Effect of a magnetic drain plug?

[cchase]

Has anyone ever done a study (informal or otherwise) of the effects of having a magnetic engine oil drain plug on a vehicle?

Such as, are particles in the range detected by a UOA attracted to the drain plug? What range of particle sizes are attracted? Is there an advantage to using one?

 

[BigCahuna]

Well, they collect metal filings which you don't want circulating thru the motor. Can be used to detect a failure of sorts, if the plug comes out with lots of fuzz on it. And if it does, you can save money on a uoa because you can see you have a problem.,,

 

[ZZman]

Well I don't run a drain plug but I do run a Klear Force Oil filter magnet. I think the filter magnets have a far better chance of collecting particles as the oil is jammed into a confined space.

It does attract very small particles. Similar I guess to fine dust.

I am just happy to try and remove any amount of abrasive particles I can.

 

[Scooter_man]

I run them in my scooters (mag. drain plugs), I figure it can't hurt. Although both scooters are relatively new (less than 3k miles total), I don't want that loose stuff circulating around.

Besides, you only have to buy the mag. drain plugs once, it's not like they're going to wear out.

Not I did see an oil filter cut open that had magnets attached to it (old hard-drive magnets), and you could definately see an outline / tell where the magnets were. The magnetic field was clearly visible in the paper element - so they had to be doing something.

Rob

 

[bepperb]

"Such as, are particles in the range detected by a UOA attracted to the drain plug?"

Per blackstone, they don't. At least they trap larger particles that would probably just get picked up by the filter. But, I still throw a hard drive magnet on my filters. I guess at least the filter is that much less full.

 

[Bluestream]

Both of my Grand Am's have factory magnetic oil pan drain bolts. There is never anything on them of any substance. Only a bit of grey "paste" that looks similar to what is left in an auto tranny drain pan. I guess they might catch a filing before it got caught by the oil filter.

 

[saaber1]

They can also potentially hold large metal particles. Had a car with a with a factory magnet(not on drain plug however) in the oil pan and it held four bolts in the bottom of the pan. It quite possibly saved that engine.

 

[Kestas]

I don't think magnetic drain bolts are worth the expense for the average owner. I believe their main usefulness is for a fleet operator to have early warning if something horrible is going wrong with an engine.

 

[Wilhelm_D]

That's been my experience. Using very high powered magnet drain bolts in a number of passenger cars I never found enough material on them to justify the cost of the bolt.

The material that should scare the bejesus out of you isn't ferric anyway.

 

[cchase]

Part of what I am wondering is, does a magnetic drain plug attract iron particles at the range seen by a UOA? Or rather (because it's obvious they would still be attracted), are they massive enough to overcome the physical retention of the lubricant itself and attach to the drain plug?

Or, are the only particles suitably massive enough to be attracted by magnetic force too large to be detected in a simple UOA in the first place?

 

[SteveSRT8]

since they are standard equipment on my GMC V8's I assume the factory likes them for a reason.

We all know the bean counters would take them away if they weren't needed.

 

[mechtech2]

Mag drain plugs can't hurt -they only can help.
Ensure the integrity and quality of the unit, so the magnet is not loose and can't come off.
The mag will pick up any size ferrous particle, up to the strength limits of the mag. From microscopic to filings.

 

[defektes]

came factory on my GMs. My 4.3 following my LIM repair had a lot of grey paste on it 3k oil change after the repair. I assume it cought all the shavings of the sanding I did to the valve cover, and img gasket surfaces and the coolant the fell into the pan. The 4k OCI after the 3k one yeilded very little paste.

 

[friendly_jacek]

Originally Posted By: cchase
Part of what I am wondering is, does a magnetic drain plug attract iron particles at the range seen by a UOA?


Several months ago I posted a microscopic picture of iron particles accumulated on a magnetic drain. The gray "paste" is composed of particles under 10 um (comparable to fine graphite).

They would not be normally caught by filter. Not sure of UOA.

Edit: this white paper may have some answers for you:
http://www.analystsinc.com/documents/whitepaper/Oil_Analysis_vs_Microscopic_Debris_Analysis.pdf

 

[cchase]

Originally Posted By: friendly_jacek
Originally Posted By: cchase
Part of what I am wondering is, does a magnetic drain plug attract iron particles at the range seen by a UOA?


Several months ago I posted a microscopic picture of iron particles accumulated on a magnetic drain. The gray "paste" is composed of particles under 10 um (comparable to fine graphite).

They would not be normally caught by filter. Not sure of UOA.

Edit: this white paper may have some answers for you:
http://www.analystsinc.com/documents/whitepaper/Oil_Analysis_vs_Microscopic_Debris_Analysis.pdf


Great information in there, very good read.

I'm thinking it might be worthwhile to find a magnetic drain plug for my car...

 

[ZZman]

I got an email back from Blackstone saying they have seen lower iron readings on some vehicles UOA's that use magnets. I am sure they probably mean the larger and more powerful filter magnets

 

[jstutz]

Originally Posted By: cchase
Part of what I am wondering is, does a magnetic drain plug attract iron particles at the range seen by a UOA? Or rather (because it's obvious they would still be attracted), are they massive enough to overcome the physical retention of the lubricant itself and attach to the drain plug?

Or, are the only particles suitably massive enough to be attracted by magnetic force too large to be detected in a simple UOA in the first place?


Yes, they will attract particles of all size ranges. Iron does not have to be big to be affected by magnets. I took the little bit of the grey film that was on my magnet one time and put it on a slide and took it to work and evaluated it under our high power microscope. I work in the semiconductor industry and we have microscopes that will see very clearly a 1 or two um particle in full color. It looked very cool. It was a while ago when i did it and at that time i was glad i had been using the magnet. Im sure the engine would be fine without it but it cant hurt to have the magnet anyway. I dont have an oil change comming up anytime soon, but the next time i have one, ill try to get some pictures of the paste with a scale beside it so you all can see. It is very hard to get pictures thru this microscope so im not sure if ill be able to do it but we have gotten pictures from it before.

 

[sciphi]

FWIW, the transmission drain plug on my fiancee's Honda is magnetic. I'll find out in a week or so how much crud builds up on it. More magnets are going on for good measure.

 

[InvalidUserID]

I have them on my vehicles and my family's vehicles that I do oil changes on. I figure they can't hurt and anything that they may pull and hold out of the oil is better than in suspension running through the engine.

 

[friendly_jacek]

The good only question that remains to be answered is why those engine oil magnetic plugs disappeared from modern cars? They are clearly useful, as trannies and diffs still have them.