need advice on Used 2001 Mercury Saltwater 4stroke

[Kajun]

i would like to repower my wellcraft 18 sport center console w/ 120 force.......i found this motor for sale and just talked to the guy on the phone..here's what he told me about it

its a 2001 mercury 125hp saltwater 4stroke with power trim...controls dont come with it.....extended warranty ran out sep05..was powering a 21ft cuddy...it has approx 400 hours on it and he has had it serviced at the marine store he bought it from every 100hours. when i asked why he is selling it...he said he hears a "click click click" noise on it and brought it in to the shop to have it checked out, and he also bought a new bigger motor....the marine mechanic's have checked everything and cannot find anything wrong with it..compression is good..oil is good........he also said it only does it when its in the water and only until it reaches 1200 rpm's and then it quits....i will be talking to the marine mechanics tommorow and see what they say about it...

nada is 3.2k low...he wants to sell for 2.8k but he said he will go down to 2.3k if i want it so he dont have to start paying storage fees at the mechanic shop soon.

what ya think? take a chance? or get a loan for a new motor? lol

[longoverdue]

Mercury didn't make a 125 4-stroke in 2001. The 125 was a 2-stroke motor. The price seems pretty decent. I'd have my own mechanic check it out before buying. The clicking noise could be any of number of things, and I'd want to know what it is before buying.

[Kajun]

yup that was a mistake...its a 4 cyl..2 stroke....he says it runs on 2 cyl's till it hits a certain rpm ..then the 4cyl kick in...........but prob is i dont have my own mechanic...except a mobile mechanic that comes around to fix my old motors , and lately i'm not having much confidence in him.....but i will go down and talk to his mechanic's for sure.

[hevysrf]

I had one for 4 years, I can only recomend it for a light boat, the shift from 2 to 4 cylinders is more noticable the heavier the boat is. You can't use a stainless prop, it seems to bang back and forth at no wake speeds, probably some kind of harmonic. Good on gas, Great for towing skiers, really pulls them up when the second set of cylinders kicks in. Do not prop for more than 5250 rpm, unbalanced at higer rpm and crank will break. Be forwarned , this engine will not run between 2000 and 3000 rpm, that is the shift range, and it will surge back and forth. It uses almost no fuel at trolling speed and never fouls out. Marty D