i have heard about filter magnets for oil filters, it is supposed to catch the smallest metal fragments in your oil preventing damage. is this product a waste of money? does anyone use them?

 

I would rather have magnets in the oil pan and get the particles before they go through the pump. Good synthetic oil will reduce friction anyways.

 

I use a FILTERMAG on each oil filter of our vehicles...and a magnetic drain plug. A C5/Z06 sits to low to use the type of magnet that attaches to the bottom. This type attaches to the side.
When this has been asked (dozens of times in the past) someone always says it's a gimmick and waste of money.
It's my car to do with as I please!

 

Most of the LS-1 (block and heads and other components) is aluminum. Do you guys use an aluminum magnet ?

 

major friction components are probably ferrous. Lifters, rings, cam lobes bores etc.

 

Using filter or drain plug magnets won’t hurt anything. They are used in helicopter gear boxes so if chips are caught the magnet completes a circuit to ground setting off a warning in the cockpit. It might give the pilot a little time to get the ship down before power is lost.

I don’t think they are gimmicks unless someone starts telling me they are getting better fuel economy because the magnets line up all the oil atoms and make the oil slipper.

Personally I’d rather have the magnet on the drain plugs so I see any buildup when I change oil. Having them on the filter means to check for ferrous buildup would require cutting the filter to see inside. I have a filter cartridge cutter I use on aircraft filters that works kind of like a big pipe cutter. You really can’t use a hacksaw, as the chips from cutting the filter open might be confused with real chips from the engine.

Bottom line, if you want to run magnets, IMHO I see nothing wrong with it.

Eric D


Speaking about aluminum magnets!
Back many years when working on aircraft, the new guy would be sent to retrieve the aluminum magnet when someone would drop a rivet where we couldn’t reach it. They would be told who had it last; however, once he found that person they had just given it to someone else just minutes earlier. This chase would go on for hours sometimes.

 

I use filter magnets on my cars. Don't know if it helps, but it certainly doesn't hurt.

 

I would think a magnet would be to check for metal in your oil. If you have metal in your oil something is going bad already.

 

However, you may be able to limit the damage by addressing the problem before it becomes a complete and catastrophic failure. JMHO

Eric D

 

 

I get better fuel economy because the magnets line up all the oil atoms and make the oil slippery

 

Use them.... cheap insurance

 

FilterMag used here.

Did use what initially appeared to be a well made engine oil drain plug w/magnet. Apparently, the magnet itself had been plated before inserting it in the plug body - possibly as an adjustment for a good press fit(?). Anyway, the plating was obviously flaking off the magnet! Most of the flakes were still stuck to the magnet (key word "most"). Went back to stock drain plug and FilterMag only. That potentially damaging plug was bought at xxxxzone.

 

Our oil filters sit prety low.Any clearance problems with filter mag?This is the one made by Magnefine that screws on to the base of the oil filter?If so who carries them?

 

FilterMags fit around the side and don't create a clearance problem. Best prices are on the big auction site. Otherwise they can be fairly pricy for the strongest ones.

 

Cut open your oil filter sometime and look at the inside area where the magnets were attached ... that will tell you if it's working. Filtermag's website shows some filters cut open and you can see the pattern of the fine black crap that magnetic drain plugs catch. Magnets work to help catch stuff the filter can't.

 

As pointed out earlier you need to be careful of how you open the filter cartridge. Don't use a hacksaw. Pipe style cutter is best.

I don't know that I would believe that the magnets would catch anything that the filter wouldn't, but it does increase the amount of stuff that the filter can hold. If you are using a magnet with the idea that you are saving your engine from harm, I believe this is wrong. It will give you clues that something is damaged and starting to fail, but no real protection. It can save you on the extent of the damage if you tear the engine down at the first signs of metal..

Hey, just my 2¢ worth.

Eric D