Magnetic sump plugs?

[snwtoy]

Good idea? Or snake oil?

Sounds pretty good to me, but has anyone had any experience? Pulled one out and found shavings on it?

[evil_si]

most heavy machinery engines, transmissions and diffs use them,

imo excellent idea, stops the metal being stirred up, and easy to see whats happening at an oil change.

[Ae92typeX]

Have always had one on the various mini's and 'A' series british cars ive had. Since the trans/engine in them is shared you get a bit more metal over the years...always appear to work well.

[NZ_AE86]

I say good idea, I have them in my diff and Gearbox.

[vhpacer]

Sound good. Where do you people get them? Or do you make them? If so how?

[fivebob]

More applicable in a diff or gearbox as there is very little magnetic material that will wear in in modern motor.

[slighty_sykotic]

Sound good. Where do you people get them? Or do you make them? If so how?

Tardme

[strap-on]

just buy a real strong magnet and stick it on your sump plug easy as that, seen it done heaps of times, works real well on banjo bolts as well

[luvnit]

yeah we've got them in all of our trucks gearboxes, transfer cases and PTO's, very usefull pieces of kit

dont know how u would go about making one though

[Ae92typeX]

easy enough to make one- buy a strong magnetic rod smaler than drain plug. Drill hole in drainplug (about halfway through) insert rod (i'd bond it in). done.

[fangsport]

just fit a good maget from and old speaker to your sump, but remove it before you drop the oil.
they are available from perfomance shops as a semi-circle to stick to your oil filter, which wouldn't be a bad idea either

[RomanV]

More applicable in a diff or gearbox as there is very little magnetic material that will wear in in modern motor.

How about when you're breaking in an engine?

Although that would assume that piston rings/ block bore material were magnetic of course.

[fivebob]

More applicable in a diff or gearbox as there is very little magnetic material that will wear in in modern motor.

How about when you're breaking in an engine?

Although that would assume that piston rings/ block bore material were magnetic of course.

If the engine has been built properly, then the particles would be very fine and would probably stay in suspension, at least until they reach the oil filter. Which if it's doing it job properly is where they will remain. Particles from the main and rod bearings would most likely embed themselves in the soft bearing material and wouldn't even make it to the sump or filter.

Besides which, if you were being sensible, you would change the oil after 500-1000kms in a new or rebuilt engine, so contamination would have very little chance of doing any damage. If you're creating particles big enough to be collected by a sump plug after 1000kms then you have a much bigger problem than a magnetic sump plug will solve.

I say good idea, I have them in my diff and Gearbox.

yeah we've got them in all of our trucks gearboxes, transfer cases and PTO's

Have always had one on the various mini's and 'A' series british cars ive had. Since the trans/engine in them is shared you get a bit more metal over the years...always appear to work well.

Notice something in common there?

They're all fitted to gearboxes, or engines with gearboxes attached, they're also common fitment on motocycles which also share oil with the gearbox. Gears tend to chip off bigger chunks, which in turn will puncture paper filters. So unless your engine shares it's oil, or you have a gear driven, or possilbly a chain driven camshaft or oil pump then I can't see a great deal of use in having a magnetic sump plug.

That said, they're cheap and don't do any harm if they're properly made, so there's no reason not to install one, just no need to go out of your way to find one.

[solberg Fan]

So what do you think about the magnets you can stick on the out side of your oil filter?? I thought they would be a great idea. But then again you would think the filter manufactures would have thought of this if it was realy benificial.

[Stealer Of Souls]

It would depend on if the filter is made from a ferro-magnetic material (ie will a magnet stick to it). If the filter is magnetic then sticking a magnet to the outside wouldn't be as effective as it should be. The filter would just "soak up" all the magnetism.
If the filter wasn't magnetic then it could work well.

[Xavier]

So what do you think about the magnets you can stick on the out side of your oil filter?? I thought they would be a great idea. But then again you would think the filter manufactures would have thought of this if it was realy benificial.

there is a brand called Filtermag, i saw the pic of oil filter cut open with micron metal particles... wonder if anyone used their product, it has pretty good review in automotive articles...