Beware of crappy magnetic oil drain plugs

[Cubey]

Doing an oil change today, I had a look at the magnetic oil drain plug. It had a few big pieces of metal. So it was doing it's job.

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BUT .....

I started wiping it off roughly with a paper towel... and the magnet pulled out. So um yeah... that's not good. I don't have a regular drain plug handy, so I put it back in without the magnet, after spraying it with brake cleaner.

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Edit: people on Facebook are saying it's meant to be that way. eh... then why the dab of glue/epoxy? the yellow spot on the wiped off picture? i picked it off before I reused the plug without the magnet.

 

[MtnHaul]

I am sure people on Facebook say lots of things. . . . .

 

[Cubey]

I am sure people on Facebook say lots of things. . . . .

Uh huh Eric thinks I'm dumb and don't use a gasket because it's not shown in the photo with the magnet out of the plug. And said to use an o-ring

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[IDIBRONCO]

Uh huh Eric thinks I'm dumb and don't use a gasket because it's not shown in the photo with the magnet out of the plug. And said to use an o-ring

This is why I generally avoid IDI pages on FB. It's that same for You Tube. If I don't know who they are, I usually assume that they're idiots. Just like that Eric you were talking to. There was an o ring that was built into the oil drain plug on my 1995 E s c o r t. After several oil changes, it tore and would slowly seep oil. I never had to ad any oil, but it was enough that it bothered me. I thought there should have been something better on a new car. I always wanted to change it out, but I never remembered until I pulled the drain plug the next time. After that, I'll never use an o ring on a drain plug again.

 

[The_Josh_Bear]

Wow he's Mr. Grumpy Pants geez. I've never seen an o-ring under an oil pan, personally. I also always called them copper washers, vs a gasket, but it's not a big deal either.

That magnet would never go anywhere even if it wasn't glued in, so nothing to worry about. Even if it popped out, which I highly doubt, it can't be sucked into the pickup tube or go anywhere damaging. It would just stick itself to the oil pan until you drop the pan or sell/scrap the truck.

 

[Cubey]

This is why I generally avoid IDI pages on FB.

It's an Econoline group but yeah.

 

[WrenchWhore]

I had this happen on some cheapo Amazon pipe plugs I got for the rear Sterling. I just grabbed some JB weld and made that magnet permanent. Is it right? Probably not. Did I run it...yes

 

[rreegg]

Always try to get the magnetic tipped ones but somehow they're never in stock - or maybe i always decide to not spend the extra couple dollars at the last minute don't remember. the last drain plug i bought was for the tdi and it came with damaged threads and was unusable

 

[ROCK HARVEY]

I almost always stick one of those super strong rare earth magnets to the end of my regular drain plugs, or somewhere else that makes sense. Like on my rear diff I just stick it to the gear cover in the bottom corner. Those things are so strong you can hardly pry them off with your fingernail, so there’s no way it would come off on its own.

 

[Old Goat]

Eric Kerby also said to use a Gasket on the Oil Pan.


Goat

 

[david85]

Looks like the one my truck came with when I bought it many years ago. Never tried to pull the magnet out, but I typically do see about that much metal on it. Best I can figure, it's coming from the lift pump arm.