push button start

[bruceb58]

Every GM engine made has a solenoid on top of the starter that draws the same current. The slave solenoid only has to drive it. If it is failing, your solenoid on your starter is bad.

 

[Fed]

I bought a boat that had a push button start by the PO as an added extra to bypass the shift interrupt when it wouldn't pull out of gear.
We'd just picked up the boat and were moving it to a different location, finished up stuck a few miles off the coast until we tried the button.
With us being new to Mercruisers it didn't make any sense until later when we figured out the gummed up cables & shift interrupt system.