I have a 2005 yamaha 90tlr and was out this evening and all of a sudden it was getting no power when trying to start.
Checked all the basics and could figure nothing out. Battery had plenty of power. I assumed it was a bad kill switch or ignition switch. Took off the plate holding the switch and examined connections and still nothing. Got my brother in law to come out and tow me in. We attempted a jump just to make sure and that did nothing as well.
When he was towing me in when the engine had no power I pushed the throttle out of neutral and forward into drive. I heard the engine or prop engaging and doing something which was new to me considering it had no power. I then moved the throttle back to neutral and it started right up.
It will start right up now. I am at a loss because I have no idea what it is. It happened one time previously and I fiddled with the throttle and it started right up.
Any ideas or previous experiences would be appreciated.
Thanks for the responses. It definitely sounds like the neutral safety switch could be it.
Ran some tests at the dock this morning. In nearly 100% of the instances, if I attempted to start in drive and then pulled back to neutral and attempted to start it would not. This could be corrected 100% of the time by pulling the throttle back into reverse and returning to neutral.
I think when I went to crank last night it could have been pushed slightly forward as I was moving forward at idle speed before cutting it off.
Would this be an easy fix or something to take in to a professional? Any other thoughts about if this is the issue would be appreciated. Thank you.
I vote neutral safety switch as the most likely cause
however the motor starting so easily after you put it in gear while being towed would be like push starting a car and poping the clutch
the water pressure on the prop could turn the engine over and if the keyswitch was on it would start
Had similar issue with my neutral safety on same motor. Look at linkage starboard side of motor. It has a little nut to adjust the tension on the shifter. Mine has loosened enough that it was fooling the safety into thinking it was in gear. A few turns of the wrench and I was back in business. Hope yours is as easy.