hi! i have a 1984 baja force 250. i have had it for 15 + years. it has a 427 trk engine bored and stroked= 496 cu in.it runs great! this year i put in two new batterys. when i turn the key to --start, i hear a click at my selinoid on the moter,near the 60 amp reset switch. nothing at the starter. i replaced the selionoid on the starter ( did this regulary ). it starts easy if i jump it with a screw driver at the starter. my new key ,a craftsman screw driver.i tried to jumper the key switch-nothing. any ideas ? thanks!!!!!

Neutral safety switch would be my guess. Mine did the same thing with an old single lever quicksilver shifter/throttle and I would just hold the key to start and jiggle the handle a little front to back and bingo, crank right over. I just replaced it with a dual lever zero effort shifter today that I've had lying around for over a year, no more problems!

There should be a Slave Solenoid before the starter solenoid and thats probably what you hear clicking.

I would not suggest the screwdriver method with a boat. If you have any fuel vapor in the bilge............BOOM!

That could be it too, I forgot about that...

if he is crossing it with a screw driver the hatch is open and ventalated pretty well at that point.....

check your engine ground. the one that goes from the battery to the block. make sure it is not rusted or corroded. nevermind see it jumps with screwdriver.

If youre able to jump with a screwdriver your ground is fine. There should be two small lugs on your starter solonoid. your small "exciter" wire hooks to one of them. somtimes theyre wired differently inside. try switching the "exciter" wire to the other lug.

Not to take this thread off subject, but having the hatch up doesn't necesarly mean you are safe. If you will notice your blower hose runs (or should) run to the bottom of your bilge. This is becasue gasoline fumes are heavier than air. Opening or raising your engine hatch will not evacuate gasoline fumes from a bilge... If a gas leak (or fumes) were present and a spark fell into the bilge it could cause an explosion. Again, I am not trying to be Debbie Downer here but it only takes 1 spark to casue a really bad day...

You took the words right out of my mouth. Well said. The enemy is below - not up near the hatch. I can't tell you how many people believe that opening their engine hatch is all they need to do though. Sometimes opening the hatch actually worsens the problem - like when the vapor / air mixture is actually too rich to light off.