arced up contact (after I pulled it apart):