Fuel filter replacement

[mirageman]

The fuel pump/filter assembly has been removed today from my 2009 model year 1.5 liter American sedan which was made in Japan in August of 2008. It wasn't very hard at all to remove. I used a flathead screwdriver and hammer to tap the retainer ring off. I was excited to see the port locations (see pictures) of the main filter matched what I saw here in this thread from the other poster's 2008 model. I thought the Beck/Arnley part would fit mine, but I misunderstood his picture as being the new part. I still don't quite get it, though. I thought 2008 filters were different from 2009, but my filter looks just like the picture from the 2008 used here in this thread. I think the same guy maybe posted pictures on Amazon too for the Beck part, but the pictures of new Beck Arnley 043-3008 and oem do not say which is which, hehe... I guess I'm going to have to keep looking for filters online that matches mine. I am a bit concerned because I covered the open hole (which the wire plug for the pump goes through) and blew into the big hole where the pump slides in and all this blackened gasoline got spat out. You can see it pooling in the port in the picture and also on the white table in the other picture. That is gasoline that goes to the engine out the top... Why is it black? I could see blackened crap flowing around the inside of the filter housing when I was blowing through it too. I was able to blow through it pretty easily, very little resistance, and after all that dirty gasoline came out, it actually got harder to blow through. I've come across this with other fuel filters and am not sure of the physics behind it being easier to blow through when it is soaked, but anyway.... Putting it back in the tank was harder than taking it out. I was very concerned because the screw retainer ring thing would not seem to tighten squarely. It was looking very crooked and felt very wrong no matter how much time I spent trying to get it right.
I read about another person complaining of the same issue and saying that it works out eventually, and it did for mine too. After like half a turn, it kinda seated square, and I still can't wrap my head around it. I think when I replace the filter sometime by summer, I will try to put the retaining rign on without the pump and seeing what the heck is stopping it from going on nicely. Seeing as there is very little resistance through this filter despite it having over 250,000 miles, I am not in any rush to get a filter, but if I find one that is reasonable in price I will certainly post here to help others.