Morse throttle

I Recently replaced my Velvet Drive transmission. In the process I reset the linkage and tightened the Morse throttle. By tighten, I mean the mounting was loose(the screws would not hold in the fiberglass, I drilled the mounting holes out and used larger diameter stainless screws.

Now the boat won't start!

The gauges and accessories work but no response from the starter when I turn the key. I know it is the Morse unit because after over an hour of troubleshooting I discovered that wiggling the Morse lever and/or leaving the pin out sometimes lets me start it. There is obviously some kind of saftey override in there that is messed up. When I replaced the mounting screws it looked like it would be hard to remove the unit.

have you checked that the linkage is set in true neutral when the morse lever is in neutral position?

there's nothing in the morse unit that would prevent the starter from engaging....sounds like the tranny isn't in neutral. take the cotter pin out and move the tranny lever by hand to find neutral, then try starting. if that works, you just need to adjust the cable a little.

good to hear you got that transmission swapped out so quickly, how bad was it?

Thanks Salty87,
I was told there is an electrical connection from the Morse Unit ("yellow wires") I have also been told they are difficult to get at. I actually learned to wiggle the throttle from a "90 Mariah owner who has the same problem. Its just a kind of latteral vibration, it doesn't affect the transmission detent.

I bought a new velvet drive from DIM. The local I/O mechanic put it in for me and did a great job, except he put the water pump in backward. My son drove the boat for about 20 minutes (with the engine alarm screaming over the stereo) he stopped when he saw smoke comming out of the engine cover. He said he heard "pinging" and "cracking" noises. We put a new impeller in and it runs fine! (I don't know why the mechanic took out the water pump to replace the transmission)