Suzuki DF50 won't crank (bad neutral safety switch) then won't go over 3000 RPM

I just wanted to post a thread so that maybe the next guy doesn't have to learn things the hard way, like I did.

For starters, my 2002 Suzuki DF50 (which ran fine for years) just wouldn't crank. I didn't get any error lamps or beeps. Long story short, the threaded portion of the neutral safety switch had broken, so the ECU thought that the engine was in gear all the time, preventing the starter from being engaged.

Instead of replacing the neutral safety switch, I thought I would just 'fool' it into thinking it was in neutral by removing the switch and just jumping the two terminals in the connector. While that allowed me to start the engine, I had a new problem.

With the ECU thinking the engine was in neutral, it wouldn't let the RPM's rise over 3,000.

Again, I hope that anyone else with either of these two conditions finds this thread and saves some troubleshooting time.

By the way, replacing the neutral safety switch is a little tricky. You don't have a lot of room to work. But the switch is cheap.

Re: Suzuki DF50 won't crank (bad neutral safety switch) then won't go over 3000 RPM

Thanks for sharing this. I have a 2007 DF50 with 540 hours of freshwater use on it and for the first time ever, it let me down badly a couple of days ago. With no sign of trouble at all, on a recent fishing trip I put the selector in neutral, the engine died, and I haven?t been able to get a thing out of it since. Turning the key, I get the usual beep, the rev counter indicates the hours of running time, and the fuel pumps starts up. Turning it further...nothing, except the noise of the fuel pump again. Being stuck up a small river a long way from anywhere, I took off the flyweel cover and tried to start it manually (after I checked the two fuses - 1x10amp and 1x30amp - both okay). The engine turned fine, but it will NOT fire up. You said that your neutral safety switch broke, but do you know if that would also affect the manual start? I seem to remember somewhere that the manual start procedure overrides this... Any help appreciated, before I take it to the one service guy in Manaus (who quite possibly knows less than me and is quite capable of making things worse unless I can steer him in the right direction (for example he doesn?t have the correct cable to hook up the DF50 to a computer - oh joy...)).

Thanks!
(Oh, and I had to paddle for seven straight hours to get to the nearest civilisation, and then get a tow back the 80 miles to my marina - I think I?ll be investing in a back-up 2-stroke now

Re: Suzuki DF50 won't crank (bad neutral safety switch) then won't go over 3000 RPM

I don't have my manual in front of me, but I tend to think it would not affect the manual start process.

My suggestion is to 'fool' the system like I did by jumping the two terminals in the neutral safety switch. Of course if it starts, you'll be limited to 3,000 RPM. But at least you'll know what the problem is.

Cheers

Re: Suzuki DF50 won't crank (bad neutral safety switch) then won't go over 3000 RPM

The same thing goes for the DF 115 and 140