Purchasing a 1987 offshore sedan with VT555's . 1670 hrs. Looking for comments on this engine as I don't know how successful that engine was or what reputation it may have. Appreciate all comments. Thanks
Parts are getting next to impossible to source and when you do find them they'll drain your checkbook. Triple nickel , Triple fives, Triple trouble ... You'll get a mixed bag of responses from people who've had relatively good experience and life cycles out of normally aspirated 555's and then people who've had main bearing failures and numerous other issues-problems with the turbo 555's. Bottom line is the Cummins 555 is a very old design and is being removed and replaced in good hulls in need of a re-power. Maybe Ralph will chime in as he has more experience and yrs in service with these motors.
Please do some searches on YF for lots of comments. 30 year old engines. 45+ year old design. They were good engines in their time. Up to 270hp. But as captholli commented; parts and support are hard to find. I don't want to talk bad about your new purchase but this is worse than black steel tanks. IMO These engines are a poor gamble and have no value for investment. Cat 3208s are starting to loose favor for same reasons. If your really going to use this boat, plan on a re-power with some Cummins 5.9BT re-mans and fresh ZF clutches.
