Raw Water Strainer Orientation

All,
    I was getting large fluctuations in my temp gauge when the thermostat opened so I figured I might as well change it. It wasn't overheating just dropping to 100ish from 160 every once in awhile. I did notice a bit of debris in the stat which was likely the cause but decided to change it and install new gaskets while I had it apart. While reviewing it I cleaned my raw water strainer and after reading a post on the other website about someone having their strainer installed backwards I noticed mine was as well. I flipped it around and it does seem to be holding the more solid 160 without the drastic changes. Just curious if anyone knows what differences might be seen from a strainer installed backwards. This is my 4th year with the boat and haven't really had any issues other than blowing a couple of houses. The boat only had 170 hours on it when I got it and I blew two houses while footing so I ended up replacing all of them assuming they were dry rotted from sitting. I have completed a lot of other maintenance/tune up items but it never dawned on me to review the orientation of the strainer. I am wondering if this could have had any part in the hose issues I experienced. Any thoughts?   

That makes sense. I was just curious and assumed it didn't really have much of an effect since it hasn't attributed to any temperature issues since I have owned the boat. Thanks