Have fuel /water filters gotten trickier to screw on???

crazy charlie

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I have been doing this for a very long time and never an issue screwing on a filter.Today I replace both filters on my twin 5.0 XLs and neither screwed on in a simple manner.Are they making these things in a cheaper way causing them to be more difficult to screw on or am i losing my patience in the engine compartment.
 

Lou C

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Which brand?
Sierra?
i had one on which the threads were not cut right. Took it back to West Marine...
 

crazy charlie

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Yep Sierra,it eventually went on but getting it started was a royal pain....10 minutes worth of pain and then it screwed right on the usual way.
 

achris

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Yep Sierra,....

You buy cheap, you get cheap...

Old Chinese proverb... Cheap no good, good no cheap.

This is why you spend a couple of dollars more and get a quality product that doesn't cause more damage than the money you saved buying it. We all b-itch about the price of quality (and OEM) products, spares etc, but this is why...

Remember, this world lives and dies on making products to a price. And with what's been going on lately, I would think EVERYBODY should be rethinking what they buy, with regard to where it's made. ;)

Chris......
 

Lou C

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Agreed putting a Racor on the boat this year!
 

racerone

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Other saying ----" The bitterness of poor quality is remembered , long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten "------Those --" offshore folks " called the factory one day to invite themselves for a visit.-------They were politely refused !!----We have the technology and you can not steal it with your eyes.----But in many places they are working inside and stealing intelectual property every day.
 

dingbat

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Quality is a two way street. Sometimes you don’t get what you pay for either.

Dad put himself through school working at a plant that made oil and fuel filters.

Monday and Tuesday they made brand X.

Wednesday they changed the paint color for the cans, and the boxes in the packing machine and produced brand Y filters on Thursday and Friday.

Spent my entire career supporting manufacturing facilities and processes around the world. I can’t judge by the quality of the products because I don’t use most of them, but I can speak to the quality of their management and production processes.

You would be surprised of my unbiased ranking of the worlds quality leaders.

Having said that, when buying products I look for two things.
1. A product specification or data sheet. Not a marketing brochure, but an actual data sheet. No data sheet you go to the back of the line.

2. A product actually made by the company whose name is on the product, ie not an outsourced product.

Sierra Marine‘s manufacturing facility is where?

To answer the OP question, I suspect the threads on the filter where “stamped“ instead of “roll formed”.
 

Lou C

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I used to use their (Sierra) fuel and oil filters. Only had that problem once. Had the filter full of gas and won’t screw on! Not happy! After that I started using Mercruiser oil filters and Evinrude fuel filters. As far as fuel filters I think the Racor is the best esp on boats that sit out on a mooring or at a dock in humid weather all season...
 

dingbat

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After that I started using Mercruiser oil filters and Evinrude fuel filters. As far as fuel filters I think the Racor is the best esp on boats that sit out on a mooring or at a dock in humid weather all season...
I use WIX (WIX) oil filters and Racor (Parker Hannifin) fuel filters.

OEM are typically better than 3rd party filters, but not a fan of paying marine prices for otherwise nothing special filters.

Here is a cross reference to the filters that are interchangeable to the this specific Mercruiser filter.

Note that the WIX filter listed is $2 cheaper than the Mercruiser.

WIX is made in the USA. Mercuriser, ????


https://www.oilfilter-crossreference.com/convert/MERCRUISER/35-866340Q03
 

Lou C

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Merc I think is USA; I will check the one in the garage; with inboards if you have a dry bilge you can use a good quality auto filter...
 

dingbat

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Merc I think is USA; I will check the one in the garage; with inboards if you have a dry bilge you can use a good quality auto filter...
Are you saying the Merc filters have stainless steel cans?

I have no idea. I've not owned inboard powered boat in almost 25 years. Otherwise, no difference between a automotive and marine filters other than price.
 

Lou C

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Just checked, Merc oil filter is product of USA. One thing I noticed the Racor I bought last winter (came in a plastic bag) seemed to have a light coating of oil inside (corrosion protection) ever see this before?
 

Lou C

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Are you saying the Merc filters have stainless steel cans?

I have no idea. I've not owned inboard powered boat in almost 25 years. Otherwise, no difference between a automotive and marine filters other than price.

No I’m not but some of the literature I’ve seen suggests a better paint process on the marine filters. This is even debated on outboard forums where some will use Honda car oil filters on a Honda outboard etc. If you look on The Hull Truth you can find reports of failures (esp Suzuki) and oil filters for Japanese 4 stroke OBs often are not made in Japan; can be from anywhere in SE Asia. So I do feel a bit safer with either a Merc inboard filter or even a Purolator. I’ve installed probable over 100 Purolators on 3 vehicles we owned from 13–>22 years and never had a failure ever.
 

crazy charlie

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I didnt mean to get a string going.in my 30+ years of boating i have usually purchased 3-6 filters at a time as i need 3 per season.i have always purchased whatever brand was not overpriced .attwood,sierra,glm,quicksilver,whatever was reasonably priced.i have never ever ever had any issues no matter what the brand.a little tricky with both brands this season getting them to thread,.....maybe it was me having a chardonay moment,who knows.....never a performance issue though.charlie
 

Lou C

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I guess they can all have quality issues; I will continue to use Merc engine oil filters and either the Racor or Evinrude fuel filters (both made in USA)....
 

hnt

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I have been using Sierra filters for years and have never had a problem
 

Grub54891

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I sometimes have issues trying to get a filter started also. Be it name brand or cheapo's. I think its the hard to reach areas as the angle I have to twist my arm makes it not quite line up correctly. Or as I read this, maby its not me, its the filter? Dunno...
 

Lou C

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Ever since I had that problem one time I started threading them on to check the threads first BEFORE filling it was gas! I also have my fuel filter mount marked with a sharpie which way is tightening and which way is loosening lol to avoid a dumb azz moment. I keep a spare on the boat with one of those large plastic coffee cans to catch the gas from the old filter in case I ever have to change the filter with the boat out on the mooring.
 
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