Trans pan/filter change obsoleted by Magnefine?

[Kaboomba]

Now that I have a Magnefine, I plan to do regular maintenance and inspection of that.

If I flush with new fluid on a reasonable schedule and maintain the Magnefine, what pan and filter maintenance is really necessary?

Kaboomba

 

[Cup of Joe]

I have a magnefine I am not going to change my trans filter until 100k miles, I'm at 84k now. There is an owner with 290k miles that has never changed his trans filter, the dealer told him it could not be changed. He is not using a magnefine.

 

[bullwinkle]

It wouldn't be a bad idea to pull the pan once in a while (maybe 25K?) and make sure that clutch material isn't building up in it. As an example, my overworked Ford PSD van w/the TorqShift has had the factory fluid (big $$$ Mercon SP) flushed 3 times in just under 200K, it has a factory inline filter, had the trans pan pulled for the first time @ 185K, it was nearly SPOTLESS inside. Pretty good for an overloaded truck that works hard every day!

 

[Kaboomba]

Way to go with the truck!

I hear ya on the clutch material monitoring, but won't the Magnefine catch those particle more so than the pan? And if there is fine stuff that gets past the Magnefine and settles in the pan, is it really a problem that it's there?

 

[DieselTech]

Torque shifts never need the pan pulled unless there is a problem. The factory inline bypass filter is a very good unit. The in pan filter is a debris screen only in case of major failure. 5r110's require 30k miles trans service. SP is a good product but needs to be changes. They start shifting funny around 30k also
To the O/P
Magnefines are great filter but they dont replace regular filter and fluid changes. 30k max drain and fill with a filter

 

[440Magnum]

Most of the debris generated in an automatic is non-magnetic clutch material "dust." An in-line filter will trap some of it, but unless your in-pan filter is just a screen and not a true filter, it will eventually get somewhat clogged also.

 

[Kaboomba]

The Magnefine and cooler are the "last stop" before the fluid gets to the pan.

The Magnefine is ~30 micron filter with magnet. The in-pan filter is nearly see-thru, not anywhere near as fine.

The in-pan will not pick up particles that are too fine for the Magnefine.

How will the in-pan filter ever need servicing when the fluid it sees has already passed through the Magnefine and tumbled in the pan?

If these particles do end up on the bottom of the pan, are they not trapped and not circulating? In that case, why worry about them?

 

[bigmike]

I'm with you on this one Kaboomba. I don't see a point in dropping the pan anymore.

My truck has around 50k miles on it. Dex VI has been changed twice (at 25k and at 47k). I never have dropped the pan. I put a magnefine filter on the return side. I opened the filter up not too long ago and it does collect up the metal dust on the magnet. I checked the filter and it looked clean, so I cleaned the magnet and put it back. I'll change the magnefine yearly and the Dex VI every 25k.

 

[unDummy]

If you service your fluid, new ATF can clean out the bottom of the pan. So, unless your pump pickup is a screen, it'll need servicing.

I recommend 100k pan drops regardless of what mods you have, if not simply for inspection.

Not all of the ATF goes through the cooler loop. Much is wasted through the rest of the transmission and back to the pan without ever seeing the run through the TC and cooler.

 

[Kaboomba]

unDummy: I guess I could see 100K pan drops for inspection, and maybe to blast out whatever might have settled in the pan, but I'm not convinced any regular SERVICE is needed...

 

[bigmike]

True. 100k mile pan drops doesn't seem unreasonable. I don't know how much fluid goes through the cooler loop or how provable it is that some does not. Maybe someone can expound?

I know it took 14 quarts to get it so clean fluid would go through when I did a cooler line change.

 

[mechtech2]

Sounds like a plan.
There will be some deposits in the pan no matter what, but with a broken in tranny and the Magnafine, you should not have to clean it in it's life.

 

[L_Sludger]

IF, and only IF, you have a fresh trans filter, THEN you can render it obsolete with the superior filtration of a Magnefine.
Otherwise you're just adding more restriction.

 

[Rhymingmechanic]

+1

Kaboomba, you don't say whether the pan has ever been dropped. It it hasn't, I would pull it, clean the pan and magnet, change the filter, and maybe add a drain plug. Then you can rely on your Magnefine for filtration, and do pan drains or cooler line flushes to renew the fluid.

 

[440Magnum]

Originally Posted By: Kaboomba
The Magnefine and cooler are the "last stop" before the fluid gets to the pan.

The Magnefine is ~30 micron filter with magnet. The in-pan filter is nearly see-thru, not anywhere near as fine.

The in-pan will not pick up particles that are too fine for the Magnefine.

How will the in-pan filter ever need servicing when the fluid it sees has already passed through the Magnefine and tumbled in the pan?

If these particles do end up on the bottom of the pan, are they not trapped and not circulating? In that case, why worry about them?



I disagree. In most automatic transmissions, the full flow of fluid does NOT pass through the cooler on each pass through the pump. Once the fluid is picked up in the pan and pressurized by the pump, its directed to multiple locations. The biggest single flow passes through the torque convertor and cooler- true. BUT, all the fluid that is passed into the clutch packs for lubrication returns directly to the pan after being flung out of the clutch pack clearances. No pass through the cooler first. This is the "dustiest" fluid in the transmission, and it doesn't go through the cooler (and therefore the external filter) before returning to the pan.

SOME amount of clutch pack dust will always accumulate on the internal filter. That's my story, and I'm stickin' to it.

 

[Gary Allan]

The pump outputs just like any other. You're relieving flow continuously passed a certain point in pump speed. Think of it this way, the cooler circuit (on charts that I've seen) runs around 50lbs max (I'm sure there's variations) but the line pressures can be in excess of 250lb on the internals when you put it in reverse.

The cooler circuit would be like a kidney loop filtration system of higher volume.

 

[bmwtechguy]

Originally Posted By: bullwinkle
It wouldn't be a bad idea to pull the pan once in a while (maybe 25K?) and make sure that clutch material isn't building up in it. As an example, my overworked Ford PSD van w/the TorqShift has had the factory fluid (big $$$ Mercon SP) flushed 3 times in just under 200K, it has a factory inline filter, had the trans pan pulled for the first time @ 185K, it was nearly SPOTLESS inside. Pretty good for an overloaded truck that works hard every day!


We dropped the pan on my BIL's 2004 Torqshift at 110k miles and it was the cleanest pan I have ever seen. Even the fluid did not look bad. You are right, that factory bypass filter is a good unit. We replaced the filter and fluid at that time and it has been working well for another 70k miles, sometimes towing a 5 ton trailer. Next time we will just change the filter and perhaps flush the transmission later. The fluid still looks like the day it was put in. The filter in the pan was a screen and was clean except for a few specs of stuff.

 

[Kaboomba]

Originally Posted By: Rhymingmechanic
+1

Kaboomba, you don't say whether the pan has ever been dropped. It it hasn't, I would pull it, clean the pan and magnet, change the filter, and maybe add a drain plug. Then you can rely on your Magnefine for filtration, and do pan drains or cooler line flushes to renew the fluid.


and @ 440Magnum:

Pan-off, cleaning, new filter (Wix), and flush w/17 qts Schaeffer 204SAT at 40K mi. NO visible dust in the filter, and a tiny film on the bottom of the pan. 6-12 Al shavings in filter.

Know thy tranny.

 

[sciphi]

My wife's 09 Honda will only see drain/fills and a Magnefine changed every 30-40k miles. Supposedly the drain plug is magnetic, and there's a filter somewhere outside the transmission.

My 99 Buick LeSabre's pan has been pretty clean when I dropped it at 60k miles, and again at 65k miles when I installed a shift kit.