Looking to buy a 2002 Ranger 175vs W/ 125 Mercury. I would like to know what people think about the motor. Looking to see what kind of history this motor has and if in most cases its reliable. THanks for your help!

Reliable enough, hardest thing was to keep gas in it. 4 carb, electric choke, gas hog!

Great Motor. My brother has a 96 merc 125HP on his 17 foot Alumacraft and it runs hard , tops out at 54mph at 6000rpm with a 21 pitch prop. I am trying to get him to try a 23 or 25 pitch to see what kind of speed we can get out of it.

one thing to get used to. at low rpm's only 2 cylinders are running ( this is so you can troll with it) at about 2000rpm the other 2 join in. this will make the boat jump alittle. however if you just floor it all four cylinder fire and it has a great hole shot.

other thing, is it need to be level for the motor to start, if its tilted it will not start cold.

My dad had a 94 merc 125hp. It blew a hole in a piston. in 2000, got it rebuilt and it ran better than before. he sold that to a buddy and it is still running strong today. a carb leaned out that caused the piston to go bad. our mechanic told us to get the carbs checked and cleaned ever other year. that has been done on both motors and no problems since.