Magnetic Oil Drain Plug - Results

About 8,000 km ago (5,000 miles), somebody posted a question about magnetic drain plugs or oil filters or something. Just for a laugh I stuck 2 'rare earth magnets' about 3/8" diamete on my oil plug. Then I forgot all about them.

Yesterday I did my oil change and discovered the magets (These are really strong magnets). When I removed the plug, there was absolutely nothing in the way of metal debris on it. Nada. Like new. Clean.

Says something about the internal fit & finish of the engine.

This made me very happy.

 

Unless Toyota is unlike any other engine, the filter takes the crap out before it is circulated to the wear surfaces. It then pools in the pan which cools the oil before it is recirculated back to the filter. The design of the pump and pan prevents a lot of stuff from even getting near the filter as a result of mechanical separation.

All friction bearing parts are 'lapped in' through wear, resulting in some metal debris. There could also be debris left over from the manufacturing process. A portion of that metal debris would collect on the rare earth magnet. I am sure that if I examined the plug under high magnification I'd see some.

I was reporting on an experiment, not a solution.