M18e2

Hello,

After a long search for a motor that would give me more power than my old Evinrude 9.9hp (bumped to 15hp with carb swap) without adding too much weight for ease of lugging around, I finally pulled the trigger on a 18 hp Tohatsu.
The motor is extremely clean, has 120 compression on both cylinders and sounds like a new motor.
Brand new carb installed 2 months ago, and the major plus to me is the fact that it is about 10 to 15 pounds lighter than any other 20 hp (41 kg / 90 pounds) while providing about as much power.

I understand Tohatsu is different from other makes in that it doesn't refer to year models for parts or service, but model & serial numbers.
The ID plate on my "new to me" motor reads: Model M18E2 350A and Serial number 003472XK.
Is there a way to determine a year (or year range) of manufacture with this information?
I was told 2007 by seller, does it seem about right?

I guess 2007 must be about correct: I saw a date stamped inside the engine cowling that says "2008-12-18"... if that means anything?

The parts catalogs for the M18E2 date from 1998 to 2003. The 4-strokes came out around 2001. But what does the year of manufacture matter?

pvanv said:

The parts catalogs for the M18E2 date from 1998 to 2003. The 4-strokes came out around 2001. But what does the year of manufacture matter?

Click to expand...

Thanks.
To you, and most everyone else, it doesn't matter an iota.
To me, it would just give me the satisfaction of knowing how old the motor is. No big deal.
So if the parts catalogs are any indication, this model would have been produced between 1998 & 2003?
Any idea why the engine cowling (that should be part of these catalogs) is stamped 2008?
Again no big deal, just curious.
Thanks again.

A label on the cowl may be date of manufacture, OR it could be the emissions rule date of compliance.

pvanv said:

A label on the cowl may be date of manufacture, OR it could be the emissions rule date of compliance.

Click to expand...

Understood, thanks for the input.

The "new" numbering system shows the year in the last two digits; the older system did not.
Again, MODEL is the critical part, not year of manufacture.

pvanv said:

The "new" numbering system shows the year in the last two digits; the older system did not.
Again, MODEL is the critical part, not year of manufacture.

Click to expand...

On a servicing standpoint, I agree 100% with you, but again, we're creature of habit, and it's kinda in human nature (at least in mine) to like knowing how old, or young the stuff we own (or plan to purchase) is.

Would you happen to know what the decoding formula of these last 2 letters is? I know that would save a lot of time (and unnecessary threads / emails) to folks looking into the purchase of a used Tohatsu....

I really don't get why Tohatsu makes this info so hard to obtain; when googling "tohatsu serial numbers" or tohatsu year of manufacture" etc.... all you get is a URL with the email template they want you to send them with your inquiry.
And once more, they're nice enough to respond relatively quickly, but why not save time and effort for everyone?

THANK YOU!!!!!

This should definitely be part of the serial number look up sticky, if there is one.....