Looking to buy a boat with a 3406 engine that was made in 1995 and only has 500 hours of use. I have been told this engine is probably not worth buying as it has set so long. Does anyone know if there is any truth to this? Both engines fire up and seem to run fine.
The 3406 is a very common Cat engine and parts should be available for it from a million & one different sources. I'd suspect that an oil and filter change, fuel & air filters, and a valve check/adjust would pretty much be all it needed to run for many trouble-free hours more.
A full marine survey, and an inspection by a Cat tech is the way to go. Don't worry about low hours. 35 hours per year is the average use pleasure boats get in my neighbourhood.