you can hot wire the ignition. I do not know about damage from
running. You can run a outboard for a few seconds with out any damage
but, jet drives may present a different problem.

Rick

Tom wrote:

Is it possible to start a boat engine without the key? The boat is a
1998 Sea Rayder with a Mercury 175hp jet drive.

I sold the boat two years ago. The person that purchased the boat from
me didn't register it and the boat is now in an impound yard. It is
mine if I pay the fees to get it out. The most important item I want to
check is the engine but I don't have a key and I won't know if there is
one on the boat until I pay my $40 to look at the boat in person.

The key/throttle is the standard type you would see on any of the Sea
Ray boats. If it helps, as I recall the top of the shifter is a 1" dia
ball and to shift into forward or reverse you lift a funnel shaped
washer located under the ball.

Also, if there isn't any water available for running the engine, will
only the water pump impeller be destroyed if I run the engine for a few
seconds?