Magnets in the transmission fluid pan

axenstar · Jun 28, 2012

Hello all,

I am goinf to do ATF change on my B5, 1.8T. I got some magnets from another passat's transmission pan. Is it OK to add more magnets on the surface of the pan on my car?

Thanks

arpad · Jun 28, 2012

Why ?

axenstar · Jun 28, 2012

Because I assume the more magnets there are, the more harmful shavings and metals would be held by the magnets, preventing a damage. You got my logic?

ylwagon · Jun 28, 2012

Yes, why? But go ahead if you want to.

JayTheSnork · Jun 28, 2012

sure, you can do it. it won't necessarily make it better, but it won't hurt, afaik. take a look at the valve body, and make sure you place them in such a way as to not effect any of the coils in the valve body.

ylwagon · Jun 28, 2012

Any shavings large enough to cause damage would be caught in the filter if the magnets missed them, if in fact there were any somehow in the transmission. The magnets catch the tiny particles worn off the clutch plates and maybe gear surfaces, but increasing the number of magnets is an example of the law of diminishing returns; adding more won't make the ATF more iron-free.

axenstar · Jun 28, 2012

Can you explain a bit more specifically what you mean by adding more wont make the ATF more iron free?

arlenok · Jun 28, 2012

I think what he means is that its diminishing effect makes it so that if you add 1 magnet, theres a combined magnetic force of 1; add 2 magnets and theres a combined magnetic force of 1.3, and 3 magnets and theres a combined magnetic force of 1.35, etc...

Some of the words might not have been proper but it gets the point across. The more magnets you add, the less of an effect you get.

ylwagon · Jun 28, 2012

What I mean is that there are enough magnets already to capture and hold any particles of iron (what the steel mostly is) that are suspended in the ATF. Once a new transmission has run for a while, all the steel clutch plates will be polished smooth, and very little metal will be worn off, and this includes the planetary gears and the pump gears. Every drop of your nine liters of ATF spends some time sitting in the pan while your car is parked, so any iron particles will be drawn to and held by the nearest magnet, which looks like a smudge or oily fuzz if enough has collected. So if you add more magnets, the available iron particles will be divided among more magnets, therefore each will just have less iron fuzz.

scotts13 · Jun 28, 2012

Further, adding magnets will (slightly) reduce the volume of fluid, leading to it "wearing out" or becoming contaminated just that much faster. The effect in any case would be minuscule, but I rather suspect more magnets would do more harm than good.

Magnets in the transmission fluid pan

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