when did Merc change from 2 to 3 cooling ports

[eric80]

Hi I understand that Mercury changed their four stroke motors (115hp efi) from two to three cooling ports
around 2002/2003
can anyone give me more information on when this change happened?

 

[MercGuru]

Eric, what exactly are you wanting to know??

 

[eric80]

Hi Merc Guru
I'm just trying to learn about the motor I have.
I read that some of the early Merc four strokes had overheating problems and that Merc designed additional cooling ports in the later motors.
I'm just asking if they did add additional cooling or even if overheating was an problem.
As far as the learn the motor part I've just been surfing around trying to learn what I can about the motor especially areas that preventitive maintenance will save me lots of grief later.
thanks
ERic