BEEP - will not start - 1995 40 2stoke Merc

[itbharsh]

Took my "new 2 me" boat out tonight (1995 Tracker Magna 17 Tiller) and all was great until I decided in the middle of the lake to shut off the motor to test the trolling motor. Anyway, the trolling motor ran great, but I could not even get the 1995 40hp 2stroke Mercury to even attempt to start. All that would happen was that when I would turn the key on the quicksilver ignition it would beep once when passing through the aux position. That’s it, like I said the motor would do nothing.

Things I checked and checked a re-checked were:
1. Made sure it was in neutral
2. Made sure the kill was not tripped
3. Made sure the throttle was in start position

I also took the positive battery cable off for a minute or so to see if something electronic needed to reset.

I'm a total boat noob, so I know I’m probably overlooking something that should be totally obvious. I would appreciate any help as I would like to get back on the water first think tomorrow this time with fishing rod in hand.

 

[itbharsh]

Re: BEEP - will not start - 1995 40 2stoke Merc

Took boat out again today. Started right up. Took it out and toured the entire lake. Came back to dock and shut it off. Tried to re-start. NOTHING!

Playing around with everything I held the shifter and moved it slightly forward and backward from neutral while turning the key and YEAH!!! VROOOMMMMM! It appears that even though there is a neutral notch where the shifter sits i had to remove it from the notch and place the shifter in between neutral and reverse. Problem solved. Had a great day on the lake.

Is there a way to adjust so that it will start all the time when in the neutral notch? Is this shifter misalignment a bigger problem than just annoying?