I’m looking at buying a 18′ Boat with a 2001 Mercury 125 Hp. This motor has the 2 plus 2 feature meaning it runs on 2 cylinders at low RPM and then swithes to 4 as the RPMs increase.
Is this a reliable motor?
Is the 2 plus 2 feature more trouble than its worth?
Thanks for any info on this type of motor.
Do you plan on pulling skiers or tubers? If so, I HAVE HEARD people having issues with this motor pulling skiers, etc. cause their is a hesitation when switching over. Otherwise I have not heard much on the motor 
I personally would keep looking, but that is my preference and opinion and Iam a die hard Mercury guy. I would vere more towards an Optimax if possible. 
I had one on an 1850 Sportfish (everything 01) it pulled me on a tube and skis 280LBS just fine we fished alot out of it as well and could get 1.7-1.9 (GPS) into wind or against current while pulling cranks could not get below 2.0 with wond or current due to big windshield use electric fpr crawlers motor caused no problems but I think you can get a lot better mileag with an opti or a 4 stroke good luck
2 different buddies have this motor. One is a 125, the other is a 115. Basically the same motor, just different carbs to get the hp……..
I personally am not a big fan of them. They are “cold blooded” and hard starting, even when they are “warmed up”.
They are basically the cheapest/lowest grade motor that Mercury produces.
It isn’t a bad motor, it is just a simple carb 2 stroke. They are not fuel efficient.
They do troll decent for running on “every other cylinder” under 2000 rpms and they will not load up with fuel. I’ve been in these boats with many, many, many hours of trolling and neither motor has never failed……..They are just cold blooded.
My opinion is that I would not buy this as a new motor for a boat, however if the price is right, I would consider buying it as a used motor. Just be aware that you should be able to buy it cheaper, because it is the cheapest motor made by Mercury……..However your resale will also suffer because it is a cheap motor……..
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Is this a reliable motor?
Is the 2 plus 2 feature more trouble than its worth?Thanks for any info on this type of motor.
I had a 100 HP 2+2 Mercury on a tiller Yar-Craft. They are an incredibly reliable motor. Mine was a little cold blooded but if you change out the plugs on the recommended schedule and use premium quality oil (amsoil worked particularly well) I was able to eliminate the cold-start issues on my particular motor. The 2+2 system does work VERY well to reduce trolling speeds and the switch-over RPM range, around 1800 – 2200 RPM if I remember correctly, basically amounted to a small stumble and subsequent surge in power as the other 2 cylinders kicked in and started to fire.
The negatives are they are horrible on fuel and oil. A day running around even at 2/3 throttle is going to hurt like heck at the gas pump at the end of the day. They’re smokey if you run low quality oil and they do smell to high heavens if you’re backtrolling into a breeze.
In short the 2+2 merc motor is a good motor based on older technology. It will run forever and provide good service on the water but you won’t get any of the advantages Direct Fuel Injection or EFI 4 strokers bring to the table. For the right price I would consider owning one again but it would have to be one heck of a deal in my favor.
Hope this helps.
I had a 125hp tiller on a Warrior 2090 BT Eagle boat and I liked the motor overall.
The motor was very reliable as James and Gary mentioned…The fuel and oil consumption…yep!
With mine, I had a dealer “sync and link” the carbs about once a season to get it to idle just right. After many hours, my motor would just start running a little rough every one in a while. Not bad, but noticeable. After they did this to the carbs, the motor ran awesome for the rest of the season. Keep the plugs changed and you should be a good shape. I agree with Gary, it would not be my first choice with all that is out there now, but would not hesitate to buy one on a used boat that you really like.
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