If you're a true dues-paying gearhead, then we don't need to tell you that clean oil is the best defense in the never-ending fight against engine wear. Every time your engine runs, tiny particles of dirt and metal course their way through the engine, carried by the oil. The oil filter's job is to trap this junk and prevent it from working its way through the engine and creating more wear. The easiest way to reduce wear is with an oil filter that can trap those small particles. But as filters become more efficient, they also become more restrictive, reducing oil flow and causing an oil-pressure drop across the filter, while also increasing the oil temperature.
The solution is to trap these very small, wear-inducing particles before they get to the filter. That's what the FilterMag does. The FilterMag is a simple, high-intensity magnet that adheres to the outside of the oil-filter cartridge, trapping ferrous particles against the inside of the filter housing. When it's time to change your oil and filter, merely remove the FilterMag from the oil filter and snap it in place on your new filter.
We've been using an original version of the FilterMag for the past four years with great success. In fact, it was a chunk of tin trapped by the FilterMag that led us to tear down one of our small-blocks when vibration caused the oil pickup to separate from the tube. We may not have caught that problem, even though we cut the filter apart, since the piece was only about 11/44-inch in diameter. This could have easily been hidden in the folds of the filter element.
The most interesting aspect of the FilterMag is its ability to capture ferrous particles as small as 2 microns. One micron is equal to 0.00004 inch, and since most bearing clearances are around 0.002 inch, you can see that the FilterMag is capable of removing even the tiniest wear-causing ferrous particles before they work their way back into the engine.
FilterMag is offered in three different series, with the SS series designed for cars and light trucks in six different sizes (based on the diameter of the oil filter). There's also a racing/heavy-duty RA series for more demanding applications, and an MC series for motorcycles. The SS365 FilterMag, for example, fits most V-8 engines and sells for $50 directly from the company's Web site. This is roughly the cost of two tanks of gas and is an inexpensive extra insurance, especially when you consider the amount of money that you've invested in your engine. It takes two seconds to install, costs nothing to maintain, and will last forever, helping to extend the life of your engine. Sounds like a pretty good deal.