I think I put 200 miles on my car before I changed the filter. Why not. They're cheap ($6) and take all of 10 seconds to change.

If it was a gimmick then the pictures of the inside of the filters on page one wouldn't have anything stuck to them. The oil may have already circulated through the engine etc., but with the Filtermag it didn't go back around again. Oil filters only filter down to so many microns and if a sliver or shard is smaller than what the filter can filter out, back around it goes. For about a nickle a day (over 5 years) I think I'll stick with the Filtermag. Cheap insurance if you ask me.

the chance of a sliver or shard getting past a quality oem filter element is extremely remote, 20(toyota filter) microns means very very fine dust so small in fact it would past right through the bearings along with the oil easily, and being a production engine it has not been blue printed to such fine bearing tolerances like race engines that such fine micron dust would harm it slim at best,

the particles most likely would have been from bearings/rings/bore and chain drive components "wearing in" then dripping down into the oil pan, from there they are sucked up by the oil pump and into the oil filter then on to the bearings and such, then cycle repeats again,
if its in your filter its already past through a major component, the oil pump, so why not try and prevent this?
(Some racing teams I know secure a necklace of magnets where the pickup is)
magnetic oil pan plugs work too as long as they are strong magnets being used, the cheaper Chinese made ones i've seen use low strength mags, and would only work when the engine has rested for a long time to let the particles sink down to it.

the most common engine failures involving bearings/oil is due more to loss of oil pressure, and worn oil pump gears/mating surfaces will drop oil pressures like a stone,(Honda vtec will not vtec with even a slightly worn oil pump) so buying $20 worth of neodymium magnets and sticking them close on the oil pan right where the oil pickup is and magnetizing pre oil pump is a far better idea,
Or better yet find a diesel oil filter that fits, they filter down to 10 microns. Far finer than most petrol engine oil filters,

story time: back in the good old days, "Japan made" black Toyota oil filters (mainly **GE corolla, Celica, supra etc) where so good it was rumered TRD filters of the same make where just repainted OEM ones, and there was quite a lot a evidance to support these claims, when a Toyota tech got wind that Toyota was going to outsource the filter manufacture, enthusiasts started hording filters, some guys even ordered them by the palette load,

I'm surprised most of you didn't use the mototune method. You guys should have cycled through the oil at least within the first 50 miles.

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showp...3&postcount=12

main thread
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showt...light=mototune

So you have a magnet near your oil. Small metal particles stick to it, and over time become magnetized. Then you hit a bump, knocking particles loose. Now you have particles of metal in your engine that stick and won't float away in the oil.

I want no magnets anywhere near my engine.

Some small shavings should be normal during first break in, but not an extensive amount. Does anyone have pictures to verify how much is actually indeed coming off? I'd like to check it out myself.

A bump wont do shit. Have you ever used a magnetic key hider on your car. Those things never fall off. A small particle or flake will have a lot more holding power than the key hider. Also, magnets are used in ALL transmissions. Don't worry about bumps they wont knock anything loose.

i second that,
no way in hell is a bump or even a hard impact going to cause a strong magnet to let go of any small metal fragments,

we've seen countless rally car gearbox's with smashed gears collect on the magnets and do not move around at all,