Tohatsu 40hp M40C

[reelfishin]

Re: Tohatsu 40hp M40C

reelfishin,

I have a Nissan M40C which is the same as your Tohatsu, and it is from the same year range. Blue w/silver cowl. Mine has factory recoil and elec start. While it is too cold for me to go out and uncover and take pictures, if you do need some to help you out, I can go through what I have saved, or if you can wait about a month, could get whatever you want.

Basically all I need is the starter pulley off the flywheel and the six bolts that hold the recoil and pulley on. The rest of mine is ok otherwise.
Its down to about 12 degrees outside here now, way too cold to go outside here too.

 

[reelfishin]

Re: Tohatsu 40hp M40C

It would have to be a 93 or older. The parts are still available. I would suggest ordering parts from any dealer outside of New Jersey as they are apparantly retarded. Paul wood be a good source as he is in New York.

I pretty much got the impression that the dealers were hurting so bad they had no money to order parts with. The two I visited had no inventory, only a few very small motors, and no parts in stock other than water pumps and spark plugs. I guess they all but shut down in the winter.
Of course, the Yamaha and Evinrude dealer I deal with is fully stocked up and ready for spring. I guess I've been spoiled dealing with that place since they rarely have to order anything. I had stopped by there to see if he had any junk motors outback, but all he had was old Mercs and some OMC engines.

I also called two used outboard places and neither of them had any Tohatsu parts used.

 

[pvanv]

Re: Tohatsu 40hp M40C

I pretty much got the impression that the dealers were hurting so bad they had no money to order parts with. The two I visited had no inventory, only a few very small motors, and no parts in stock other than water pumps and spark plugs. I guess they all but shut down in the winter.
Of course, the Yamaha and Evinrude dealer I deal with is fully stocked up and ready for spring. I guess I've been spoiled dealing with that place since they rarely have to order anything. I had stopped by there to see if he had any junk motors outback, but all he had was old Mercs and some OMC engines.

I also called two used outboard places and neither of them had any Tohatsu parts used.

If you find the parts used, cool. If not, we would be happy to provide them new. You can drop me an email paul@obersheimersails.com, or call the office at 716-877-8221. This time of year, I am generally only in the office on M-W-F.

I would estimate that many NY/NJ shops do more volume in one hour on a July afternoon than they do for the entire month of February. That's just the nature of the marine industry when you are near the great white north. Because of that, many run down their inventories in the fall, rather than tie up huge amounts of capital over the winter.

Frankly, we don't stock a lot of parts for 25-year-old motors. No one in their right mind would. But many are available from Tohatsu's Dallas warehouse in 2 or 3 days. I trust that with the weather what it is, that's quick enough to meet your needs.

 

[reelfishin]

Re: Tohatsu 40hp M40C

Its not that I expect them to stock 25 year old parts but to flat out tell someone that no parts are available for a motor is just bad business. How do they expect anyone to want to buy a new motor if parts aren't kept available down the road. The one dealer flat out told me that its unreasonable to expect to find parts for any motor over 5 years old. I guess he'd have trouble understanding how most of my motors are over 30 years old. I would think that this would be the time when the start getting spring inventory in as well.

I'm in no real hurry at all, this project won't see the water for months, I've got two projects ahead of this thing right now, I'm basically waiting for warmer weather. Once the weather breaks I'll get serious about getting this in shape.

 

[pvanv]

Re: Tohatsu 40hp M40C

I agree: That's bad business. It beats me why on earth a dealer would lie... tell a customer a part isn't available when in fact it is... Of course, he might just be lazy... didn't bother to check... maybe he just assumed that parts weren't available.

Regardless, I guess that dealer isn't interested in servicing motors (or selling parts to DIY customers). If it were me, I'd be looking to a different dealer.

 

[isaksp00]

Re: Tohatsu 40hp M40C

Interesting thread. I have a Honda 8HP, about 1993 or 4. Few local dealers, so I have bought parts (nothing unusual, parts that wear) online. I hope they stay available for another 5 or 10 yrs.

I would inform Tohatsu that these dealers are not willing to even order parts - they should know, so that they remove them from their network and do not refer customers in future.

 

[reelfishin]

Re: Tohatsu 40hp M40C

.....................

Regardless, I guess that dealer isn't interested in servicing motors (or selling parts to DIY customers). If it were me, I'd be looking to a different dealer.

I think its a matter of them just not wanting to deal with parts or service. They have a shop but its a mess, I've heard horror stories about the work done there. They used to be a good place to buy a used boat cheap, especially if it were a model or motor they didn't sell. Now they don't do used anything, no one around here seems to have anything used anymore.
There used to be a half dozen dealers with yards full of used motors for parts or for sale but their all gone now. They all claim the EPA made them clean up the properties. More likely the rise of scrap prices a few years ago is what claimed all the used parts and motors.

I've got plenty of time to hunt for a used pulley, and the motor runs fine without it for now anyhow. I'll put some hours on the motor first before putting any real money into it.
I must say I've got a some reliability concerns running a motor with no local parts support. If something breaks, its going to mean more down time than with a motor that's supported locally.
For now it will only go on a boat which doesn't go far, I won't chance a long trip on an old or unknown motor until I gain some trust in it.

