Volvo D9 fuel filters

[Driver]

Hello,

The Volvo engine mounted fuel filter number 3809721on a D9 (and maybe others) is horrifically priced at £100 plus and the aftermarket suppliers seem to have no alternatives. I was therefore pleased to find them on ebay at £63.62 post free from China. (eBay item number:355974081636), and ordered two at the speed of light.

This post started out to be informative but as realism set in, I started to wonder if they could be cheap knock offs, despite being described as original Volvo, marked Volvo and in the nice blue Volvo boxes.

Any opinions, please?

 

[AllanG]

If they are from China, I’d bet my bottom dollar that they are copies, not originals….but hope I’m not right!

 

[ChromeDome]

No opinion on your cheap(er) filters, but here's another take on the question

Fuel filter cross reference

 

[Dino]

Ah the old Volvo tax. My old boat had 2 x TAMD40A’s and I think I paid €32-36 for genuine secondary fuel filters. My current boat has 2 x Perkins Sabre M265Ti’s. I bought some Fleetguard equivalents in a plant and machinery shop last year… 4 filters for €20. Happy days

 

[volvopaul]

The only aftermarket filter I will buy and supply is Fleetguard or Mann.
Buying from china can be suicidal, have you seen some of the U tube videos where they make filters in a back street shop . A filter is all about the paper and in certain cases a drain back valve , I remember working on a very nice Atlantic 43 with D6 in , it came here from Holland , it had Recmar filters on , I was gob smacked when I removed the oil filters as a normal Volvo one is a certain weight as the oil is trapped inside because it has a anti drain back valve , the filter sits upside down on the engine . I unscrewed the Recmar one , it felt so light , no oil inside as no valve , so each time the engine is started there is no oil in the filter .

I’ve also looked at filters being cut open , the paper part undone and stretched out to see that cheaper non genuine ones have half the paper make up inside , that means it performs half as good .
Back to the post , the D9 is a unit injector engine , it requires good filtration as it has just a single sited engine filter plus the pre filter, I certainly would not trust a Chinese one.

 

[madabouttheboat]

When it comes to service consumable, there are places to save a few quid and there are places where it is not worth it. Fuel filters on a common rail diesel fall into the latter for me.

 

[baily]

Hi I bought a genuine Volvo penta filter from a dealer and marked on the side made in Mexico as with most car Manufactures they buy filters from all over the world who will make them for them

 

[Driver]

Thanks for all of your comments. I had already ordered the filters so when they arrive, I will get out my largest magnifying glass and most accurate scales to compare the Chinese filters with ones I have bought from Volvo. I will then report back.

 

[Boat2016]

When it comes to service consumable, there are places to save a few quid and there are places where it is not worth it. Fuel filters on a common rail diesel fall into the latter for me.

The D9 is not common rail, it’s HUEI but the same concern stands and knowing the cost of injectors I would never use anything but the real thing, many will tell you they’ve been using them for years without problem but all I can say is they’ve got lucky.
Clean fuel for these engines is essential.