DIY Magnetic Oil Filtering
 

The whole issue of having ferrous damaging materials circulating through the oil to all the tight clearance parts in our expensive engines is alarming.

Taking action to reduce this and extend the life of the engine is inexpensive and easy for the DIYer.

Another thread brought the issue of "MagFilters" to light and after a few minutes of research an easy DIY will soon be at hand.

Here is how a FilterMag works: Its simply a set of magnets externally attached to the oil filter. The magnetic field extends to the interior of the oil filter and captures ferrous material as it flows through the filter.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCimcP-i7bY&feature=player_detailpage

How It Works | FilterMag

Lincoln Navigator with 1500 miles!
http://www.shopfiltermag.com/images/...Mile_thumb.jpg

88 Jeep CJ5 after 45minutes with Magnets on filter
http://www.shopfiltermag.com/images/100_0335.jpg


I would have ordered one from the above site but I don't think they have our filter shape/size plus I was not sure if they used the Hi Temp magnets.

I ordered 14 hi temp magnets that I will attach to the outside of my stock filter. K&J Magnetics - Products $46 Shipped

I think my magnets are also stronger than the commercial product, due to the increased thickness, so that larger particles will be
held secure against the flow stream of the oil.

I went with 14 magnets because I think I recall there are 14 flute surfaces on the plastic filter.

Hi Temp is necessary because many common Magnets loose there Magnetic properties at relatively low temperatures ~175F so I needed the Hi Temp variety that could withstand the Hot Oil temperatures that may exist on the surface of the Oil filter.

Every oil change I can wipe away the accumulated materials so this device should function for the life of this car and more.

Every particle of ferrous material removed from the engine will contribute to the extended life of the engine by reducing the wear rate, so is well worth the minimal cost <$50.

Granted the non ferrous metal, like aluminum, will not be captured but aluminum is not as hard and abrasive as iron and steel particles so at least the most damaging metals will be removed from the engine.

I'll add pictures once I have completed the filter and document the results of filtering over time so we have a reference to compare with.

I already have an oil drain magnet as well and now understand why the price is $25, because the Hi Temp magnets are a Samarium-Cobalt alloy and is simply an expensive material that is also inherently corrosion resistant.

Pics Coming Soon...

This is pretty much mostly hype. Oil filter will trap most--surely >95%--of the dangerous stuff.

Lots of engines go hundreds of thousands of miles without magnets in their oil.

I think I have to agree with lkchris, don't really need the magnets when the filter is there already doing the same thing - stopping metal flakes AND other non-magnetic debris, like aluminum, dirt, etc from getting into the engine. ;)

I think what you are missing is that the magnet catch and build up ferrous debris that has a particle size is too small to be captured by the OEM filter, and which would continue to circulate around the engine if the magnets were not there, and which act as a very fine continuous abrasive. Filter magnets have been used for years in aircraft engines to remove this fine grit before it does any damage.

Agreed, especially when engine integrity and longevity are paramount to the owner. Like light aircraft owners, truck fleet operators, and M96/97 engine owners. :rolleyes:

Just sayin'............

TO

JFP,

Do you know what particle size will pass through the stock OEM paper filter?

I always wondered if you use a filter magnet and then send your oil out for analysis if you the readings are accurate due to the metals picked up by the magnets?

I understand, just figured the Porsche engineers took this into consideration when designing the engines. I don't know if the OEM filters block particles smaller than 20 microns or not (I know some filters come in 10 or 20 micron versions) but if they use them on aircraft, then maybe it's not a bad idea.

I think the OEM filter is in the 40-45 micron pore diameter range, or at least there were the last time we checked.

How can that be? The metals were already there, magnets or not; and if anything, the magnet is taking metal out of the oil............

As mentioned, the OEM filter has a larger pore diameter than that, although you can get aftermarket units in the OEM cartridge style, or spin on's, with pore diameters in the 25-28 micron range.

I think the gentleman is saying that with the filter mag the contaminate particles are are removed from suspension in the oil to certain degree. An oil analysis will then indicate less wear contaminants than it would have without the filter mag in place (depending upon how an oil analysis is conducted).

With that said you will certainly be able to scrape off residue in your filter housing and dump it in your sample so you can see what the source is. The fine pickup being better than a chip detector.

