Why Every Oil Filter Should Have Magnets


Magnets in oil filters can be a foreign concept to many. You may think that it doesn’t make sense. Why would there even need to be magnets inside an oil filter? If you ask a lot of shop technicians, they’ll tell you that it’s actually a brilliant idea. Magnets help prolong the life of the engine.

Metal particles can end up in your motor oil. It doesn’t matter if your engine has even a few small particles in the oil. These particles can still speed up engine wear.

Small metal particles aren’t too common in modern engines, but it can still happen. If you’re in this situation, you’re looking at accelerated engine wear and perhaps expensive repairs. The good news is that there’s an easy way to prevent this problem: having magnets in your oil filter.

How Do Metal Particles End Up In The Motor Oil?

Particles
 Image Credit: JaguarForums

All internal combustion engines are chock full of metal components. These parts are always moving as long as the engine is on. For the engine to work, the parts have to come in contact with each other. That’s why motor oil exists. As the motor oil runs through the engine, it lubricates the parts within. This prevents metal-on-metal grinding.

Despite the motor oil, sometimes the engine parts will still grind against each other hard enough for metal shavings to flake off. Imagine rubbing sandpaper against a piece of wood. This creates some sawdust, right? It’s the same idea when you have engine parts rubbing against each other at high speeds. You’ll end up with some metal shavings.

When oil runs through the engine, it essentially rinses the metal shavings off of all the moving parts. This results in the oil picking up any metal particles laying around.

How Metal Particles Can Speed Up Engine Wear

Motor oil should be smooth and slippery. Metal shavings in motor oil create friction. If you have contaminated motor oil running through the engine, there will be friction between the moving parts. That only speeds up the wear and tear process of these parts. There may be a sandpaper effect, where the shavings create more shavings.

This scenario can cause thousands of dollars worth of repairs. Some of the parts that can go bad include:

  • Pistons
  • Engine block or cylinder liners
  • Piston rings
  • Bearings

Why Don’t Paper Oil Filters Catch Metal Particles?

dirty-paper

A paper oil filter catches the dirt and debris inside the motor oil. So it makes sense that it’d catch metal shavings too, right? It may make sense, but the reality is that most of the metal particles are too small for paper filters to catch. Paper filters are really designed to catch sludge. Sludge is composed of particles that are larger than metal shavings.

The only way for an oil filter to catch all the metal particles is to have magnets. As the motor oil runs through the filter, the magnets pull all the metal particles out of the oil. This is a great solution because it prevents the shavings from running through the motor again. Magnets are the only technology that can “catch” small metallic particles in oil. Every filter should have them.

Unfortunately, paper filters don’t come with magnets. It may be because disposable oil filter manufacturers want to keep costs down. Or maybe it’s because magnets would interfere with the design. Whatever the reason, you would never find magnets in a disposable oil filter in this day and age.

Some Reusable Oil Filters Contain Magnets That Trap Metal Particles

If you’re worried about metal particles damaging your engine, you now have a better option than using paper filters. High quality reusable oil filters are now available that come with magnets that can trap all the metal particles in your oil. If you’re looking for a high quality oil filter that has quality magnets, look no further than Pure Power! oil filters.

Pure Power! Lifetime Oil Filters Come With High Quality Magnets

Magnet

There are many reasons to use a reusable Pure Power! oil filter in your vehicle. The fact that all Pure Power! oil filters contain neodymium rare earth magnets is one of the top reasons.

Neodymium rare earth magnets are placed strategically around the outside of the Pure Power! filter to aid in catching ferrous metals before returning to the engine. These magnets create a strong magnetic field within the oil filter. As the oil cycles through the filter media, the magnets will pick up and trap any metal shavings or debris in the oil.

Since we at Pure Power! value quality above all else, we chose to use neodymium rare earth magnets because:

  • Neodymium rare earth magnets are one of the world’s strongest magnets
  • We use high grade neodymium rare earth magnets that keep their magnetism in high temperatures up to 250 degrees (engine oil typically only gets to about 225 degrees)
  • Neodymium rare earth magnets resist corrosion
  • Neodymium rare earth magnets last well over 100 years

Learn more about Pure Power! lifetime oil filters today!