It must be older then 2005, as the production year is listed on the transom bracket starting in 2005. Before that the year was denoted by the last letter in the model #. Not sure if thats the k or the L in your case.
The production year of your F40LA model can be found in two ways.
There is a sticker on the motor that gives the month and year of production.
You can go to the Yamaha US website and do a search of the parts catalogs by serial number. It will take you directly to the parts book for your specific motor. You can then see the production year.