One also has to consider that your oil is now circulating "healthier" with the magnet in place and perhaps that might be valuable analysis trend information as far as oil change intervals go.

I just can't see where taking out very small magic particles/bits would hurt anything. And might add to the life of the engine. But then again if it was THE answer to wear -you would find more magnets in cars and filters.

For example in an RV fridge- there is an anode rod the attracts corrosion. It's in all fridges. There could easily be a removable magnetic rod in the sump that you pull and wipe off at filter change time.

This might prove the magnet: find a car with a couple oil analysis to get a trend. Then add magnets- and see if there are changes or improvements.

BTW I put a magnet on the oil filter of Honda motorcycle back in the 80's so it's not a new discovery. And my dad installed a Frantz oil filter on all our cars in the 60's. it was my job to change the toilet paper cartridges- what a mess.

I just figured that the less abrasive in the engine the longer things will last and retain tighter clearances and better performance, particularly the IMS bearing and all the other bearing supported parts in the engine.

Its also a known fact that the stock filter bypasses some of the oil past the filter element so you are in fact getting ALL the different sized particles suspended in the oil going through all your bearings etc.

You can buy the LN spin on filter at over $150 to help minimize this problem or you can remove the problem. which is the metal suspended in the oil.

For under $50 I have a device that will reduce wear and last for the life of this car and many others.

I'd say the return on investment is very high considering how expensive our engines are and the high revs we are subjecting it to. The faster it turns the quicker it will wear.

I'm also a pilot/aircraft maintainer so I know the benefit is there. Its a simple cheap improvement that will not void any warranty and solves a problem instead of diminishing the impact.

As you can see from the pictures these do work quite well and can help every engine last longer.

You simply wipe the metal off the magnets at each oil change and you have done your preventive maintenance.

With the spin on its a bit more hassle because you'd have to reattach the magnets to the new filter with a couple zip ties.

I'll post pictures of the results at every oil change and I guess in a couple years we can draw conclusions at how effective this device is at removing metal particulates from the engine over time.

I suppose I could collect the metal and weigh it at each oil change to see if the rate of collection and engine wear is changing.

The problem of this thing as a commercial product is that they never wear out if you use the High temp magnets, so you only ever make 1 sale to a customer.

Its not new technology, just something so obviously good with no negatives that like you said, it ought to be on every engine and especially those with high engine repair costs.

You can't argue with the "Return on Investment" because if it extends the engine life to the next owner or saves you an engine overhaul or IMS Failure then its paid for itself 100 - 200 times.

I think we will all be surprised at what comes out of an engine at every oil change.

I was recently looking into a magnetic drain plug, but decided against it. The reason being I read a significant amount about how some people are weary that the magnet attracts metal (assuming there is any) and the particles build up into a mound, and then break off all at once, causing a large number of particles to enter the engine all at once, instead of individually.

Do you guys think there is any truth to that though? I think that would only apply to the drain plug, but I am curious what people think. Any recommendations on better oil filters, than OEM, to trap more particles? Thanks!

Great idea, should improve the filtration without restricting the oil flow. I'm going to give it a try.

Both my motorbikes have magnetic drain plugs and its always reassuring when I check and find no, or very little wear debris.

And World War II fighter planes had them as well...........

I've personally never heard that one before, but I do not think it has merit as once the fine particles are "agglomerated" on the magnet, any chunk that came loose (if it actually happens) would be more than large enough for the filter to trap. Magnetic drain plugs are widely used on gas and diesel engines, and I have never heard of the type of failure you are suggesting.

There are many filter choices in the aftermarket that offer smaller pore sizes than the OEM cartridges style filter, just do some research on their specs and you will find that filters like Wix/NAPA Gold filters are substantially better in this department, and about half the price of the OEM filter as well. Just don't fall for the "high priced" big name brands hype, you can get as good or better a filter for much less.

Another consideration would be to get rid of your OEM oil bypass, which tends to stick open and allow crud of all sizes to circulate indiscriminately.

Since you would remove the metal debris from the magnet at every oil change there should not be any accumulation large enough to significantly "mound" up to the point where the magnet cannot hold it.

However, the filter would be next in the oil circuit and capture the metal in case what you say is possible.

