2 Mariners, one an ‘88 150 and the other a ‘95 40 and both have the push key system. I have always pushed the key as I turned the key. Is the40 of the type that should be enriched before starting? Never been told anything different. The 40 also has to have throttle raised a little after a few hours and gone cold. Y’all are educating me, don’t mean to hijack.
Creativity is just intelligence fooling around
I don't know about Mariners, but 80s Mercs just had a solenoid that closes the choke butterflies when you push the key.
You can push it before or while cranking, doesn't really make any difference. I usually turn the key on, push in, listen for the click of the solenoid, crank, and release the choke as soon as it starts.
These also have a little knob under the cowl that you can pull to manually engage the choke, should an electrical fault occur.
It's easy enough to tell, pull the airbox cover off and look down the carb throats. If it does not have choke butterflies, then it has an enrichener setup.