Originally Posted By: martinq
There's some neat info about the Magnefine and tranny/PS filters in this (mega-post) thread:
DIY – Add a Transmission Replaceable Inline Magnetic Filter
http://rdx.acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=803129
Also some interesting info waaay down in post #7:
Martin, the same guy who wrote that also found that many "magnefine" filters on the internet market are the now-notorious Chinese knockoffs, and some of the failures documented were fakes. You can see that followup from May here:
Counterfeit
"WARNING: various USA based ‘manufacturers’ like RAYBESTOS are selling Chinese KNOCKOFFs of the Australian MagneFine inline magnetic filter. These Chinese filters can fail (leak or the cap breaks off), and destroy your transmission from low ATF."
If you follow his other cited examples, some are bogus (the implausible tale of an overheating trans from some "Pappy" guy). Some of the seepage ones I can believe because in 2011/12 genuine Magnefines did have that problem, since cured. I had one myself... it was just a little wetness at the seam. MF sent me a replacement but I never got around to changing it. When I looked again, it had stopped leaking on it's own... go figure. Anyway, as many as they sell, thre are bound tobe failures. The (unverifiable) internet magnifies these.
As to Ford, yes they did stop using the Magnefines with their remain transmissions. Why? No longer necessary. The reason they started using them in the first place was because they had a high failure rate on their remain/warranty automatics due to built in contamination (some sources have stated a 40% failure rate). Part of that was the reman process and part of that was due to the difficulty to properly flush the coolers after a failure (or the difficulty of getting the "flatrater" techs to properly flush the coolers). The Magnefine was insurance that the junk left in the lines didn't kill the trans. It appears, however, that in some cases there was too much junk left that would plug the filter in short order. It goes into bypass and the remainder of the junk goes into the trans.
So, the "ineffective" word in the SBS is an unfortunate choice of words that implies something that isn't true. They are "effective" just overwhelmed. Also, the part you cited is incomplete. You left out a part that adds context:
"IF THE TRANSMISSION TURBO HEATED
COOLER LINE FLUSHER(OR EQUIVALENT)IS NOT UTILIZED, PLEASE FOLLOW THE RECOMMENDED
PROCEDURES IN THE APPROPRIATE VEHICLE WSM. FOLLOW SERVICE PROCEDURE IN SECTION
307-01 TRANSMISSION FLUID COOLER BACKFLUSHING AND CLEANING.
APPLICABLE SYMPTOM CODES :
500000 DRIVELINE
504000 DRIVELINE OTHER AUTO TRANS CONCERNS
590000 DRIVELINE PUBLICATION REVISIONS/UPDATES
890000 PUBLICATION CHANGES "
Here is part of the discussion we had in 2011 that fills in some blanks from a person that was a Ford insider:
Modular V8: "I believe that Ford has determined from their studies that transmission failures may lead to significant amounts of contaminants to reside in the fluid lines and trans cooler plates. The installation of a remanufactured transmission requires the removal of these contaminants. This makes the Magnefine or any other inline filter with a small load capacity "ineffective" in preventing these contaminants from entering the rebuilt transmission. A loaded up filter (in this case, the Magnefine ~ 4 RVOP) will go into bypass too soon which makes the filter "ineffective" at preventing contamination of the "new" transmission. Also, Ford wants to minimize any warranty issues and the installation of the inline filter in Ford's view is a risk (compromised fluid lines). It is better to get rid of the contamination by "hot turbo flushing" the lines and installing a new cooler. In the non-remanufactured/everyday additional ATF filtration scenario, I believe the Magnefine/Wix 58964 is fine if replaced according to schedule."
Jim Allen:" Modular- What you describe is the exact same situation Ford faced in the 1990s when they went with the inline filters in the first place. My inside info was that they adopted the filter because the flushing wasn't getting done properly (or at all) by lazy or "flat-rater" techs. The stats were that the Magnefine brought their warranty claims on remain transmissions down from significant double digits to single digits. What you say makes perfect sense from a technical standpoint, re a filter plugged by a contaminant overload, but what's different today vs yesterday? Ditto for the fluid lines.. but again that comes back to the tech doing the work. Since Ford can't watch over every shoulder at every dealer, I guess they just have to figure out the best ways to get a job done with all the inefficiencies in the system. Plus,maybe the flushing machines are better now.. .and a new cooler really does solve most of the problems. And new/ reman transmissions are coming out cleaner these days due to better systems as well. Doesn't change the need for better filtration in automatics, IMO, but those improvements are here too, with 40u pleated media and such in pan filters."
Modular V8:"Time. I know Ford did field tests, but now they have enough data to re-evaluate the contamination issue. They probably found, as you mentioned, poor quality work by technicians. In-line filter installation issues leading to fluid leakage and more warranty claims. I believe Ford's goal is to minimize the "uncontrollable" variances that take place with the in-line filter installation procedure. I also think they may have found large variances in the amount of system contamination between transmission failures. Some too great to be handled by an inline filter. It is cheaper to replace the cooler and flush the lines than to get additional warranty claims in the long-run. The closer they can get the initial warranty claim to the original system design, the better off Ford will be."
