2007 Speedster Neutral Switch

[Banditgrrr]

I just purchased a 2007 Speedster. I was on the lake over the weekend and had issued with the boat starting. I just put in 2 brand new Optima blue's so I knew it wasn't the batteries. I had the boat in neutral and I would hear 4 beeps. Sometimes I would hear 2 and sometimes I would hear 4. After looking through the operator manual, 2 is normal and 4 indicates the boat is not in neutral. I would move the shift lever around and it had to be in a VERY specific position in order to start. I'm planning on taking the shifting lever assy out and see if I can either bypass that neutral switch or find out why it's not working correctly. I'm assuming it's two wires with a "normally open" contact and the switch shorts when in neutral? Just wondering if I tie the two wires together, the boat should start regardless of the postion of the shifting lever?

 

[JPass]

I just purchased a 2007 Speedster. I was on the lake over the weekend and had issued with the boat starting. I just put in 2 brand new Optima blue's so I knew it wasn't the batteries. I had the boat in neutral and I would hear 4 beeps. Sometimes I would hear 2 and sometimes I would hear 4. After looking through the operator manual, 2 is normal and 4 indicates the boat is not in neutral. I would move the shift lever around and it had to be in a VERY specific position in order to start. I'm planning on taking the shifting lever assy out and see if I can either bypass that neutral switch or find out why it's not working correctly. I'm assuming it's two wires with a "normally open" contact and the switch shorts when in neutral? Just wondering if I tie the two wires together, the boat should start regardless of the postion of the shifting lever?

Connecting the wires coming into and out of the switch should bypass the switch all together. I don't recommend doing this as a permanent fix, but it will help to diagnose the switch as the culprit.

 

[Banditgrrr]

Thank you for the advice. I figured this was just the easiest way to test if the neutral switch is the problem, and if it is, I will replace it. Now the difficulty is how to access it. There's 4 phillips screws holding in the plastic shift lever. I remove those 4 screws and there's 4 more underneath it holding in the shift assembly. I cannot get those 4 screws to budge. I'm assuming someone used Loc Tite red when they put them in. I just looked at a video on how to remove Loc Tite red and it shows to use heat. The problem is, I don't know how to heat up that screw to get it hot enough where I'm not going to melt all the plastic around it. Any suggestions? I want to avoid stripping the phillips head if I can.

 

[JPass]

Not sure how sturdy everything is where you need to work, but a great tool for freeing up stuck screws is a hand impact driver. You simply set the direction of the drive, then smash the back of the handle with a mallet. The driver will shock the screw and turn it at the same time. Always worked like a champ for me.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Og0wilzMtXY

 

[Banditgrrr]

I just wanted to follow up on this thread for anyone else having the same problem. Those 4 screws were nearly impossible to get out with out breaking them....which is exactly what I did. There is a small aluminum (or metal) bracket that is held in with 2 rivets on each side of the shifter. I drilled out the rivets and was able to remove the aluminum pieces which made it easy to remove the broken screws. When I went to reassemble, I used two 3/16 x 1 1/2 inch screws with a lock washer and nut to put them back in place. I could not find the rivets anywhere locally so pan head machine screws seemed like the best option. It's now back in place and seems like it worked well.

As far as the neutral switch, it seems like it's working ok. As I held down the button, it would start without issue. Now I'm not sure if my problem is somewhere in the shifter not pressing the neutral switch all the way in so it would start or if it's somewhere else. I used electrical tape to tape the neutral switch in the "pressed position" and I'll test it on my next trip out to the lake.

 

[71cuda2]

Hi...I also had a problem starting my 2008 speedster, and removed the shifter too.
It wasn't my neutral switch either...as far as I can tell it ended up being the Key's
occasional 'misalignment' on the Dess post...

I hardly ever have a problem anymore...but taking the key off and rotating it about
90 degrees has always worked.

As for removing the shifter...WAPITA!!!

I ended up drilling out the screws under the cover...they were corroded SO BAD!!!

I ordered marine pop rivets off ebay, 1.25 inches long if I recall...

I riveted both the aluminum strips to the hull and the shifter to the strips...
now I only need to drill out the rivets if I need to look at it again...
no more corroded machined screws...

Good luck...