I've been trying to diagnose an intermittent starting issue on the Merc 470 in my 1980 Glasply. From time to time I'll turn the key and the gages will work but the starter won't fire. I read Don's great post about tracing the problem but my "reality" doesn't match the diagrams. The starter on my engine doesn't appear to have a solenoid attached to it. It's a single round cylinder. There is a solenoid mounted to the block just forward of the starter. Would this be the starter solenoid or the slave solenoid? It has a yellow/red wire that goes into the wiring harness to the harness plug but I don't see another solenoid along the path or in the area of the harness plug and circuit breaker. BTW when I jump between the red and yel/red on the solenoid I know of, the starter does crank when the problem is occurring. Is it possible that this would be the original configuration (one solenoid) or perhaps someone removed the slave? Or am I missing something else? There's no obvious signs that the wiring harness was butchered. There are two wires along the way that exit and return to/from a safety switch on the shift linkage, which begs another question. Are there typically two neutral safety switches, one on the linkage and one inside the trottle/remote control body? Many thanks for any help you can provide.
