Mercury 25 hp wont start in neutral but wont move?

Well was a good start to the opener. My new 25 hp Mercury would not start. it was locked in neutral cant pull the rope or start it after a long and I mean long time shifting the handle/shifter from neutral to forward finally got it to start did this 2 times this weekend scary on the windy side of a lake trying to get back anyway. It’s under warranty but is this a neutral safety switch or possibly a linkage adjustment? I just hope I’m not down for a long time. Never had an issue yet this is it’s 48th trip of the season. Thanks

Sounds like the neutral safety switch is out of adjustment.

Pop your cowl and take a look. It should be a pretty easy fix at home if it’s the culprit.

take the cowl off and look around the flywheel area, there will be a plastic arm that engages the flywheel to prevent starting in gear.
I would bet the linkage has come apart for some reason, it may be as simple as hooking it back up.
that locking arm is spring loaded to help pull it into the flywheel.
if you disable it to get going again keep in mind you will be able to start in gear now and can have an accident that may not end well, do so at your own risk.

Is the throttle turned down to idle?

Heck do like I did on my Merc and unhook all safety stuff I like my motor to start in forward or reverse. Never know when your gonna scratch someone and it needs to start and move NOW!! LOL

Agree with iowaboy, should be an easy fix.

Question/tip for you. Do you always put in neutral before hitting the kill switch? If not, get in the habit of switch to neutral before killing the motor. That way you never hit the stat button while in gear.

-J.

Brought it in today. everything under the flywheel I could not see. I always put in neutral before shutting off. They said I should have it back soon. What is odd when it’s working normal you cannot shift into forward motor not running. When it wont start I can can shift forward to neutral all the time must be something not right. Hey thanks for all the help sure hope this does not sour me on this Mercury but it sounds fairly minor I hope.

Got it back today they said the cable was not adjusted correctly. To much slop. Hope it’s fixed. Little concerned they said occasionally they need readjusting the shift is in the handle.