If you did ever have a mound of metal accumulate between oil changes then its likely your engine would already be in very bad shape and immediate tear down and overhaul would likely be required to avoid a catastrophic failure.

jb92563 is right, even if anything mounded up and broke off, it wouldn't be like a blood clot going to your heart because it would get trapped in the oil filter - that's what the oil filter is for, to stop crap from getting into the engine in the first place.
And anyway if you had THAT much garbage building up in your oil, you'd already be in trouble.

JFP,
Could you illustrate where the bypass is located and is it possible for a DYI'er to easily remove?

The OEM bypass valve is in the bottom of the plastic filter housing. It is not easy to remove as it is plastic and unusually breaks in the process of removal. Porsche also does not sell it separately to my knowledge, preferring to make you by the entire housing.

How do you check the operation of the bypass valve?

You shine a bright light down and look to see if it is seated (closed) or open (by pass). Use of a small shop mirror wand is helpful.

How do you attache the magents to the oil filter housing? Once they are attached do the magents interfer with removal of the housing? Can you still attach the wrench to remove the housing?

I'm going to silicone and zip tie the magnets to the mid section of the filter with one magnet per flute, so about 14.
I will see how that works and if not so secure I will make some ABS plastic magnet holders with my 3D printer to help hold them in place.

Since the magnets are well clear of the end, using a filter socket is no problem.

The 14 High temp magnets I chose are 2" x 1/2" x 1/8" so they are low profile and don't interfere with anything. ~$45 shipped.

They are super strong and while unpacking them I got 2 stuck to each other and it takes quite a bit of force to pry them apart. They are packed with 1/8" plastic strips between them to help keep them from sticking to each other.

(Regular Neodyium magnets are much cheaper but permanently loose their magnetism at about 175F, the High temp variety are much more expensive but good to about 320F which hopefully they will not reach being outside in the airflow.)

I'm waiting on my oil and filter element to be delivered any day now so I can commence the oil change and attach the magnets. Perhaps this weekend.

I'll take pictures and document what I find on the oil plug magnet and filter paper as a base line and then we will see at the next oil change how things worked out.


Does anyone know if I can take off the oil filter with the engine full of oil without the whole engines oil draining out?
I'd like to check the filter/magnets before the next oil change if I can do it without loosing too much oil in the process.

Yes- that is correct.

You will lose around 1/2 - 3/4 a quart of oil when you drop the filter. I have used that method to lower the oil when I accidentally overfilled it one time.

You have a 3D printer?? Make me something! hahaha
seriously, I need some parts for my convertible top... actually I'm making it myself, I do molding and casting for fun and am in the process of making a mold of one of the push rod ends because the other side broke, and they're $75 brand new (they don't sell the little plastic end piece separately) and I can't see paying 75 bucks for a piece of plastic the size of my finger.

If you make the digital model of the piece you need and send me the .stl format file, I can print it for you in black ABS or natural PLA plastic.
You might want to check here first to see if the model for that piece is already available. http://www.thingiverse.com/search/page:1?q=porsche&sa=

There are a multitude of 3D design softwares out there that are open source.

I have been using "FreeCAD" and Sketchup 8 (Because it has the free STL converter)

Building the model is the most time consuming part.

There are also service companies out there that will make 3D prints of your models in more exotic materials like Stainless Steel, Nylon, Silver, Clay etc.

Update.

Did my oil change and installed the mag filter. The good news is that the magnetic oil drain plug did not catch anything at all since the last oil change and the filter paper had nothing metallic in it either.

It may be a few oil changes at this rate before I pick up anything...but that's good so...:)

I decided on 7 magnets instead of 14, one on every other flat because trying to put these on each flat was like herding cats, they are very strong and just kept on sticking to its neighbor. That however cuts the price in half so perhaps a $20 mod now.

I used wire to keep them in place while setting them up
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-e...filtermag2.jpg

This shows the oil socket, no interference at all.
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-D...filtermag3.jpg

All the magnets in place
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-w...filtermag4.jpg

The wire was not secure enough on its own and the zip tie might loosen with the heat so I opted for a stainless steel pipe clamp. The protruding screw doe not interfere with install of the oil filter as there is adequate clearance.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-m...filtermag5.jpg

Here it is in place on the engine.
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-S...filtermag7.jpg
Looks a little oily down below but thats only the results of my oil change as a bit of oil got splashed around when I fumbled the oil filter while removing it. Its normally bone dry.

