Magnet in the oil pan. . . Oops?
 

Hello ladies and gents,

First off, hope you are all well and staying safe at a time such as this.

Recently I was doing an oil change and was putting my magnetic oil plug back into the oil drain hole. Simple as it is, I think I was rushing a bit and I twisted it too much and voila, the damn aluminum plug snapped. Fear not, I was able to get the plug out with a left hand drill bit.

However, I had to push the magnet part into the pan in order to get the left hand drill bit to take the part of the plug that was in the drain hole. The magnet itself is, well, now in the drain pan and I am contemplating whether to drop the pan to take it out, OR should I leave it in there if the case is that it would do no harm.

Your help and time are, as always, appreciated. Hopefully you got a good laugh out of this, I know I did. . . Well am.

Shouldn't be much of an issue.

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So you think I don't have to worry about it being sucked into the oil pump breaking though the potential mesh?

Depends on how strong a magnet it is. If it's a strong magnet, nothing to worry about. But for peace of mind. Drop the pan. Not hard to do.

A lot of diffs have magnets just sitting in them. Stuck to the diff cover.

It’s a small magnet, it would stick to the pan when I’d take the oil out. For reference it was a Z1 magnetic oil drain plug. I just don’t want any crazy damage done you know?

I hear you. There is 0.00001% chance it can make it through the mesh.

My only distant concern is that it's accumulating metal particles and you can't get them out of the pan... I don't see that causing an actual issue, just more of a "if it shouldn't be there, then it shouldn't be there" thing.

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You may want to hook it with a metal clothes hanger if you need it out.

But worse case it should stay put on the inside of the pan.

Also that's what she said.

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You got your mind stuck on anal again? :icon14:

As long as the magnet sticks to the pan, you shouldn't have any worries - it should stay put and not float around where it could stick to ferrous parts. If it's an all-aluminum pan, it can be a problem.

The magnet that Z1 choices to use on their magnetic drain plug they sell is actually one of the strongest magnets I have seen and chances are it should not move past the bottom of the oil pan. We only human and mistakes happen I agree with Trips you should address the issue and try to fish it out some how a clothes hanger should possibly work if not you will have to drop the pan worst case scenario to remove it. Fortunately you didn’t use a inexpensive low quality magnetic drain plug you may have been in trouble if it did actually move out of the oil pan.

The magnet that Z1 choices to use on their magnetic drain plug they sell is actually one of the strongest magnets I have seen and chances are it should not move past the bottom of the oil pan. We are only human and mistakes happen I agree with Trips you should address the issue and try to fish it out some how a clothes hanger should possibly work if not you will have to drop the pan worst case scenario to remove it. Fortunately you didn’t use a inexpensive low quality magnetic drain plug you may have been in trouble if it did actually move out of the oil pan.

Personally, it would drive me crazy even though it probably poses no danger to the engine. Knowing that there is a foreign object lodged inside my engine would cause me many sleepless nights and I would end up dropping the oil pan to get it out. But, I do work in the aircraft engine industry and that is probably where my OCD comes from.....lol.

Would drive me crazy too. Dropping the pan is pretty easy.

Yup. Mistakes like your mother carrying you to term.

It would have if your mother had used it early enough, but here we are.

200k+ Covid deaths yet you somehow you're not one of them. There is truly no justice in this universe.