I read on another forum about how a magnet in a transmission oil screen found its way into a gearbox and caused severe damage.
I knew my '21 didn’t have one, but I couldn’t remember if my yet to be fired up Speedster engine had one or not. The report on the other forum stated that the magnet was completely chewed up and was now just filings throughout the engine.
I removed the inspection plate to find that yes, there was a magnet in the screen, well, almost in the screen. It was mostly out of the thing and ready to take a nose dive into the gearbox. I’m surprised at this because the engine hasn’t been started yet, but the car has travelled around 200kms on the back of a tilt tray truck. The magnet is now sitting on my bench and I have yet another story to tell visitors to my garage.
Now, some vendors sell the magnets alongside the screen, and that is how I bought mine, thinking that it was a great idea…which it is, but until they supply a magnet of larger proportions, so it wont slip through the gap, I’d strongly recommend not installing one, unless you secure it into the screen. I also recommend that you inspect yours, especially if its not secured, making certain that it wont fit through the gap in the screen.
Check it now. I’m super glad I did.
Cheers,
Rob
PS; Both my T’s have magnetic sump plugs installed.
Maybe put a rivet in holding the magnet to the oil screen would make sense.
Hi Royce,
Yes I very nearly did that.
Considering that it was keeping a really good grip on the screen and the inspection cover, I’m surprised that it had moved at all.
I figured that since it took up about a quarter of the screen it would hamper the original lint screening capability of the thing and as I mentioned earlier, I already have a magnetic sump drain plug installed. So I decided to do away with it altogether.
Cheers,
Rob