Yamaha 704 throttle control issue

[4THEGIRLS]

Seems like something in the throttle box is funky on my boat. Sometimes when in neutral the engine won't fire, but I have power for GPS, bilge, livewell, etc. When I run the throttle through forward and reverse a few times and stop in neutral, it will fire right up. Runs fine once started. This is not an everyday thing, but has happened 2x now in the last few months. I have been told it is likely the neutral safety switch going bad. Batteries seem to be fine.

Thoughts?

[WoodieSC]

A similar thing happened to me years back on my 25HP Johnson and it was the neutral start switch, so that would be a good place to start your checks. Remove the switch and put a jumper across it and see if it will start in neutral or in gear. If so, change the switch. Fwiw, I keep a jumper in my boat tool box just for that purpose in case it goes out again.

[4THEGIRLS]

Good idea on keeping a jumper just in case.

[ecu1984]

what they said and some can be adjusted

[Palmetto Duck]

Throttle detent. There is a thread on The Hull Truth about same issue same throttle from 2005. Go there.

[willyworm]

Pretty sure if you're inside the throttle assembly, you can simply unplug the connections on the neutral switch and plug them together thus bypassing the switch. One should be male and the other female, so they should plug right in. Of course you'd have to keep it in mind that the motor would start with the motor in gear but it'll solve your problem if indeed the neutral switch is in fact bad.

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[turbo]

A neutral safety switch will leave you in a bad way at some point.

I bypass all of mine. One less thing to tear up. And, as long as you use the brain between your ears, there's very little risk.

[Palmetto Bug]

I saw a john boat with the neutral switch deactivate crank up in gear, throw everybody out of the boat and commence to running in circles wide open to try to kill them.

4thegirls, the switch will probably be under the engine cowling, not in the binnacle.

[Gone South]

The NSS switch is usually located at the shifter. It’s a detent switch, open in forward/reverse, closed in neutral. You can pull the 2 wires off and connect them together to bypass/test functionality. They are typically yellow w/ red tracer color. Goes from key switch, to the NSS, to the starter exciter wire.