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Machinetrail

Where Is the Komatsu PIN Plate?

Last updated · 6 min read

Bertram Sargla
Founder, Machinetrail

Quick answer

On most modern Komatsu machines, the factory PIN plate is on the right-hand side of the chassis near the cab step, and the same PIN is also stamped into the chassis frame casting nearby. The engine carries its own separate serial. Always cross-check the riveted plate against the engraved frame stamp — a mismatch is the single strongest stolen-equipment signal at the inspection stage.

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Modern (post-2000) Komatsu PIN format

Komatsu machines exported to regulated markets since approximately 2003 carry a 17-character ISO 3779 PIN on the EPA / EU emissions plate alongside the traditional model+serial designation. The 17-character PIN follows the standard ISO field layout (WMI, descriptor, check digit, year letter, plant, serial sequence).

Legacy Komatsu serial format

Komatsu's traditional and still-in-use format is model + dash-number + a 5-to-6-digit serial sequence, for example PC200-8 #312456. The leading letters encode family (PC = crawler excavator, PW = wheeled excavator, D = dozer, WA = wheel loader, GD = grader, HM = articulated truck, HD = rigid mining truck, BR = mobile crusher). The dash-number is the generation (-7 ≈ 2002–2007 Tier 3, -8 ≈ 2007–2013 Tier 4i, -10 ≈ 2013–2017 Tier 4F, -11 ≈ 2017+ Stage V). Domestic-Japan-market and pre-2003 export machines carry only this format.

Where to find the PIN plate on a Komatsu

  1. Factory PIN / data plate (the riveted plate). On Komatsu hydraulic excavators the factory PIN / serial plate is riveted to the right-hand side of the cab on the lower frame, typically just behind the front idler or beneath the operator's window.
  2. Chassis engraving (the same PIN, stamped). The serial is also stamped directly into the chassis frame casting on the right-hand side of the machine — on dozers and loaders, on the front frame casting; on excavators, on the upper revolving structure beneath the cab.
  3. Engine serial (separate identifier). The engine serial is stamped on the engine block, usually on the left-hand side near the injection pump.
  4. Operator's manual and dealer service file. The PIN appears on the title page of the manual delivered with the machine and in any authorised Komatsu dealer service-history record. If the seller cannot produce the manual or a dealer service record, that is itself a flag worth pricing in.

Model-specific variations

Komatsu plate-position conventions vary by model family. The following are the locations to expect on the most common current and recent product lines:

  • PC excavators (PC130, PC200, PC360, PC490) — plate on the right-hand cab base; frame stamp on the upper structure beneath the cab.
  • D-series dozers (D51, D65, D85, D155, D375) — plate on the front frame casting on the right-hand side, accessible from the operator step.
  • WA wheel loaders (WA200, WA320, WA500, WA600) — plate on the right-hand side of the cab base near the access ladder; chassis stamp on the rear-frame casting at the articulation joint.
  • GD motor graders (GD555, GD655) — plate on the right side of the cab on the cab-base frame.
  • HM/HD trucks — plate on the front-right of the cab frame, with the chassis stamp on the front frame between cab and engine compartment.

How to verify the PIN is genuine

A correct PIN is one that decodes structurally and appears in three consistent places on the machine. Walk the machine and check, in order:

  • Plate vs engraving match. The 17-character PIN on the riveted plate must match the engraved chassis stamp character-for-character. Mismatched, partially mismatched, or "the plate fell off" stories are walk-away signals.
  • Rivet condition. Factory plates have factory rivets — uniform heads, consistent corrosion, no fresh tool marks. Fresh non-original rivets, missing rivets, or screws where there should be rivets are signals.
  • Paint and surface match. The area immediately around a factory plate should weather and corrode at the same rate as the surrounding metal. Fresh paint, polished metal, or chemical residue around the plate are signals.
  • Font and spacing. Compare the plate's font, character spacing and plate-edge profile against other Komatsu machines of the same era. Counterfeit plates are usually recognisable by font or spacing differences from the factory original.
  • Engine serial recorded. The engine serial is its own identifier; record it separately and check that it appears in the maintenance history. A new engine is normal on a high-hour machine, but it should be documented.
  • Cross-check against a registry. Even a perfectly-formed PIN can be stolen. A registry cross-check (Machinetrail covers 14 European registries plus a stolen-equipment dataset in one lookup) is the last line of defence.

What to do after finding the PIN

With the PIN written down (all three places — plate, engraving, engine serial), the pre-purchase value comes from cross-checking that PIN against three failure-mode databases before money changes hands:

  1. Stolen-equipment registries. A stolen Komatsu will be reclaimed by police regardless of how clean the paperwork looks. Machinetrail queries 14 European registries plus TER-Europe-style and NER-style stolen-equipment data in a single lookup keyed to the PIN.
  2. Open safety recalls. EU Safety Gate, member-state agencies (Bundesnetzagentur, RDW, Traficom) and OEM recall feeds. Open recalls on hydraulic, brake, or PTO systems are a measurable safety risk and a re-sale-value problem.
  3. Auction comparables and market value. What did similar Komatsu machines actually sell for in the last 12 months? Decoded PIN plus model plus year plus hours plus region returns the range of recent sale prices.

