Not on an outboard. The kill switch (plunger) normally springs in to kill the engine. You hold it out by sliding that black clip on the lanyard between the button of the plunger and the engine itself. (See post #8.) You attach the other end, the metal part, to yourself--your clothing, like a shirt sleeve. The idea is that if you somehow fall out of the dink with the outboard running the lanyard will pull out the black clip; the plunger springs in, and the engine is shut off. For two reasons. One--that a run-away dink with its engine at full throttle does not swing around and run over you. Two-with it stopped you can swim over to it and get back in. With the kill switch clip inserted you can push with your thumb the red plunger in far enough to kill the engine, and when you let go it will spring back out from the pressure of the (plastic) clip re-gaining its normal shape. If an outboard engine has the black clip inserted at the kill switch but with the (safety) lanyard removed it might appear to work as you describe.Not that I haven't done similar stuff, but on my
M25XP, the kill switch has a spring on it, so you
hold it to shut the engine off and then let it go and
it springs back. Isn't this common?
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