Wix vs Fram

I decided to change out all the filters myself this year and did the two Universal engine mount filters (oil and fuel) on my E32-III M25 without a hitch. A couple of weeks later I got replaced the primary filter in the Fram fuel/water separator cartridge canister. The guy at CC Marine here in Marina Del Rey stated that the computer says the Wix 33110 and the Fram C1110PL are the same thing. And since he did not carry the Fram I bought the Wix and installed it. After bleeding the air, the engine ran in the slip fine for about 20 minutes. But yesterday with the wife and 2 year old, the engine died as we were motoring out. It sounded like the engine wasn't getting fuel and we had an interesting time sailing back into the slip (made me appreciate my love of sailboats over motorboats!). The Wix and Fram do not look the same (see pix) so I'm not convinced they are interchangeable. Has anyone else used both in the same cartridge canister?

Both Wix & Fram think they are interchangeable.

http://www.wixfilters.com/filterlookup/index.asp

http://www.power-21.com/FramPower21i/

Does the engine turn over e.g. you hit the starter button/switch and it cranks? If yes, then move on from the oil filter and check out the fuel side. For the oil filter to cause your engine to stop running, we'd be talking about starving it from oil resulting in it seizing. While not impossible, this is very very unlikely.

The gasket is very touchy on that filter. It is easy to get it twisted or partially out of the grove and then the filter may suck air and/or leak.

Emerald said:

Does the engine turn over e.g. you hit the starter button/switch and it cranks? If yes, then move on from the oil filter and check out the fuel side. For the oil filter to cause your engine to stop running, we'd be talking about starving it from oil resulting in it seizing. While not impossible, this is very very unlikely.

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David, this is a fuel filter he's talking about.

Keith Parcells said:

David, this is a fuel filter he's talking about.

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Ugh! sorry about that

Keith - that's exactly what I was wondering. The Fram has kind of a built in gasket - a rubber top and bottom - the Wix has these o-rings that look impossible to line up in my Fram housing. I ordered some Frams - from Amazon of all places - and will give it another try. If that fixes the problem I will report back. I'm not sure all E32-III were built with the Fram housing (it may have been part-dependant) but it dosen't twist on like it says in the owners manual - it screws on from a bolt in the top of the housing mount (figured out after several vane attepts with a filter wrench). Which all leads me to believe: if you got a Fram housing, use a Fram filter.

Also check to ensure that an old gasket wasn't left in there and a new one added on top of it. If two gaskets are up in that groove in the housing, it might leak air as well.

I still think the Wix should work also, but I have only used Frams on mine. Even Baldwin makes a filter insert that is supposed to fit these.

One of these days I would like to replace mine with a proper Racor, but I see prices of over $200 for those and I already have a good Racor secondary filter, having replaced the filter which was mounted on the engine block a few years back. The old Fram has served the purpose for me so far.

Good luck!