What year is my 115 ??

[SoundShark]

I’m trying to figure out what year my 115 is , the previous owner said it was a 1996 but I’ve had a couple people comment and say it’s a 1998. There is no tag on the bracket and I don’t know how to identify it. Here’s a few pics !

Thanks !!

[SoundShark]

I forgot to mention it has the vowel graphic with the red ring around the bottom and says Yamaha saltwater series an v4 on the top of the cowel in the left corner.

[ausnoelm]

No idea what a vowel graphic is.

[fairdeal]

No idea what a vowel graphic is.

perhaps that is what Autocorrect thinks "cowl" should be

[DennisG01]

Whatever happened to good 'ol fashioned proof-reading? I know, it takes an extra 3 seconds...

Is it possible there's another tag somewhere on the engine with the serial number on it? Can you look around for another tag? When you bought it, was the serial number on the purchase agreement?

[boscoe99]

There should be a round decal on the motor with part of the ID on it.

Look at the carburetors for markings on them. Add those markings to the serial number on the decal and you almost have the complete engine ID. Just add the shaft length letter between the carburetor markings and the serial number. With that the year of manufacture can be determined.

[SoundShark]

Thanks Boscoe !! There’s no tons tags anywhere near the starter motor, this engine has been apart a few times. I can tell by the bolt heads and just in general.
Im going to rebuild the carbs so I pulled them and here is what I found :

[SoundShark]

Here a the bottom carb

[Jason2tpa]

Flip through service manuals for both the '96 & '98 S115 and you might be able to identify a distinguishable difference of part(s). I've got a '98 S115 and I can tell you the pics you've posted look identical to my engine. But then again, I've never seen the cowling off of a '96. They might be identical.

1996 S115
https://www.vansoutboardparts.com/se...115u-130u/file

1998 S115
https://www.vansoutboardparts.com/se...115w-130w/file

[boscoe99]

The carburetor is a -15-00 version. The 1995 115TL(X)R used a -14-00 carburetor. The 1996 and later 115TL(X)R and S115TL(X)R models used the -15-00 carburetor. So the OP's motor appears to be 1996 or later.

The S denotes a Saltwater Series model. The extra long version has decals on the top cowl that say Saltwater Series on it. There appears to be a red band at the bottom of the cowl.

I suspect you have an S115TXRU model, or later. From a practical stand point, it won't really matter. Not many configuration changes in that particular model.

If you can find the six digits that are located on the block somewhere we can further pin down the year of manufacturer. Think it will begin with the number 3.

[SoundShark]

Thank you so much Boscoe, now I can start ordering the parts I need to get her back going. I am going to rebuild the carbs and install a new fuel pump for good measure. Thanks everyone for the help. I also checked spark on all 4 coils/cylinders last night (all are sparking good) And I also checked the compression on all 4 cylinders seeing right around 125-130 on all 4. Checked with all plugs out at WOT. The engine had some heat in it.
Last night I pulled a big chunk of something out of the main jet on the top carb. This is hopefully why it was lean coughing at idle and wouldnt open past 3300 RPM at WOT under a load.
I will rebuild the carbs, install the new fuel pump and keep my fingers crossed.

Thanks again for all the help. What a great community of people !