Yamaha outboard year: where Yamaha prints it
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You don’t need to decode a Yamaha serial number to date the engine. Yamaha puts a permanent label on every outboard with the month and year it was produced. Yamaha publishes no way to read a year from the serial itself.
Covers: Yamaha outboards sold in the U.S.
No decoder for this brand. Yamaha doesn’t publish a serial format we can decode reliably, so this page explains what the manufacturer does say and how to get an answer.
Where to find the numbers
- Production month and year: a permanent label on the starboard side of the mounting bracket, stamped like 04/18 for April 2018.[1]
- Primary identification number (PID): a five-field sticker on the port side of the mounting bracket. The top field is the model name, fields two to four together are the PID, and the fifth is the factory code.[1]
What Yamaha says
No model year
Yamaha has dropped the model year. Its certificates of origin show only the production month and year, such as 04/2007.[1]
What the PID tells Yamaha
Yamaha says the PID can give the model type, drive shaft length and production number. All three PID fields are needed.[1]
What these numbers can’t tell you
- Yamaha doesn’t publish how to read a year from the PID or model name, and its site doesn’t document the older model-name year letters.[1]
- Yamaha notes that boat packages are valued by boat make and horsepower rather than outboard year; we don’t give values.[1]
- The year letter in older Yamaha model names: it appears only on third-party sites.
Ask Yamaha
- Yamaha owner resources FAQs: Yamaha’s answers on production dates, the PID and titling.[1]
Sources
Facts on this page are restated in our own words from the regulations, Coast Guard guidance and manufacturer documents below. Check the document for your exact model and year.
- Owner Resources FAQsYamaha Motor Corporation, U.S.A. (Yamaha Outboards) · FAQ: 'How will I know when my outboard was produced?'; 'What is a Primary Identification Number and where can I find it?'; 'Why has the model year designation been eliminated...'; 'How do I fill out my titling information?' · retrieved
Primary publishers: Yamaha Motor Corporation, U.S.A. (Yamaha Outboards). Spotted an error? Email the address in the footer with the model and the document you are using.