Magnetic Oil pan drain bolts really work???? Options

[Tech-Nics]

Was looking online and I found this which I went and bought anyways cause the price was sweet and looks cool.
Magnetic oil drain bolt Does this really work. Says it catches metal pieces and prevent engine damage. Wipes off every oil change. They also make them for tranny oil drain aswell.

Fact or Myth???

This post has been edited by Tech-Nics: Nov 25, 2009 - 7:46 PM

[Spider77]

Fact. They do work (we use some for out gear oil at work)....but I know for sure there are magnets in the tranny pan, and im going to guess that there are some in the oil pan as well...although, dont know for sure as I havent gotten to doing that yet. No reason to do so....

[Bitter]

they catch some stuff, but the oil filter would probably catch it anyways. they make magnets that go around the oil filter, that seems more productive to me. since all oil goes through the filter, only some goes past the drain plug.

[schmooot]

its mostly fort peace of mind....if you find metal filings on your filter you know something is going wrong in the engine...if it is clean then your motor is doing good

[Bitter]

its mostly fort peace of mind....if you find metal filings on your filter you know something is going wrong in the engine...if it is clean then your motor is doing good

you have to have some bad stuff wrong to be seeing substantial steel/iron in there.

used oil analysis is MUCH more useful, bearing metals don't stick to magnets.

[blu94gt]

I've seen a few oil pans that have magnets in them, and more and more drain plugs with magnets. The biggest thing they will catch are the filings from the break-in period. If you have more than a few thousand miles on the car and are getting a lot of metal, you need more than just a magnet lol

[TerryE]

Yeah, they work, I don't have any on my car at the moment, but I have had them on other cars, you'll likely always find some metal on it when you change the oil, motor oil doesn't completely prevent wear on the motor. What you want to watch out for is "chunks" (not fines) of metal any color, or brassy-coppery color(rod bearings oh no!). Magnetic drain plugs on trannies is always a good idea as there is constant wear going on between the gear teeth and shafts etc.