metallic drain plug= much lower wear?

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Are all drain plugs (engine or transmission) magnetic or only aftermarket? Have test results shown they help a lot?
 
My Harley came stock with magnetic drain plugs,my hemi has one too. Neither of my mustangs do though.
A magnetic drain plug will only bring a possible issue to attention. I have a tough time believing that it can affect wear.
I think a magnet on the oil filter would have more of an effect(little to none)on engine wear than a mag plug.
Just my humble opinion. It could be that they do help however I figure since most oil pick up tubes have screens anything large enough to get stuck on the magnet isn't going to get through the screen.
I could be wrong though
 
Some engines come with them as Clevy said. They collect Ferrous metals, and would help stop the metal from traveling through the engine assuming the filter didn't trap it. As far as reducing wear, tough call, the fact that the plug is collecting metal means the wear already occurred. Does it make a difference is the real question. I use magnets on my oil filters, every little bit helps is my thinking. The truth is where I live rot or something else typically ends a vehicle's life long before the engine dies.
 
Since most wear is caused by silicon particles ingested past your air filter into your cylinders, the magnet would primarily pick up particles that were abraded from the cylinders and rings. Sure, these particles can cause wear (depending on the size of the particles) but they're not as abrasive as silicon, which is basically fine sand.

Having a magnet doesn't hurt, and it will tell you if you have a big problem.
 
Originally Posted By: cathy
Are all drain plugs (engine or transmission) magnetic or only aftermarket? Have test results shown they help a lot?

Honda already embeds a magnet inside the transmission casing for catching metal particles; it is unnecessary to use a magnetic drain plug.

Metallic particles in the engine are trapped by the oil filter.
 
I imagine all transmissions now come with magnets in the pan, significantly larger in surface area than the drain pan.

I have yet to see an auto engine with a magnetic drain plug. I put a hard drive magnet on my filter and it doesn't do much.
 
They are put there to scare the snot out of my folks when they go to the dealer.

Service Manager: "See this stuff right here?" as he wipes some goo from the plug and proceeds to scour some graffiti off the counter, "Yer gonna need a new engine!"
Dad: "Oh my God."
Mother: *faints*

The oil filter should catch that stuff before sending the oil on it's way. I think magnetic plugs are used mostly for diagnostic purposes. Since oil pans are not typically removable like tranny pans to check for wear and crunchies, they provide a time lapse indicator of what the motor is doing by collecting the junk in one place so you or the mechanic can check for trends in wear.

If you keep finding gobs of goo on there the oil pump or filter may be going into bypass a lot. Maybe the OCI needs to be shorter or the air filter is not doing a good job.

A mag plug MAY help keep the grit from wearing the oil pump but I figure it's collecting stuff that's already dropped out of suspension anyway. It's not like the plug is in an ideal location for filtering or can attract grit from more than a fraction of an inch away. Gravity and vehicle movement migrates the goo around the bottom of the pan and the mag plug keeps it where it can be seen and monitored like when you drop a tranny pan and smear your finger to gauge the wear.
 
[/quote]Metallic particles in the engine are trapped by the oil filter. [/quote]

Not sure that this is true, on my old Astro, I used a Filtermag, several times I cut the old filters to find a lot of "fines" on the inside of the filter housing where the magnets had been, this is the stuff that too fine for the filter media, is that right?

my perspective is that magnets will help to reduce wear since they reduce any cummulative effect of buld up of these "fines".
 
Magnets help. They do not reduce wear much but help remove some of the particles. As stated they will also alert you to a major grenade job about to go off when you see chunks of metal on them.

It is always too late...but helps to know...I call them "trade in" indicators.
lol.gif
 
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My UOA shows -1ppm of Iron after I installed a high quality magnet in my engine block. The iron count was already at 5ppm and dropping down to 4ppm could be considered as a normal variation but I feel better about my "investment" by saying it was the plug that did it.





The transmission side on the other hand collects a lot more stuff.
I'd pull out this amount of metal off the plug during each tranny drain n fill after 15k miles.





This, along with very frequent oil changes using Amsoil and Redline are what, IMO, helped my 2nd and 3rd gear syncronizers last 100k while others with the same car had to go to the dealership to have 2nd and 3rd gear replaced due to worn out syncros.

Just my opinion on the matter.
 
The Magnefine has a magnet that is right in the middle of the ATF flow where you want the magnet. On mine when I dissect the used filter, it has a metal paste on it that reminds me of never-seeze.
 
I often find magnetic plugs on GMC full size vans. There might be a whisker or two is the engine is maintained properly, or a beard if the engine was abused.

Also, one thing to consider is that not all magnetic drain plugs are equal. Some come with a stronger magnet, for example.

I have a Filtermag on my car, only because it was given to me for free. I have not done any tests to see how well it works.

Having one of those magnets sounds cool, but I don't know if all that stuff would be trapped in the oil filter media.
 
Originally Posted By: Doog
Magnets help. They do not reduce wear much but help remove some of the particles. As stated they will also alert you to a major grenade job about to go off when you see chunks of metal on them.

It is always too late...but helps to know...I call them "trade in" indicators.
lol.gif



I love this! Good one...
 
Originally Posted By: Tegger
Originally Posted By: cathy
Are all drain plugs (engine or transmission) magnetic or only aftermarket? Have test results shown they help a lot?

Honda already embeds a magnet inside the transmission casing for catching metal particles; it is unnecessary to use a magnetic drain plug.

Metallic particles in the engine are trapped by the oil filter.


Ford uses a magnet in transmission as well but not on oil drain plugs. Tranny is whole different environment.
 
Most of my vehicles have:

1. A round very powerful magnet from FilterMag on the exterior of the engine oil filter:

http://www.jegs.com/p/FilterMAG/FilterMAG-Oil-Fluid-Filtration-Magnets/813786/10002/-1

2. A flat very powerful magnet from FilterMag on the bottom of the transmission drain pan:

http://www.jegs.com/vpt/FilterMAG/Transmission+Filter+Magnet

3. An inline transmission magnet/filter from Magnefine:

http://www.magnefinefilters.com/Magnefine-5-16-Magnetic-Inline-Transmission-Filter-R516M.htm

4. Magnetic drain plugs from Gold Plug on the engine and transmission oil pans:

http://goldplug.com/
 
I know my Dodge has a small magnet stuck on the inside of the tranny oil pan. When I have dropped the pan, crud does tend to collect on it. It will add some life to the filter as well.
 
I think a magnetic drain plug is useful on a transmission or differential where there is a lot of steel-on-steel contact in an oil bath environment, often times with no filter.

In an engine there isn't much steel-on-steel contact (main and con rod bearings are made from soft metals), and any particles that are small enough to pass through the oil filter are not going to cause appreciable wear inside the engine. A lot of people use magnetic drain plugs or put magnets on the oil filter but the overall effect is probably negligible. But if it gives you peace of mind then by all means use magnets.
 
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