Has anybody ever run one in their car? I want to get one. I just can't find one yet

James

 

the stock one is... I think? the diff is.

 

With the diff, the drain plug is but the fill plug isn't. Makes sense and all, no?

 

Epoxy a small magnet to the end of your existing plug. Make sure it is on VERY firmly

 

That sounds like a disaster waiting to happen.

 

Unlike a piston engine there are no moving parts near the oil pan. Epoxying a magnet to the drain plug will hurt nothing. If it falls off, it will merely stick to the oil pan at a point near the drain plug.

 

My tranny drain plug is magnetoc from the factory also.

 

Whats the deal with the magnetic drain plugs?
I'm clueless

 

The idea behind a magnetic drain plug is to catch the microscopic metallic particles that are the result of normal engine or transmission wear.

The magnetic plug is much more critical in a transmission than the engine in my humble opinion. The tranny has no filter system and all (except for the synchros) of the material that is subject to wear is ferrous. It makes sense to try to capture as much of this as possible with a magnet.

The engine, on the other hand, is a different story. There are virtually no ferrous metal parts to wear that are in contact with the oil. The apex and side seals do not have any way for their wear particles to enter the oil system. They simply expell their microscopic particles out the exhaust port. This is the same escape route that blow by takes. It is the reason that rotaries do not turn the oil black with mileage the way recips do.

Still it can't hurt anything. I feel that if Mazda thought one was beneficial they would have installed it from the factory as the tranny has. As I said, there is very little in the engine to trap with a magnet.

 

There was a strap thing a couple years back that wrapped magnets around the oil filter, for the same reason.

I would think Zip tying a good size neomidum magnet to the side of the oil filter would work as well.