Quantity of Debris on Magnetic A/T Drain Plug

[The Critic]

I performed a double drain and refill on a 08 Eclipse 2.4 with the F4A4B transmission. The owner was uncertain about past service history and the vehicle had 198K miles; the fluid looked like it had that many miles on it.

As one would expect, the magnetic drain plug had a lot of "goo" and some questionably metallic debris:

The transmission holds 8.1 quarts; each of my drain and refills removed 4.5 qt, so a majority of the old fluid was removed.

After 3K miles, I followed up with a third drain and refill. This time I removed 5 quarts since I drained it for hours. I was very surprised to find a significant amount of "goo" on the magnet. Probably 1/3 less than the first time, but still a lot....especially for only 3K:

The transmission shifted fine before the services and shifts fine now. I used Idemitsu Type HK which should be an acceptable fluid for the application. After replacing the fluid, the transmission does shift a bit smoother.

Questions:
1) Is this a situation where the magnet was simply overloaded from the large amount of clutch debris in the original fluid and I'm continuing to pick up remnants, or is there a real problem here?

2) Is there any reason to consider a software relearn here, or could I just be opening up a can of worms?

 

[KGMtech]

is this plug the only magnet in the system? I agree this is a lot of goo.

 

[Kira]

Could just be how they wear. You're removing 198k of built up dirt.
Repeat after another 3,000. You said, "1/3 less than the first time". Take notes of the results...infer trends.

If it's shifting OK I'd pass on a transmission relearn. At ~200k, a little slow thinking won't hurt it.

However, you could read around and see if there have been legit revisions.
Swap goo stories with other Eclipse owners.

 

[The Critic]

is this plug the only magnet in the system? I agree this is a lot of goo.

This transmission does not have a removable lower pan; this is the only serviceable magnet.

 

[Dave Hess]

Looks like various Honda factory drain plug debris I’ve seen over the years.

 

[The Critic]

Looks like various Honda factory drain plug debris I’ve seen over the years.

Sadly it's 2-3x the amount; I've serviced plenty of Honda's.

 

[martinq]

Yes the magnet was loaded and was no longer filtering. Magnets work to filter magnetic debris 24/7 whether the transmission is running or not.

The cleaner the filters and fluid are, the cleaner the system will be. Once a system is broken in, and clean, it will generate very little wear material in normal use. This fluid will need to be changed less often, magnets will last longer between cleaning, bearings, solenoids, valves, clutches will last longer / wear less.

TLDR:
Clean those magnets and keep them clean!

 

[Hohn]

Sadly it's 2-3x the amount; I've serviced plenty of Honda's.

My last Odyssey service was pretty similar (and alarming) to the OP first photo, but the transmission still shifts OK. But with 220k on it and 20 years of mostly in-town errand running, it's not long for this earth.

 

[RooflessVW]

Looks like various Honda factory drain plug debris I’ve seen over the years.

Looks like my Odyssey 10AT did at 30k.

 

[JeffKeryk]

I just serviced a '17 Accord Sport CVT. The magnet was clean; wiping it down was a waste of time. I've found the initial drain is by far the worst for captured ferrous materials.