 

[pvanv]

Re: Tohatsu 40hp M40C

I think you nailed the used-parts situation squarely on the head. Combine 1 part poor economy with 2 parts EPA and DEC harassment, and then top off with high scrap prices, and you have the perfect "no more OB motor bone yards" cocktail mix.

It makes sense to run the motor -- any motor, new or used -- through its paces... a shakedown or 2... before you have confidence in it.

As for [new] parts availability, most dealerships (including mine) are as close as your mailbox or UPS/FedEx truck, so no worries there.

 

[reelfishin]

Re: Tohatsu 40hp M40C

I figured I'd come back here and add an update to this, after about 10 hours of use the motor seems to be fine. I lucked out and found a recoil pulley for cheap, it came in the form of a seized up parts motor, a much newer M40C in black trim. I won the motor at auction for $16. It also donated a spare prop, a nicer cover, spare carb, and a spare lower unit. The motor appears to have died of lack of oil, someone had it marked in auction paint as being oil injected and needing work. If nothing else having the recoil in place makes the motor look more complete.

So far it been fine, it's a bit hard on fuel compared to my Evinrude 40hp but it seems stronger. Its more on par power wise with some other 50hp motors in my opinion but it is hard to compare not having the two side by side. The Tohatsu pulls a 16' boat up on plane far faster than did the Evinrude 40 that was on it, and may well be stronger or equal to the 1999 50hp I had on it which I removed due to a tilt cylinder issue.

 

[jondavies]

Re: Tohatsu 40hp M40C

I won the motor at auction for $16.

Darn it! I paid $15 just for a used carb for my M40C .... I guess they saw me coming!

 

[jondavies]

Re: Tohatsu 40hp M40C

Ha! Maybe my sarcasm was lost in the typing ... should have added a smiley

I hear you about dealerships. I think the last one I went to added $16 to my bill for telling me the time of day

 

[reelfishin]

Re: Tohatsu 40hp M40C

I was just talking to a buddy of mine who bought a motor a few years back from that same dealer, he took it back for service after it wouldn't run this year and was told that no parts are available but they will see what they can do. The motor is one of the last two stroke models. He pretty much just decided to list that motor on CL for cheap and then went out and bought another motor, this one is not a Tohatsu.

From what I see by dealing with this motor they look like their pretty easy to work on and pretty well made. Other than the wiring being a bit of a pain not having a master plug at the motor, it's a pretty straight forward motor.
I'll probably give this one a fresh paint job and run it for the summer on one of my boats.

 

[TOHATSU GURU]

Re: Tohatsu 40hp M40C

It is amazing how many dealers blow off people who ask about parts. Everyday I get at least one phone call, from some poor dork in the middle of nowhere USA, who has been blown off by at least two different dealers about some low cost part that a dealer didn't want to take the time to order. At least half, of all brands of outboard dealers, are shooting themselves in the head by not taking care of their local customers...That's why internet *****s are getting a larger share of the pie each year.

 

[reelfishin]

Re: Tohatsu 40hp M40C

I actually had a long talk with the owner of the one local dealer, he swears up and down that they can't get parts and that parts just aren't available or listed for older motors. I just couldn't tell if he was just clueless as to how to order parts or really believed that Tohatsu don't sell parts.
The conversation began after he was complaining to another guy about how he'd rather sell more Tohatsu motors but the lack of parts was such a put off. There's got to be something wrong with either his franchise or he's not a full dealer or something if what he says is true.
I'm starting to wonder if the whole 'no model year' production thing with Tohatsu just has people confused when they can't go into the parts screen and pick a year and hp to look up parts?
I ran into that with a car dealer here that told me they had dropped all parts older than 2000 a few years ago. What I found was that they now needed a VIN number to look up parts and the parts guys either didn't want to be bothered or were clueless to the change. Can you imagine going to the selling dealer for a set of spark plugs and being told they don't make them anymore? Then realizing that the guy was dead serious because he couldn't find them in the parts fiche.

With most outboards, parts are listed by year, then hp, then model number. If they go only by model number, and most old motors have no tag left on them, parts would be a real pain to look up unless the parts guy knew what you had.
About half the motors I see here with decal type tags or even small aluminum tags are missing the model number tag or have been painted over so many times the tag isn't readable. In saltwater area cosmetic condition suffers fast, things like decals and tags don't last. I've seen motors painted with so many coats of paint or bottom paint that you couldn't find the bolt heads anymore.

 

[pvanv]

Re: Tohatsu 40hp M40C

Your dealer must be poorly informed. The Tohatsu online parts ordering system is among the easiest to use. Since Tohatsu never ever identified the motors by year, that piece is completely out of the equation. If you know that model, that's all you need. And since part of the model is the HP, as long as you know HP, you are always "already half way home". Of course, some owners will tell me that a 9.8 or a 9.9 is a "10", and are clueless about what they actually own. Those would be the same folks who feel that a 4-stroke motor, since it doesn't require TCW-3 oil in the fuel, obviously doesn't need to run in cooling water either.

I would suggest that your dealer could benefit from a conversation with the Tohatsu regional sales rep, and possibly with the national folks from Texas.