Stuck in neutral - then won't start - neutral safety switch?

[Sunnfun1234]

This past weekend, had my 2014 R20 out and after changing riders, the engine was still running, but transmission would not shift out of neutral. Engine revved up when you moved the throttle in forward or reverse, but transmission was stuck in neutral. I shut off the engine and tried to restart, but then the engine wouldn't turn over at all. After 10 minutes of poking around (I was checking for loose connections, blown fuses etc) - turned the key and it started right up. Drove to the dock, shut it off and started it back up a half dozen times, no problem. Ok, must be a fluke. Go back out, an hour later, same thing - engine running, but transmission won't shift into gear. Turn the engine off, now it won't start (nothing when you turn the key). After about 20 minutes, turn the key and it fires right up. Could this be the neutral safety switch? Where do I find that on the 2014 R20?

I tried to talk with my local Tige dealer, but they don't seem very knowledgeable, tried to tell me it was a transmission problem and couldn't even confirm my boat had a neautral safety switch, much less where it was located. Any help on this would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

[KoolAid]

Its built into the shifter internally. Check you connection on the shifter first. I believe the 2014 had two separate connections, one for throttle and the other for shifting.

[Thegerman618]

give your trans fluid level a check as well, just to be safe.

[Sunnfun1234]

Thanks for the responses - are you saying there is a neutral safety switch inside the throttle module? Or are you just saying I should check the wiring connections inside of it? I'll take it apart and see what I can find.

I don't see how the tranny fluid level would prevent the motor starter from engaging. I would think it has to be some sort of relay or sensor that is preventing the signal - and in both cases (tranny not shifting into gear when it should, and motor not turning over after it's been turned off) it seems linked to the transmission improperly recognizing neutral, I wouldn't think it could be the solenoid on the starter, it has to be something that recognizes the throttle position. I'll check the level anyway, as you say, just to be safe.

[freeheel4life]

If you can post some pics of trans to see if it is solenoid shifted or mechanically shifted that would help. I am betting its mechanically shifted and drive by wire. PCM 343??

IF it mechanically shifted I would start by checking shift linkage at trans and throttle handle. If its mechanical and you can get the problem to replicate I would then lift the floor and have one guy manually try to move shift lever while the other tries to start the boat. If you feel the shift lever click into its neutral detent and boat starts then I would say your shift cable isn't allowing your shift lever at trans to move to exactly neutral. If you manually move shift lever and never feel it "click" into neutral then most likely the spring loaded detent switch at trans has failed.
If its solenoid shifted its a whole nother ball of wax. Keep posting

[KoolAid]

You should check externally, ie the plug out of the shifter.
The neutral safety switch is inside the shifter mechanism. Mechanical switch goes to a relay that sends power down the shifter harness. I think it can only be tested while powered up. Let me see what I can find out. I'm still unclear on what the ECM see's to allow the engine to start considering the engine has no idea what "gear" the transmission is in. It just trusts the shifter to tell it lol.

[freeheel4life]

Pretty sure it will be yellow and red start circuit wire at switch on trans. Just creates an open in S circuit. Can't remember if it is pre starter relay or post. Believe it's pre as it's a smaller gauge yellow and red than that the starter S terminal IIRC.
Easy enough to test in place if no start condition can be re-created. Test for voltage at both sides of switch at trans. If it is open you will see 12v on one of the little Phillips screws that holds ring terminal on and not see 12v on the other. If it's closed you will see 12v thru the switch. All of this has to be done while attempting to crank at ignition switch. If switch is stuck open it's pretty easy to jump it.

[KoolAid]

2014 would be Indmar but it being an R20 is could be shift by cable. If its shift by wire you can jumper the yellow/black and black wires at the transmission. It has a cap on them to keep them from being exposed. Its the old neutral safety switch wires for the mechanical shift assembly. Just jump a wire across the two wires and if it starts, you have a shifter assembly/shifter plug issue.

[Sunnfun1234]

It's of course starting just fine right now - it seems like it has to be running awhile. I will take it out again this weekend. I took a couple of pictures of the transmission - it must be all electronic, I find no throttle cable and nothing is moving when I move the throttle position.Transmission 2.jpg

[Sunnfun1234]

Transmission.jpg

[Sunnfun1234]

This is the only unterminated wires I can find around the transmission. DSCN1937.jpg

[freeheel4life]

Good call Koolaid. Have yet to see a solenoid fail on these units. Have you seen any?? Indmar sent us out some spool valves and wanted us to switch em out on some boats that we had in stock a while back. Was on some Raptors though, but I do seem to remember something about an internal change to the spool valve. The new ones also didn't have the manual forward engagement knob either. You have any of the same??
Wondering if the spring isn't centering spool valve when trans is heating up as he says it's after running a while and was able to restart after it cooled down?

Sunnfunn,
Just a heads up, your FIRST pic is v drive not trans. Trans is next unit towards stern. You can see it in your second pic. Koolaid steered you straight. Keep us updated please.

[Sunnfun1234]

So I had it out all day today, full ballast, 5 riders, plenty of stops and starts, no problems all day. Strange. I don't know if that's a good thing, or just a problem lying in wait for a less opportune time to show itself again.

[h2osk8er00]

So I had it out all day today, full ballast, 5 riders, plenty of stops and starts, no problems all day. Strange. I don't know if that's a good thing, or just a problem lying in wait for a less opportune time to show itself again.

Story of all our lives... sounds like a loose connection possibly... sometimes an easy fix but difficult to track down depending on the boat! Glad to hear all went well though! I tend to keep my boat more often than I want when I fear it may not start again... Let us know if she gets fussy again and what the diagnosis is brotha!

[Sunnfun1234]

UPDATE: After running fine for the beginning of the summer, the problem re-occurred today. Motor still running, but won't shift into gear. Shut off the motor, try to restart, and nothing, no clicks, no cranking, nothing. Followed the instructions mentioned above by KoolAid (jumping the capped wires, they were even conveniently labeled NEUTRAL SAFETY) and the motor then indeed did start, but I was still unable to shift into any gear, the motor only revved up. Ended up getting a tow home after waiting an hour to flag someone down. I've checked all the plugs and connections around the throttle module and everything looks fine. I'll be replacing the entire throttle assembly now (Livorsi EECPCS5026, Tige Part Number C3024) - just thought maybe this would be helpful to someone else. I'll keep you posted if that solves the problem.