Magnetic oil drain plug?

[Series3Scott]

Has anyone found a MAGNETIC oil drain plug for our cars? Just curious as I'd like to install one both for the sump and the gearbox.

If I recall both are 1" plugs with 14tpi?

 

[Greggers]

I haven't found a drain plug with the same size/thread, but I had good luck putting three half-inch round magnets from Home Depot in the divots in the drain plugs and securing them with JB Weld.

 

[chazza]

I bought some rare earth magnets here http://www.lodestoneindustries.com.au/specstechnical.asp
A packet of 10 cost about $20.

I secured to them to all the sump plugs on the car with a screw and washer and drilled and tapped the plugs first. The thread can be sealed with Loctite,

Cheers Charlie

 

[bkasl]

Have also done the jb weld route on three cars no problems
Find magnet squares to fit inside of hollow plug
Works great

 

[mightyohm]

I just wrote a post about the Dimple plug, which is available in the unusual 1/2 BSP thread of the Alpine sump:

http://wavelen.com/2018/03/06/dimple-magnetic-drain-plug/

 

[hartmandm]

Is the oil sump drain plug the same size across all series?

Thanks,
Mike

 

[mightyohm]

I have a series II and series V sump here, and both of them are the same 1/2 BSP thread.

 

[Tim R]

We always glue magnets to the sump plugs. It is amazing how much metal they collect between oil changes, particularly when running in an new engine. Without a magnet these microscopic ferrous particles will pass through the filter and oil pump and just re-circulate around the engine.

In this 'How to' engine rebuild video you can see how much metal the magnet collects when running an engine in....

The photo below shows one of our home made magnetic sump plugs that has been wiped clean on the right hand side.

 

[mightyohm]

Tim - I've also been surprised at how much junk winds up in the oil following a rebuild. The Dimple plug uses an EXTREMELY strong magnet so I am curious what will be stuck to it after the first 20 minute break-in. We'll see, hopefully soon.

I thought about modifying my existing plug to add a magnet - maybe I'll still do that if I can find a Neodymium magnet of the right size to epoxy into the center of the plug.

 

[hartmandm]

I thought about modifying my existing plug to add a magnet - maybe I'll still do that if I can find a Neodymium magnet of the right size to epoxy into the center of the plug.

I'd love a pointer to a magnet of the right size and also capable of supporting high temps. It appears many magnets will degrade at regular engine operating temps.

Mike

 

[mightyohm]

Mike,

Yes, thanks for reminding me about that! I've run into this in my line of work. Ordinary Neodymium will degrade at 80C (176F). There are high temp alloys (N42SH) that work up to 150C (302F) that might be better for the oil pan. If the oil temps exceed 300F that's usually a very bad thing!

 

[Tim R]

Guys,
The magnets that we use come on those extendable pick up sticks that cost about £1.50 each. We have had them on some of our cars for years and they are still very magnetic with no apparent degradation from high temperatures.

 

[mightyohm]

Tim - that looks like a ceramic (ferrite) magnet. They are not as strong as rare earth magnets but inexpensive and very good for high temps.

 

[Tim R]

Jeff,

All I can say is that they work well and are very cheap!