Yamaha F20LPA 2017 Tiller drive electric start with power tilt

by Bob C
(Youngstown, Ohio)

Recent intermittent problem with starting. Motor has been running fine, no issues last time out.
Got to the dock, hit the start button, nothing. Absolutely nothing.
Power tilt worked. Battery fully charged and actually new this spring. Moved forward-neutral-reverse shifter several times. Still nothing.
Dead man switch hooked up properly.
Raised tiller, reached under and touched wires running back into the wiring trough. Motor did engage with start button. Started 4-5 times at the dock. Decided to try it, but stay close to the dock. Motor ran fine.
Stopped and started the motor 3-4 times on the water, then it would not start again, even after another 12-15 attempts.
Came in on trolling motor. After getting home, tried it several times again. Did not engage one time. Pulled boat into garage.
Called dealer and made arrangements to drop boat off in the morning.
Upon pulling the boat out and hooking up the trailer, tried the start button again and it engaged 4-5 times, every time I tried it. I did absolutely nothing else from the day before except try the start button.
Upon getting to the dealer, it again engaged and did not fail in the several times we tried it.
Frankly I'm afraid they won't be able to find the problem and I'll pick it up and I don't have confidence taking it too far from the dock.
Motor is still under an extended warranty, so I prefer the authorized dealer to handle this, but I didn't get a warm fuzzy feeling from him.
Has anyone run into a similar intermittent problem?