Adjust Mercruiser Alpha 1 Stern Drive Shift Linkage

How to check and adjust Mercruiser Alpha1 stern drive shift system:  My 2018 Mercruiser 4.5 Liter Alpha 1 has a problem shifting out of reverse, where it will not always disengage and come to neutral.  Sometimes it hangs in reverse and stalls the engine.  I will go through the process of checking the shift cable for lash and travel, intermediate stern drive cable lash and adjustment, adjusting the shift interrupt switch, and making the final cable adjustment. My boat is in the water for this investigation, so I am making adjustments and testing with my boat partially suspended on my boat hoist and the engine running. Caution: Testing in the water like this requires special care for safety to be sure that the boat is either secured so that it can't move, or that there is someone to assist if testing out on the open water.  I am testing using my boat hoist, but I must be sure that the  hoist is strong enough to take the stress of running in gear so that it isn't damaged.

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