90s era Mercury 115/125 (2+4 ) for Seafari?

McGillicuddy · #1 12-02-2009, 01:32 AM

No 115 Etec or Optimax this Christmas so I'm still looking for the right blend of start-up cost, economy and performance from a used motor.

Still interested in the 2.0L and the 2.4L 150s but I wonder if any of you have experience with the carbed inline 4 115/125 hp from Mercury/Mariner. They idle around on 2 cylinders and at about 1800rpm they stumble up to 4 cyl and open up.

A guy trying to sell me one said that Merc made these for the bass circuit in that they could troll all day without loading-up and run wide open with decent performance. Weight varies from 325lbs in the early 90s to 368 in 96-97. Latter is not much less than the XR2, although 10 yrs newer...

Gov. Arnold's greenie army is trying hard to close much of our coastal fishing areas so fuel economy issue keeps creeping up my priority list as we'll be banned from fishing our most productive inshore grounds.

Any opinions on these 4 cyls?

Fr. Frank · #2 12-02-2009, 08:12 AM

Quote:

I wonder if any of you have experience with the carbed inline 4 115/125 hp from Mercury/Mariner.

Any opinions on these 4 cyls?

A friend had a 125 on the back of his 26' pontoon boat. It was a problem motor in that he lost compression in one or more cylinders on three occasions in a year and a half.

He rebuilt it once, replaced the powerhead once, and threw it away once.

I mean he literally threw the motor away after dropping two cylinders for the 3rd time. He bought one of my old Chrysler 3 cyl. 90hp motors, and put the Merc on the deck of the pontoon boat, hooked to 30' of logging chain with a buoy attached to the other end, and then pushed the old Merc off the deck in 24' of water SE of Sebastian Inlet by the rockpile 1/2 mile from the Monster Hole. Instant mooring buoy for snorkling and spearfishing. He took me to dive there once, and the whole motor, including the lower unit and prop was still there over a year later. The cowling was gone, though.

On the other hand, another friend has a 100hp version on the back of his 17' Sea Ray, with untold hours of skiing on it, probably over 2000 hours over all. Never a hiccup from the powerhead, and only a seal replacement on the lower unit. Go figure.

MasterBaiter · #3 12-06-2009, 08:32 PM

I have a '97 100hp on my 17' Whaler. It is one of the 2+4 models and I have no problems with it. All 4 cyl. kick in around 1600 rpm. It will idle for hours then stumble a little when all 4 kick in. It doesn't stumble normally. It seems to run rough around 1500 rpm before all 4 fire. Other than an alarm issue I have had no problems with it.

McGillicuddy · #4 12-07-2009, 12:21 PM

Thanks Tucker, Any thoughts on mpg, compared to other motors of similar hp.
I'm looking to replace a strong '83 i-6 to get more range by increasing my mpg.
We're losing our local fishing grounds

I'm primarily looking at older Merc 150 2.0L and these 2+4 115/125.

That merc 125 seems like a nice compromise by I'd like to get more insight on fuel econonomy, and how they run in the mid-range rpms - also heard it said they either idle/troll or go fast.

Bigshrimpin · #5 12-07-2009, 12:57 PM

Mcgillicuddy - I just bought a pair of 2.0L mercury 135's. I have no idea what shipping would cost to the west coast, but I'm going to be putting them on the market for around 1200 - $1500 ish. I have 3 135/150's now . . . that will be ready to go for spring. The other place to check is BoatMasters II in Dublin, CA. I know it's a drive, but those guys usually have a bunch of pulls. If you tell them what you are looking for . . . mid 80's to late 90's 2.0L Merc 150 . . . they will hook you up.

McGillicuddy · #6 12-07-2009, 02:51 PM

thanks big, i looked at an xr2 yesterday. i couldnt find a serial no. so unsure of year. took some pics and viddy so i will post for your review. not sure if i could tell the difference without inspecting bell housing and carbs... ,

MasterBaiter · #7 12-07-2009, 07:55 PM

When I put the 2+4 on it was a mid eighties inline 6 I took off. As far as the mpg, I never noticed a difference between the two. The Rpm range from 1500 to 1700 was a bit of a problem surging between 2 and 4 cyl but that speed rarely affected me. 100hp on a 17 Whaler I was on plane at just over 1800 rpm.