Did you consider using hi temp epoxy to secure the magnets? Or possibly silicone?

JB,

What size pipe clamp did you purchase or did you have to combine two of them?

I think a 3.5" diameter pipe clamp would work perfectly but I only had a couple smaller 2" clamps on hand so I used the 2 smaller ones together.

Once I had these in place with the clamp they were so secure I decided no epoxy or silicone is needed.

A Simple solution that is reversible without much fuss is the final result.

Now we will have to see what accumulates. Hopefully nothing for the sake of the health of my engine which at this point appears perfect at ~71,000 miles.

An Update.

So I changed the oil this weekend after nearly a year, with perhaps 7000 miles put on it and I wanted to take a careful look at how the magnetic oil filter worked.

First thing to note is that the pipe clamp held all the magnets in place perfectly.

The wire ties were useless and either fell off or became loose so I removed them.

Upon draining the oil filter I found a grey sludge that was positioned over each magnet and you could see areas where the sludge chained together to form very fine strands that stood up on end perhaps 1/32" tall.

I found a similar sludge on the magnetic oil plug.

You could pick up the sludge on your finger after wiping it off the magnet and it had no discernible particles, just a greasy sludge feel when rubbing it between your fingers.

The oil filter itself had no magnetic metal particles, just a few tiny bits of black plastic and 1 tiny shaving particle of aluminum.

Interesting thing to note is that the magnets being on the outside of the filter housing means that the oil has already gone through the filter element.
So that magnetic sludge is passing through the filter element before adhering to the magnets.

I figure this is an excellent inexpensive way to reduce engine wear as these magnetic very fine particles will certainly make their way throughout the engine and bearings increasing the rates of wear if not removed.

I'd say this is a great success and although I can't quantify the benefit, I know for certain the magnets have removed far more fine particles that the magnetic oil plug by a factor of 40 due to the size and number of magnets and the amount of magnetic sludge collected from them.

It will be interesting to see if the amount of magnetic sludge collected is reduced at the next oil change, or if that represents the normal wear rate of the internal engine parts.

I'll post the pictures next.

Actually, the oil filters from the outside to the inside on the OEM filter, so the housing sees the oil before the filter does.

Oh, I must have turned the fliter paper the other way around inadvertently when I was cutting it off the tube to inspect it.

That actually works out better anyway so the magnets can also catch the bigger magnetic bits.

Thanks for the correction.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-s...33_resized.jpg

Pics of the magnetic metallic sludge deposits removed from engine after about 7000 miles.
See the magnet oulines surrounded by magnetic sludge
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-G...206_105432.jpg

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-i...206_105632.jpg

Some magenetic sludge areas standing on end
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-P...-Ic42/oil1.JPG

Each of the seven strong Neodium magnets has captured magnetic metal sludge.
That is going to save wear on crank bearings, piston rod bearings, Piston rings, cylinder sleve, oil pump, IMS bearing, Oil seals etc
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Q...-Ic42/oil3.JPG

1) Aluminum particle 2) Plastic particle from filter element
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-A...-Ic42/oil2.JPG

We will see if the amount is reduced on the next oil change.

I think it would be interesting for someone who gets their oil analyzed by a lab, to see what change in the lab results there would be after removing the magnetic sludge particles from their oil.

You should see gradual diminishing of the ferrous grit with your next change, but there will always be some running around as it is a normal process of operations for all engines, and is what the magnets are for.

I don't really understand why all expensive engines would NOT have magnetic oil filtering as its cheap to install, easy to maintain and can only improve the internal situation in the engine, increasing its longevity and allowing monitoring of any developments.

I suppose it could be that engines lasting too long would effect the companies bottom line, or that the benefit has never been measured, or found to be insignificant in effecting the engines health.

Considering how anal German engineers can be, it seems like a deliberate omission.

What engineer or customer would be ok with hard ferrous grit circulating through their engine?

I'd be curious to know what Jake Raby or the other engine gurus think about it.
Perhaps they know the answers to the above questions.

JFP, I think your one of the gurus, what is your opinion on this?