2013 Mercury 4hp starter balky

[Celtic Breeze]

The problem I've been having is the starter cord suddenly stops when I go to pull start. Was told by tech to slow cycle the cord out than pull start.. that didn't work .. I looked under the hood. The shift linkage rod rattled a little when I tried to start it. I held it steady and it pulled almost normal. I'm now thinking the shift linkage is not adjusted right. Has anyone had experience with this..

 

[km1125]

Yes, it sounds like that "neural start" linkage is not adjusted correctly, and the motor thinks it's in F or R and not fully in N