the oil filter magnets !!!

[oil&coffee]

once again!

All I can say is I talked to several local drag racers and it seems a lot of racers use them "ALOT".. on the oil and transmission.. Also truckers and a regional dyno testing lab uses them as well (don't remember the name exactly - but will find out WES TEX DYNO LABS ??)

SO my question is there must be more then just marketing behind these.. and nothing againt some around here - but I tend to find a lot people on various forums debating "without" any real direct experience!!

 

[Grossomotto]

What would the magnet catch that your filter would not?

 

[denny2w]

"What would the magnet catch that your filter would not?"

smaller particles

 

[Big Jim]

This is truly a snake oil product. A far more effective place for a magnet should you desire one is on the drain plug, not where the oil in circulating under pressure.

Snake oil products are very effective at what they are designed to do. What you must understand though is that they are designed to part you from your money. To do so, their advertising must be very compelling, accurate or not.

 

[Gary Allan]

I don't think that they're snake oil. They may be not do much in the big picture. Most automatics have a decent size magnet in the pan.

Most of the weekend bracket warriors do a refresh on their engine every two or three seasons. I don't know if you could alter the amount of remediation much with using a magnet.

There are tons of magnets that aren't sold for automotive use. They are just as much a magnet as those sold for wrapping around your filter and whatnot. Buy them instead. Then you will be fattening a wallet of someone just trying to sell you a magnet, instead of someone trying to rip you off.

They're more along the lines of getting just the right amount of beta carotene in your diet. You probably won't live any longer ..but you may feel .0002% better when you expire. Someone tells you you need it too ..and makes a living off of selling it to you.

 

[Crack_Tan]

I thought that the marketing idea behind the filter magnet was that particles would get stuck to the inside of the filter housing, rather than in the media, thus allowing better oil flow through the filter.

 

[99]

The Filter Mag brand magnets are pretty pricy for what they are. They do work because cutaway pictures of filters that used them don't lie. I went with a magnetic drain plug on all of my oil pans instead because it was easier on the wallet.

 

[Gary Allan]

I absolutely do agree that they tend to get a premium for wrap around magnet type stuff. Something like $50+ with nothing more than a glorified rubber band or fancy shell and about $6-10 worth of magnets (retail). I do think something like a Magnefine justifies a higher price due to its unique approach to integrating magnets into oil filtration. At least two of the local trans shops use their inline trans filters. Actually, I think most of them do. I've never seen any other product on the market like it. Given my paranoia with automatics, I don't think that I'll have one without at least a Magnefine on it.

I bought a dozen of those Neodymium magnets and attach them here and there (another member has them in his Oil Guard) ..but I think, once I get beyond doing everything cheaply, I'd just buy a Magnefine (one of those that you sandwich with the filter).

 

[Alex P.]

They can't prevent much wear if you're in a situation where you shed so much metal the filter isn't enough. To me, drain plug and in-pan magnets are better at telling you there's a serious problem, rather than preventing it. You shouldn't have that kind of wear in the first place, and if you do, you're in an application where it won't matter.

 

[Bowser]

Magnets only catch the FE particles, a small percentage of elemental oil analysis in a healthy running engine. My transmission pan has a magnetic strip!

I've been interested in these rare earth jimmy-joes at Lee Valley Tools. They seem to be reasonably priced.

Bowser

 

[Gary Allan]

My impression was that, outside of some engines that seem to like to give off high copper, that Fe was the predominant element given off. I mean one element may be considered high or low ..but Fe is accepted as being above them all (usually) and normal.

This may be exchanged for some other element in an all aluminum engine, I suppose

 

[Ray H]

Chrome, which is harder than iron, is also magnetic.