Barney,
Thanks for the explanation of the engine detritus.
In a different time and place I had a small farm. One feeds a magnet
to ruminants such as goats and cows to minimise what was locally known as
"iron sickness". The magnet (1/2 x 3 inches, chromed and rounded ends)
stays in the first of the stomachs and attracts iron that would otherwise
continue through the beast and puncture its GI tract. Come that time of
the year, farmers would compare the retrieved magnets and the chunks of
metal (gate latches, wire barbs, nails, bolts, etc). Some of the
collections were amazing to behold.
Bob
On Sun, 14 Jan 2001 12:44:11 -0600 Barney Gaylord <barneymg@ntsource.com>
writes:
> At 07:09 AM 1/14/2001 -0500, Bob Howard wrote:
> > I read of the magnetic plug from time to time, ....
> > What sort of stuff do you find on the plug?
>
> Usually a pinkie fingernail size glob of iron fuzz, similar to the
> small particles you find around a bench grinder. This is more
prevelant
> at the first oil change immediately after an engine overhaul, as the
new
> rings need to scuff a little material off of the cylinder walls to get
> themselves properly seated.
> > Is its value that it collects shards before they pass through
> the oil pump on the way to the filter?
>
> Yes.
>
> In general, if the iron particles are relatively large they would
> get caught in the oil filter and cause no harm to the rest of the
> engine. If the particles are small enough to pass through the filter
they will
> probably do no harm to the oil film bearings, but may still cause
> some wear on rubbing steel parts, such as cam lobes and tappets, drive
gears
> for oil pump and distributor, and the mating rotor surfaces in the oil
pump.
> Most of the iron particles would settle out in the bottom of the oil
pan
> anyway, but it is somehow comforting to see them come out on the plug
where
> you can dispose of them externally. I cannot say for sure that this
will reduce
> wear in an engine, not having any data from side by side comparison
> under identical running conditions. However, for only a small amount
of
> money the magnetic drain plug provides considerable peace of mind.
>
> Barney Gaylord
> 1958 MGA with an attitude
> http://www.ntsource.com/~barneymg
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