What do you think of a magnetic drain plug?

[autoque]

Maybe a nice insurance in addition to oil filters?

Magnetic Oil Drain Plug Automotive Truck Motorcycle Industrial Engine

[DeanLinAZ]

The Porsches I owned in the seventies and eighties all had magnetic drain plugs for the sump and the tank. There would be some very, very fine metallic particles collected on them at each oil change. I have not seen a magnetic drain plug on any of my vehicles since 1989.

Anyway, since a large majority of the engine components today are aluminum, nickel, etc, a magnetic drain plug would not attract much of anything.

An old good idea, though.

[Penguin]

You will see lots of posts telling you they are worthless, the filter takes all the particles out, etc., but assuming it's good quality, it certainly doesn't hurt to have one.

They are most useful on devices which have gears without filtration, e.g., transmissions, differentials, etc., as compared to engines.

[roadkillrob]

Definitely won't hurt anything, the filter should take morst things out, if you find a lot of metal on your drain plug then be very concerned, but in theory, it really is only keeping a little metal out of the oil pump, once it is through the pump, it won't get through the filter.

[Weasel]

What comes in to my little head is that it is an aluminum block and heads with alusil cylinder sleeves and aluminum pistons... the only steel part of the engine I can think of is the crank, and how is that gonna wear to the point of putting particulates? If you want to put a magnetic drain plug go for it, but I can't think of much that will be in your oil to stick to it.

But I'm worn out in every aspect after the day I've had, and could be very off in the details above. Maybe JCL can give more accurate details on the composition of the engine internals as he is highly knowledgeable in that area.

[JCL]

I agree with the points above. There is little value in a modern aluminum engine. Installing one that is the correct size can't hurt, especially if you are in the habit of leaving old tools in the oil pan (per the picture in your first post).

[autoque]

the picture's from the seller's website.

[JCL]

Originally Posted by autoque

the picture's from the seller's website.

Maybe the seller normally leaves old tools in his oil pan. He certainly doesn't seem to know that magnetic drain plugs don't help much with non-ferrous engines.

I wasn't trying to pick on you, it was a reasonable question as to whether these can be useful. The question has come up six or so times before, IIRC.

[autoque]

Originally Posted by JCL

I wasn't trying to pick on you

I know. I know from many of your posts that you're not the sort of type to just pick on people on this forum. I just wanted to clear up that I didn't take a picture of myself holding that old wrench with a magnetic drain plug.

[autoque]

Forget magnetic drian plugs!

I came across this quick oil drain valve. QuickOilDrainValve.com - the best way to change oil

What do you think? More convenience for DIYers? Basically you don't need to unscrew the drain bolt to drain the old oil out. It claims one touch operation.