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Cut Open Magnefine Transmission Filter (PICS)

61K views 31 replies 19 participants last post by  1fastturboj32  
#1 · (Edited)
Well after I changed my tranny filter today, I decided to cut the old one open to see how effective or necessary it really was. This was the first tranny filter installed on my car at 31K along with a tranny cooler and tranny fluid change. It was placed after the cooler but right before the oil goes back into the tranny. Now my car has 58,800 miles. Here are pics of inside the filter after about 28K miles.


The Magnefine filter consists of 3 parts:

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I actually didn't know it had another paper filter element other than the advertised magnetic filter. Was it brown when it was new? (Note that the black chunks on top are just plastic shavings from me cutting the filter).

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And now the good stuff... The top part of the filter is magnetized. As you can see, it has attracted a lot of metal shavings from the tranny fluid. (Again note the large chunks of black you see are just the plastic shavings from me cutting through the filter). Look at all the fine metal shavings stuck to the magnets!

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Well, there you have it folks! I guess it really wouldn't hurt to have a tranny filter. Otherwise all that junk would be going right back into your tranny! Magnefine claims you should change the first filter at 15K miles, and then every 30K miles thereafter. However, seeing at how this filter looked at 28K miles, I think it could have gone a little longer. Magnefine claims that these filters have a safety by-pass feature which allows fluid to "by-pass" the filter just incase it becomes clogged. So there's nothing to worry about.

After opening this filter up, I like the Magnefine filters even more. Not only do you get the paper element filtration of the Perma-Cool filters, but you also get the extra magnetic filtration that finely separates metal shavings in the tranny fluid. The filter is designed so the tranny fluid goes through the magnetic filtration first, then through the paper filter element.
 
#2 ·
when i get a complete fluid drain and flush about 120$service cdn. funds...do they rplace the stock tranny filter??? how bout if theres excessive atfz tranny fluid? is that hurting my already weak tranny? i think they put in too much fluid...reading is way above the 2 notches...thanx if u can rply
 
#3 · (Edited)
kleptodathief said:
when i get a complete fluid drain and flush about 120$service cdn. funds...do they rplace the stock tranny filter??? how bout if theres excessive atfz tranny fluid? is that hurting my already weak tranny? i think they put in too much fluid...reading is way above the 2 notches...thanx if u can rply

How many miles do you have on your car? I was going to do a complete tranny flush myself for $150. However, I happened to call the Honda dealer and the service tech. told me that it was just another way of dealerships ripping you off. He said that you really don't need to do a "flush." He said just do a drain and refill every 15K miles and you will be fine. If your fluid is really dirty, I would just keep changing it out every 2-3K miles until it begins to get clean. It costs about $16 to do a drain and refill yourself and it's easier than changing the motor oil!

Our cars don't have a stock tranny filter. The only thing we have is a magnetic oil drain plug in the tranny and when you take that out you'll see how much metal shavings it attracted.

You shouldn't have excessive tranny fluid, or any type of excessive fluid for that matter. To check your fluid, have the engine hot but not running and make sure you parked on a flat surface. If there's too much. Just grab a 3/8" ratchet and put a oil drain pan under your tranny and drain some fluid out. Do a little at a time! And keep checking the fluid level as you go. By the way, I tell everyone this... Please take the used oil to Autozone or Wal-mart to drop off. Don't pour it in the dirt behind your shed in your backyard!

Here is the tranny fluid drain bolt on the v6.

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#8 ·
Yeah, if you look right above the tranny dipstick, there is a light bronze colored bolt (it's pretty big bolt) that says "ATF." From the factory they're torqued pretty tight though, so you might want to have a breaker bar handy to open it. I circled it in this pic:

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#15 ·
sonnieeeeboi said:
yea, I bought that bracket that coudl mount the filter for the transmission cooler. Do you guys suggest sticking a small, but powerful magnet on the filiter?
that's i'm going to do :p , bought it online the strongest magnet in the world lol it's called Neodymium-Iron-Boron bought it off this site here:
neodymium magnet

it should work =), since the magnet is super strong dun dun dun
 
#18 · (Edited)
If you read my first post in this thread, you'll know that I recommend the Magnefine. Perma Cool, B&M, etc. filters are good too. But in my opinion, the Magnefine is just much easier to install, takes up less space, and offers better filtration. But with the Perma-cool, it has a port where you can install a temp. gauge. So it's more convenient.
 
#22 · (Edited)
slowaccord01 said:
hey wcbcruzer how much did you buy the magnefine for? and where? i found it online for 20 dollars without shipping. *shrugs*
Yeah, that's how much it cost me too. I get it from the Magnefine website (emerging enterprises or something...). Or sometimes you can find it on ebay too. Try searching for (volvo power steering filter, or magnefine filter, etc.).

Check out this thread. I added some pics of where I installed my filter (last page).

http://www.v6performance.net/forums/showthread.php?p=755596#post755596
 
#23 ·
yea, i saw that earlier today, searching through v6p =). I'm thinking about buying the magnefine, but i already have the relocated filter mount in place. So i'm going to try the external magnet *shrugs* should work.

edit: and thanks for cutting the filter up lol, at least the filter is doing the job! :D
 
#25 ·
Mine didnt have nearly as many metal shavings. More like..really tiny specks that formed a sludge.