For a position-by-position breakdown of the Komatsu PIN fields, see the matching Komatsu decoder page.

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Related guides

Frequently asked questions

Where is the PIN plate located on a Komatsu tractor?
On Komatsu hydraulic excavators the factory PIN / serial plate is riveted to the right-hand side of the cab on the lower frame, typically just behind the front idler or beneath the operator's window. The same PIN is also stamped into the chassis itself: The serial is also stamped directly into the chassis frame casting on the right-hand side of the machine — on dozers and loaders, on the front frame casting; on excavators, on the upper revolving structure beneath the cab. The engine carries a separate serial — The engine serial is stamped on the engine block, usually on the left-hand side near the injection pump. Always cross-check the plate against the engraving — a mismatch or fresh paint around the rivets is a primary stolen-equipment signal.
What does a modern Komatsu PIN look like and how is it structured?
Komatsu machines exported to regulated markets since approximately 2003 carry a 17-character ISO 3779 PIN on the EPA / EU emissions plate alongside the traditional model+serial designation. The 17-character PIN follows the standard ISO field layout (WMI, descriptor, check digit, year letter, plant, serial sequence).
My Komatsu serial is shorter than 17 characters. Is it real?
Yes — pre-ISO Komatsu equipment uses an OEM-specific serial format that pre-dates the 17-character ISO 3779 standard. Komatsu's traditional and still-in-use format is model + dash-number + a 5-to-6-digit serial sequence, for example PC200-8 #312456. The leading letters encode family (PC = crawler excavator, PW = wheeled excavator, D = dozer, WA = wheel loader, GD = grader, HM = articulated truck, HD = rigid mining truck, BR = mobile crusher). The dash-number is the generation (-7 ≈ 2002–2007 Tier 3, -8 ≈ 2007–2013 Tier 4i, -10 ≈ 2013–2017 Tier 4F, -11 ≈ 2017+ Stage V). Domestic-Japan-market and pre-2003 export machines carry only this format. The position-by-position decoding rules that apply to a modern 17-character PIN do not apply to these older serials; year and configuration have to be looked up from the published model-year break tables for the specific family.
What if the Komatsu chassis plate and the engraved frame number don't match?
A mismatch between the riveted plate and the chassis engraving is the single strongest stolen-equipment signal at the inspection stage. Common patterns: a freshly painted plate over a different underlying engraving; a plate with non-factory rivet heads; a plate where the font and spacing does not match other Komatsu machines of the same era. Walk away from the deal — and report the serial to the relevant national registry (TER-Europe, NER in the US, the Plant And Agricultural National Intelligence Unit in the UK). Do not accept "the original plate fell off and the dealer made a replacement" without paperwork from a recognised Komatsu dealer attesting to the replacement.
Is the engine serial on a Komatsu the same as the chassis PIN?
No. The engine serial is stamped on the engine block, usually on the left-hand side near the injection pump. The engine serial identifies the engine alone — on a re-engined machine the engine serial will not match the factory chassis-PIN-implied engine, and that's normal but should appear in the maintenance history. Always record both serials separately when documenting the machine, and never assume that decoding the engine serial returns information about the chassis or vice versa.
What if the Komatsu PIN plate has been removed or is illegible?
Try the chassis engraving first — The serial is also stamped directly into the chassis frame casting on the right-hand side of the machine — on dozers and loaders, on the front frame casting; on excavators, on the upper revolving structure beneath the cab. On a legitimate machine the engraving survives even when the plate is gone. If both the plate and the engraving are missing or obscured, that's a strong fraud signal: factory plates do not fall off in normal use, and engravings can only be defeated with deliberate grinding. The next-best identifiers are the engine serial on the engine block and any telematics-system identifiers; combined, those can in some cases be matched back to an original PIN through the OEM dealer network — but the burden of proof shifts onto the seller, not onto you.
Does Komatsu have a telematics system that records true hours separately from the dashboard?
Komatsu also operates Komtrax as a factory-fit telematics system that records hours and faults independently of the dashboard hour-meter — ask the seller for a current telematics report and compare it against the recorded service history. Whichever telematics system is present, dashboard hour-meters can be rolled back; telematics-recorded hours are much harder to alter and so are the gold-standard rollback check on any used Komatsu.
How do I use the PIN once I've found it?
Once you have the PIN, paste it into the matching decoder on Machinetrail at https://machinetrail.com/decoders/komatsu-serial for a position-by-position breakdown plus theft, recall and auction cross-check. The free preview confirms the PIN is well-formed and surfaces the recall count, top-5 known issues for the model, and two recent auction comparables. The full report adds the complete recall list, full known-issues list with severity ratings, the full auction history for that model and year, a reliability score, full specifications, and a market-value range — all keyed to the PIN-resolved canonical machine.