I have a 2000 Evinrude FICHT RAM injection 150hp engine that won't start in neutral. It will start in gear. I bought the boat and engines in March 2011 and drove the boat 90 miles to the island I live on. I had an Evinrude mechanic check the engines before I bought it; everything seemed fine. The engines both started in neutral at the start of this long trip. After about 75 miles, one of the engines cut out and we couldn't get it started again, so came the rest of the way on only one engine. Since then it has not started in neutral. I live on a really small island in the Caribbean with no real access to trained mechanics unless we fly one out. I have disconnected the neutral switch but it made no difference. I have also been told it 'may' be the stator that needs replacing although I'm not sure about this as I don't understand why it would start in gear and run if the stator was gone. A new stator will cost around $500 to buy so I really don't want to buy it unless I know that this is the problem. I have had an Evinrude mechanic run a computer diagnostic on the engine - nothing came up. He was the one who suggested the stator but was not really sure if that was the issue. Unfortunately he was on island checking someone else's engines and didn't have much time to spend with mine. I really think this is a simple problem, anyone out there have any ideas???
