Hello all. I recently heard of the idea of putting a strong magnet preferably a rare earth magnet on the bottom of the oil pan (near the drain blot). To catch all the small metal deposits in the oil that the filter might not catch. Which will increase the life of your engine cause it minimizes the chance the loose metal can swim around and do some damage. I think this is a good idea and I'm going to try it on my 2002 F4i. Don't see why not cause it wouldn't hurt anything. I just thought I would bring up the idea to everyone else and see what other people think.

 

You could also use a magnetic oil drain plug

 

MAGNETIC DRAIN PLUGS



Edit: Poo. beaten by seconds.

 

Check out filtermag, it's a series of strong magnets that attach to the oil filter. I use one on my truck and bike.

 

the magnetic drain plugs sound like a brilliant idea

 

Magnetic drain plugs are a good idea but small. I've been epoxying large rare earth magnets inside oil pans of engines I've built for years now. You can never have too much protection when it comes to engines!

 

Wont the epoxy melt from the heat? or come loose over time due to the oil and other things?

 

Even if the epoxy fails (shouldn't, if it did, there would be other concerns) the large neodymium magnets really aren't easy to break loose from metals, none the less moved around by sloshing oil/oil pick up suction.

 

Using magnets in the oil pan is all new to me, sounds like a good idea though. I like it when I learn something new.

Presumably you will want to clean off the magnets occasionally. If they are expoxied into the pan I guess it will just be more work to clean them off compared to the one on the oil plug.

 

Just noticed this interesting thread which made me wonder......if the magnet is epoxied to the crankcase, is the metal debris which is collected inside the casing ever cleaned out, and if so how? Does it entail grinding off the glued magnets to release the muck, and if so is it better to just let the magnetism of the magnet hold it in place and then simply prise it off when needed?