Re: Evinrude 35 hp control or electric maybe late 80s

[Don]

Don’t disassemble the control box, please post a picture of your control box, so I can see if it has the update kit on it. The warm up lever should have a black plastic snap/clamp/lever set up that mates up to the black plastic piece retained by the key switch. It is possible that these parts are in place, but broken.
In other words, you should not be able to pull up that warm up lever (with control box in neutral), unless you pull up on the black plastic locking lever…
But, once again, if your throttle cable is "preloaded", too tight, this can cause the warm up lever to pop up on its own as well…
As for the powerpack stop lead grounding test, yes you could get zapped. And, you really do need the special remover/installer tools to get the pack stop lead out of the black wire connector. You can check the powerpack ground though, and pull the big red plug apart to see if all the pins are straight and going into their mating sockets.
Again, post some pictures of your engine (with hood off), and the control box so we have a better idea about what year your engine is and which control box you are using…